Xing Xiong, Chief Operating Officer of Trip.com Group, discussed how artificial intelligence is transforming the travel industry during the company’s Airline Global Conference in Amsterdam. His remarks focused on both AI’s growing influence and the sector’s ability to adapt amid geopolitical and economic pressures.
The travel industry had shown steady recovery through 2025, with international demand outpacing concerns about deglobalization. However, the escalation of the Middle East conflict in March caused RPK growth to turn negative, with March’s year-over-year figures already declining sharply. Preliminary data for April and May suggest further drops.
“I expect those figures to remain negative,” Xiong stated. He emphasized that while the downturn is concerning, its effects should be temporary. “We remain confident in the industry’s resilience,” he added.
AI’s Evolution: From LLMs to Autonomous Agents
Xiong outlined AI’s development in four stages: the 2022 breakthrough of Large Language Models, the 2023 surge around ChatGPT, the 2024 rise of multimodal AI (integrating text, voice, images, and video), and the 2025 dominance of Google’s Gemini as foundational infrastructure. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude distinguished itself through autonomous AI agents, capable of handling complex, multi-step tasks without human intervention.
“AI now functions as a digital assistant for tasks previously beyond human capability,” Xiong explained.
The critical shift arrived with the API integration phase, where AI tools became accessible to businesses on a large scale. Companies like AWS, Google, and Anthropic now lead this space, each offering distinct advantages—AWS for versatility, Google for computational power and data resources, and Anthropic for problem-solving efficiency. Despite OpenAI’s 300 million daily users, financial constraints led to the shutdown of Sora, its AI video tool.
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“Teams that haven’t adopted these tools risk falling behind,” Xiong warned.
Trip.com’s approach to AI has been measured. Rather than investing heavily in model training, the company has integrated existing solutions where practical. Customer service automation has delivered the most immediate results: support contact rates dropped from nearly 40% to 7%, with AI managing refunds, itinerary adjustments, and even identifying $40,000 tickets incorrectly priced at $2,000 before airlines could correct them.
Analytics and operational tools have enhanced route planning and marketing precision, though Trip Genie, the AI-powered travel assistant, remains under development. While voice-based bookings work effectively, AI’s ability to inspire and discover diverse travel options still requires improvement. “Travel preferences vary widely,” Xiong noted. “We’re still refining this area.”
Balancing AI Accuracy with Human Trust
On fully automated bookings, Xiong expressed caution. “AI achieves around 98% accuracy,” he said. “Would you trust a system with a 2% error rate for critical transactions?” For high-stakes processes, near-perfect reliability is essential.
He also rejected the notion that AI would eliminate engineering roles. “Engineers spend only 10 to 15% of their time writing new code,” he explained. “AI assists with that portion, but it doesn’t replace the broader scope of their work.” Trip.com has not reduced its engineering workforce—instead, it encourages teams to focus on higher-value initiatives.
A major hurdle remains in NDC (Distribution Capability) infrastructure. AI-driven traffic is expanding rapidly, yet backend systems scale incrementally—growing by just 3 to 5% annually, while bot-generated demand could double monthly. Trip.com’s NDC solution, now active with 11 airlines, has slashed response times from eight seconds to one second, increasing conversions. For budget carriers, search speeds improved from over five seconds to under one second.
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“We prioritize proven, functional solutions over untested concepts,” Xiong stated.
Corporate Travel’s Untapped AI Potential
Corporate travel represents the next opportunity. The TMC (Travel Management Company) market lacks a dominant player, with no single firm matching the scale of major online travel agencies. The sector faces complex technology needs, high customization demands, and strong corporate bargaining power. However, AI simplifies custom development, making it more feasible.
Trip.biz, Trip.com’s TMC division, contributes 5% of revenue but ranks among the top five globally by transaction volume. Xiong predicted AI would accelerate industry consolidation. “The TMC space will increasingly rely on technology, and AI is making that transition possible.”
His final message was direct: AI presents an opportunity, not a risk. Early adopters will gain an advantage, while hesitant firms risk obsolescence. “AI excels at demonstrations, but real success depends on commercial execution,” he concluded. “Companies will rise or fall based on their ability to apply these tools effectively.”
The travel industry’s future hinges on how quickly companies can implement AI solutions. The question is no longer whether AI will reshape travel, but whether businesses will act fast enough to leverage it.