How a smart chatbot boosts instant hotel bookings

Conversational Booking Engine: chat and book

Thomas Dieben, founder and owner of digital marketing agency Becurious, and Chris Parker, Chief Experience Officer at Tactful AI, have teamed up to develop an innovative Conversational Booking Engine (CBE). This new chatbot improves instant hotel bookings. User interactions are smoother and guests experience greater convenience and satisfaction thanks to artificial intelligence.

"Our mission is to make hotels less dependent on external booking platforms," says Dieben. "We do this by developing and managing high-quality websites. We link these to the hotel's reservation system. This approach ensures that hotels maintain control over their own bookings and data, allowing them to build strong, direct relationships with guests."

Simplicity and speed

The idea for the Conversational Booking Engine (a booking module in a chatbot, ed.) arose when Dieben saw a major problem: existing chatbots could answer general questions, but were unable to handle bookings directly. "It bothered me greatly that potential guests were still being redirected from the chatbot to the website for a reservation," he explains. "Guests nowadays expect simplicity and speed. Such a cumbersome experience leads to frustration and missed opportunities, something hotels cannot afford."

When Tactful AI, a conversation technology specialist with extensive experience in artificial intelligence for customer interaction in retail, contacted Dieben, he immediately saw opportunities. Tactful AI was exploring applications for the hotel industry, and after initial conversations, Parker and his team immediately saw the potential. "Thomas clearly identified where current chatbots were falling short," Parker recalls. "It quickly became clear to us that integrating booking capabilities was the missing piece of the puzzle. We immediately saw that this could offer great benefits both for guests and for hotels themselves."

Language models

The co-developed booking module integrates seamlessly with Mews, the widely used hotel management software known for extensive and flexible technical linking capabilities. "We created an advanced solution using language models from OpenAI (known from ChatGPT), tailored specifically to the needs of hotels," Parker said. Guests can now easily request information about room availability, hotel amenities such as dietary options or pet policies via chat, and complete the booking directly in the conversation. This innovation makes the booking process personal, simple and enjoyable.

The Olympic Hotel in Amsterdam acted as a pilot location. Here, valuable feedback was collected from guests and employees, allowing the system to be further optimised. Dieben is very satisfied with the cooperation: "The Olympic Hotel was enthusiastic to be the first to try out this innovative approach. The insights from this practical experience contributed to a strong and user-friendly solution."

Complex group bookings

Since its introduction at the Independent Hotel Show, the CBE has received a lot of attention within the hotel industry. Hotels show particular interest because it reduces operational burdens while offering a personalised service without high staff costs. "The widget increases direct bookings and relieves the team by handling common queries automatically," Dieben stresses. "This allows hotel staff to focus on the quality of the guest experience and other important tasks."

Parker also points out the further development possibilities of the booking module, such as additional sales opportunities and easy handling of complex group bookings. The widget supports multiple languages, making it easy to assist international guests. "Hotels are already experiencing clear benefits," he says. "This technology makes high-quality service accessible to many more hotels, with personalised interactions always available through different communication channels, such as the website and social media like WhatsApp and Facebook."

Dieben and Parker share the same broad vision for their collaboration. "It's ultimately about improving the actual experience of hotel guests," Dieben concludes. "Our goal is to satisfy guests with smooth and simple digital interactions. This technology offers more than just convenience; it fundamentally enhances the quality of hospitality."

Become a pioneer too?

Hotels that want to be the first to get started with this technology can participate in the attractively priced pioneer programme. This not only gives them access to the Conversational Booking Engine at a reduced rate, but also personal guidance on implementation and optimisation.