When people are booking holidays, they’re not browsing your website calmly with a cup of tea and unlimited patience. They’re comparing prices across five tabs, messaging friends about dates, checking Instagram for inspiration, and getting annoyed about school holiday price hikes.
If you run a travel business in South Africa, you already know this kind of decision-making isn’t as charming as the TV ads will have you believe. Availability is of the essence. If you’re asleep at 11pm when that customer has a question about a trip, your competitors will have a chatbot who is wide awake and ready to answer.
This is where AI earns its money. Not as a flashy futuristic piece of tech, but as an easy way to remove friction and help your customers finish the trip they start planning at any time of the day, night, or weekend.
Where Travel Bookings Fall Apart (And Why Experience Design Services Fix It)
Most abandoned bookings don’t happen because of price. They happen because of irritation.
One extra click.
Another confusing form.
A redirect to a site with a weird name. Or a FAQ without an answer.
Modern travellers want the basics done well:
- Instant answers (not a 24-hour email drought about visas).
- Personalised suggestions that feel relevant, not generic.
- Pricing that updates in real time without last-minute surprises.
- A booking flow that doesn’t feel like a workout.
This is where Experience Design Services make a difference. Instead of forcing everyone through the same rigid path, experience design research determines what each traveller is trying to do, and finds a way to execute the plan that creates the least amount of friction for your users.
And these days, more often than not, there’s an AI-powered solution to the problems we find.
Chatbots That Can Really Helm the Travel Industry
Let’s be honest: travel chatbots are not known for being stellar examples of Artificial Intelligence. Ask them about baggage allowances and they take you on a spiritual journey. Ask about peak-season prices and they have been known to keel over and die.
But that’s changing fast, because AI chatbot developers in South Africa are really starting to understand how local customers behave.
Modern travel chatbots can:
- Switch naturally between English, Zulu, Afrikaans and any other language.
- Handle complex multi-tiered requests like “pet-friendly, near Hermanus, Easter weekend, under R2 000 a night”.
- Complete bookings through conversation, including payment and confirmation.
- Deal with post-booking changes without sending customers in circles.
Look at FlySafair. Their assistant fields thousands of questions a day during peak season and it’s much more than “Where’s my boarding pass?”
This isn’t about replacing humans who will always be an integral part of the hospitality world.. It’s freeing them from the repetitive questions that drive them slowly toward insanity, while helping your customers at the very same time.
Faster responses, more leads captured, no customers hanging around until morning hoping someone will reply.
