Imagine a world where planning your dream vacation is as effortless as chatting with a friend, and every travel hiccup is anticipated before it happens. Sounds too good to be true? Well, Amadeus is turning this vision into reality with a groundbreaking hackathon that’s shaking up the travel industry.
In a recent event hosted in Bangkok, Amadeus, the global leader in travel technology solutions, brought together top travel innovators from the Asia Pacific region for a hackathon like no other. The focus? Revolutionizing the travel experience through agentic AI. But here’s where it gets exciting: participants weren’t just tinkering with AI—they were reimagining how we search, book, and experience travel, all while leveraging Amadeus’ Self-Service APIs and Google Cloud’s cutting-edge AI tools like Google Gemini Models, Vertex AI’s Agent Engine, and the Agent Development Kit (ADK).
Teams from industry giants like Trip.com, MakeMyTrip.com, and House of Travel rolled up their sleeves to tackle real-world challenges. And this is the part most people miss: the ideas weren’t just about making travel smoother—they were about making it smarter. From AI-powered trip planning for budget-conscious travelers to booking flows that use AI-generated imagery to preview your journey, the creativity was off the charts. One standout concept? Predicting travel disruptions for corporate travelers, ensuring business trips are as stress-free as possible.
The winning team, Trip.com, walked away with the Amadeus Trav-Tech Hackathon award, and their CTO, Coco Shu, couldn’t hide her excitement. “This win validates our dedication to pushing the boundaries of travel technology,” she said. “We’re not just enhancing the customer journey—we’re redefining it.”
But here’s the controversial part: As AI takes center stage in travel, will it replace human agents, or will it empower them to deliver even more personalized service? Jerome Daniel, SVP R&D at Amadeus, believes it’s the latter. “Our goal is to improve journeys for travelers globally, and hackathons like this are a stepping stone,” he explained. “We’re not just dreaming up solutions—we’re putting them into action.”
So, what’s next? With tools like Langgraph, CrewAI, and AutoGen in the mix, the possibilities are endless. But we want to hear from you: Do you think AI will transform travel for the better, or are we losing the human touch? Let us know in the comments!
