This article is inspired by an interview with Matthieu Chevrier, Chief Digital Officer at Gekko Group, published in DéplacementsPros on April 16, 2025. It highlights the practical applications of artificial intelligence across the group’s platforms with a focus on Teldar Travel, the solution designed for leisure travel agents.
AI already deeply embedded behind the scenes… and soon coming to the user experience.
Early technical applications of AI internally
It all started in 2022, using machine learning for hotel mapping.
"It wasn't generative AI, but it was very practical."
Since then, our teams have also been using generative AI to:
- Generate code more quickly;
- Translate more efficiently;
- Structure our databases.
Tangible projects for leisure travel agents.
A smart assistant for hotel recommendations hôtels
Teldar Travel is developing a smart booking assistant that can provide personalised recommendations based on customer needs.
“We’re looking to develop a travel agent for the Leisure side, capable of offering personalized recommendations.”
Automated customer support, with a human feel
Another AI initiative underway involves automating customer support to handle frequent inquiries faster, while keeping human support for more complex issues.
"This new tool is designed to deliver customised information to travellers and save time for our on-site agents."
A more intuitive and responsive interface
Thanks to AI, the platform is moving towards smoother navigation, with dynamic recommendations and an intelligent search engine.
Challenges and barriers still remain nonetheless.
"Regarding the challenges, the cost of these new tools remains the primary one. The 'build' portion has been significantly reduced with the rise of players like OpenAI, but the production phase represents a very significant cost depending on the amount of data you input into the system. Therefore, it is essential to think carefully about your needs to optimise costs. Finally, data processing is, in our view, still a sensitive topic. In 2025, we decided to mainly use generic data to populate our databases to avoid risks, while waiting for clearer legislation and for initial feedback to be positive."
Unique aspects of the travel market to take into account for creating synergy among industry players.
The business travel market is complex and interconnected, especially when it comes to hotel distribution. The development of APIs is key to integrating customer-focused AI, but it requires cooperation among industry players. Generative AI is an important tool to boost travel agents’ productivity and improve the user experience. Nonetheless, improved synergy and more seamless data sharing are vital to progress the whole sector.
This is the path we are heading down, seeking to maximise the added value of AI, which is already transforming the industry and will continue to shape its future.