The OTA's customers will now be able to search live holiday deals from within ChatGPT by describing what they're looking for in their own words, such as asking for family-friendly hotels with a water park or short-haul city breaks within 30 minutes of the airport.
Searches will return tailed package holiday deals from On the Beach within ChatGPT, as well as a direct link to book, which the OTA claims makes it "the first UK online travel agent to integrate with ChatGPT apps".
On the Beach said the development came in response to a growing trend towards travellers using large language models (LLMs) to help with their holiday research, and follows a year-on-year increase in traffic to its website from LLMs.
The announcement comes days after On the Beach confirmed it was entering into consultation with a number of employees whose roles may be put at risk as it aims to automate more of its processes.
'Thinking naturally about holidays'
Group product manager Gemma Lapington said: “Holiday search doesn’t always start with a destination in mind, or a set of filters - it’s more often an idea, a bit of inspiration, or even a spontaneous mid-week search when the weather at home is terrible.
"Now we’re live inside ChatGPT, customers can search how they naturally think about holidays, whether that’s 'somewhere I can chase the sun next week' or 'a lively hotel where I don’t need a cab to get to bars and restaurants' and receive real-time package holidays that match that they can click through and book."
Lapington added: "It takes the hard work out of shortlisting the right holiday, removing the need for rigid filters or multiple tabs. Customers simply describe what they want and can refine it as they go by asking follow-up questions, conversationally. We then provide live, bookable deals from millions of available holiday combinations."
Last Thursday (26 March), On the Beach entered into a 45-day consultation process with staff over proposals to further "automate" or "streamline" some of its processes. Chief executive Shaun Morton said: "As we continue to invest in technology to support our future growth, some of our processes can now be automated or streamlined.
"As a result, we are proposing changes which may put some roles at risk. We understand this is difficult news for those affected and will support them fully through the consultation process."
