Kayak Bets on AI With Natural Language Search

Kayak is leaning into the future of travel tech with a bold experiment: bringing natural language search into its booking platform. Instead of clicking through endless filters, travelers will soon be able to type in exactly what they’re looking for — the way they would ask a friend.

Think requests like “a boutique hotel with late check-out, a rooftop bar, and walking distance to a convention center.” The idea is to make trip planning feel more intuitive, cutting down on the friction that often sends travelers bouncing between multiple websites.

From Experiment to Everyday Use

Kayak has been testing this new search approach through Kayak.ai, a sandbox for AI-first features. There, users can try out conversational queries powered by large language models and get real-time pricing data pulled from hundreds of travel providers.

What works in Kayak.ai, the company says, will eventually be folded into the main Kayak platform — signaling a shift toward making AI not just a side experiment but a core part of the booking journey.

Hospitality’s Role in the AI Race

Across hospitality, the race to adopt AI is gaining momentum. Hotels and booking platforms are experimenting with conversational tools to handle everything from guest questions to trip recommendations. According to Canary Technologies, hotel chatbots already assist with check-in times, amenities, or local dining tips, freeing staff to focus on higher-value interactions. Similarly, Intellias notes that conversational AI is expanding across multiple channels — from hotel apps to social messaging — giving guests 24/7 support in their own language.

The benefits go beyond efficiency. Studies from EHL Hospitality Insights show that accurate, structured hotel data (room types, pet policies, amenities, location details) is becoming critical. Clean data not only supports upselling and personalized offers, but also ensures AI systems deliver reliable answers when travelers use natural language to search. In other words, what used to be “just marketing content” is now the fuel for intelligent booking engines.

The momentum is also evident in new product launches. Intelity recently unveiled its rebranded platform along with GEMS® 2.0 , the next generation of its Guest Experience Management System, and introduced AI Concierge, the first solution powered by its new Nexus AI platform. Designed to unify guest and staff experiences, AI Concierge represents a leap forward in intelligent, integrated hospitality technology, showing how the sector is moving quickly from experimentation to deployment at scale.

The Business Question

Kelly Ungerman, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms, highlights the current paradox: 80% of companies say they’re already using generative AI, but the same percentage admit it hasn’t boosted revenue. “AI is everywhere except in the profit and losses,” she noted at a recent industry forum.

The next frontier, she says, is agentic AI — software that can autonomously complete tasks like bookings, cancellations, or modifications. For hospitality, that could mean smoother service recovery and fewer operational headaches when guests change plans.

Why It Matters for Hospitality Professionals

For those in the hotel and travel sector, the message is clear: AI-driven search is reshaping guest expectations. Properties that ensure their data — from room types to pet policies — is accurate, structured, and easy for AI tools to read will be best positioned to stand out.

Natural language search might not replace the traditional search box overnight, but it’s quickly becoming a new front door for discovery. For hospitality brands, the opportunity lies in being ready when guests walk through it.