Generative AI can be used for more than just travel bookings.

Duve, which supplies technology products to more than 1,000 hotel companies, is set to test products powered by the latest version of OpenAI, GPT-4.

While there is talk of the vast array of possibilities that generative AI could have on the travel industry, most of the focus and action so far has been on consumer-facing travel planning and booking capabilities. OpenAI announced last week that it’s partnering with Expedia Ground and Kayak, among a few other tech companies, on a plugin to marry ChatGPIT’s travel plan generation and booking.

Duve — which provides software for digital check-in, check-in, guest relations and more — is among the first travel tech companies to share how it plans to use generative AI to power business-to-business products. The Israel-based company recently opened a waiting list for hotel companies interested in beta testing its new software, which will begin in the coming days.

“Until now, we haven’t put any AI into our product, and obviously, everywhere is moving in that direction,” said Adair Ron, Dove’s chief marketing officer. “We’ve been working behind the scenes for a while, and we felt it was the right time to start showing what we have.”

The biggest focus now is how OpenAI technology can improve the communication hub between hotel staff and guests.

Ron High Demand is a product that helps hotel staff prioritize customer messages. A message sent five minutes ago about today’s reservation, for example, may be more relevant than a message sent three days ago about next month’s reservation. But organizing them manually can lead to late responses and poor customer reviews.

AI analyzes the messages and related data to help employees decide which ones should be prioritized, Ron said. In addition, the generating AI can summarize the message in sentences – especially helpful for the typical long message – and the hotelier can edit and draft a response.

Ron said, “The five use cases we’re starting with that I think we’ve heard our customers really enjoy are sentiment analysis and prioritization because that really makes a difference in the life of a front desk manager.

Dove Creative is testing how AI can make existing advisory services easier. The company already offers a service that allows hotels to make personalized recommendations for guests, but this copy is handwritten by Dove.

“Instead of manually curating that content and writing hundreds of posts — some of our clients manage 300, 400, 500 posts at any given time directly to specific customer types and interests — developing with AI allows you to create content that’s more meaningful and faster,” said Ron.

The company continues to test how the technology from OpenAI can strengthen its products and become more fundamental. One option is to use AI to analyze customer reviews and draw information that can lead to improvements in operations or customer service. Another is using AI to explore Dove’s supplier marketplace so that hotels can find additional services that are most important to guests.

The hospitality industry as a whole worries that more automation will take away the personal touch that some hotel guests enjoy, but Ron argues that using this type of technology will allow staff to spend more time interacting with guests.

“It’s really about empowering hoteliers to reduce clutter, reduce congestion costs, remove technology barriers and focus on one-on-one personal interactions,” he said.

It’s too soon to tell how well hotels will respond to these new AI capabilities that Duve is offering. But it’s an early example of how generative AI is impacting other sectors of the travel industry. As others have pointed out, eventually there will be designers sharing how generative AI can enhance the design of next-generation airplanes and modern airports.