The expert spoke about the help of new technologies in travel planning

The tourism industry is actively transforming under the influence of digital solutions, but its key goal remains unchanged — to provide convenient and predictable trips. Mikhail Ostroverkhy, head of Yandex Travel user products, told Izvestia on November 24 about how modern technologies help travelers and simplify the path from planning to the road itself.

According to him, personal recommendations have become more accurate as services analyze more and more user actions, from viewed directions to saved places.

"Using machine learning and recommendation systems, many companies can create a portrait of a user: which directions they viewed, which places they saved to favorites, and where they went before. Based on this information, personalized vacation offers are formed — for example, which destinations should be chosen for the next trip, which cafe to go to. This reduces the search routine and makes the selection faster and easier," the expert said.

In addition, Ostrowerhiy said that travel planning has become much easier: AI technologies take over the selection of tickets, accommodation, routes, weather conditions and schedules. The AI reacts faster than if the traveler were collecting information manually. This reduces travel preparation time and removes a significant part of organizational worries.

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It has also become easier to navigate the place: services are increasingly providing answers at the moment of interaction with the city. The smartphone's camera allows you to instantly get information about an object, and augmented reality shows hints directly on top of real space. Today, it's more important to get an answer here and now — standing in front of the building, rather than looking for screenshots and tabs. Voice queries are also becoming one of the key navigation tools, the expert added.

"The financial part of the trip is very important for many people. Ticket prices are constantly changing: they are affected by seasonality, demand, airline schedules, holidays, and local events. To understand these dynamics, services analyze large amounts of existing data, compare the current price with how the market behaved before, and predict a decrease or increase in value based on AI models. From this analysis, a price calendar appears, which helps you understand when it will be most profitable to buy tickets. This calendar reduces the risk of overpayment and makes it easier to make a decision about buying tickets," the source said.

Ostrowerhiy concluded that digital services allow a person to focus not on organizational details, but on the main thing — emotions, new experiences and freedom of movement.

Alexander Osaulenko, Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, said on July 23 that new destinations for tourists, including international trends, are opening up in Russia. At the same time, there is an increase in demand for travel to the Middle East. He recalled that new destinations are opening up in Russia this year, for example, the countries of the Middle East — Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia. According to international indicators, these areas are among the most advanced in terms of dynamics.

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