Klook partners with Google Cloud to enhance travel experiences with AI

Travel experience platform Klook has teamed up with Google Cloud to improve its services and user experiences through artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to enhance travel experiences while boosting developer productivity.

The partnership builds on Klook’s recent successes in using AI with Google Cloud, particularly in creating and localising content for travel pages, which has reduced production times of Klook by over 80% while also improving translation accuracy and content quality, according to the release. 

This time, the expanded AI partnership will equip Klook’s entire organisation with a shared AI infrastructure layer to tackle travellers’ and merchants’ most pressing needs

Google Cloud will continue to assist Klook in co-developing its AI framework, initially focusing on ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content. The introduction of Google’s generative AI tools has greatly improved Klook’s engineering processes, leading to a 60% increase in efficiency during code reviews and a 70% boost in platform performance,.

Klook’s AI infrastructure layer will power its innovations over 12 months, tackling common challenges faced by customers, partners and internal teams.

One of Klook’s new features, the “shopping guide”, helps travellers make informed choices based on real user feedback and platform data. The feature uses AI to summarise reviews and highlight key points, making it easier for users to compare options, marking the first application of AI solutions by online travel agents in Asia.

Additionally, Klook has launched tools to help merchants gain valuable business insights and improve operations. A recent initiative that turns user reviews into actionable has already led to better service among early pilot partners, with one merchant developing a new attraction product that now accounts for 24% of its total revenue.

Klook’s engineers are also using Gemini Code Assist for testing and generating code, while teams in marketing and finance work on simplifying tasks like search engine optimisation and bill reconciliation.

Bernie Xiong (pictured), CTO and co-founder of Klook, added that the collaboration with Google Cloud is pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in the travel industry. “Even in our earliest explorations with Google Cloud, generative AI has improved Klook’s ability to drive greater efficiencies at scale as we expanded our global footprint, while enabling our teams to innovate and operate more efficiently,” she said.

Xiong added: “Our expanded collaboration with Google Cloud pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in travel, creating a competitive edge that translates into faster, more impactful improvements to customer experience, merchant operations, and internal productivity for the long haul.”

Karan Bajwa, vice president of Google Cloud in Asia Pacific, emphasized that Klook’s shared AI framework will enhance innovation and reduce duplicated efforts. She said: “This puts Klook in a strong position to solidify its first-mover advantage on generative AI, and translate its wealth of travel experience into immense value for its customers and partners, no matter where their journey takes them.”

Don't miss: Klook bolsters localised content and engagement with Google Cloud's gen AI

Back in 2023, Klook and Google Cloud joined forces to further adopt generative AI to amplify the platform's activity content and customer engagement channels.

This comes after the launch of a pilot programme where Klook used Google Cloud’s PaLM 2 large language model via Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Model Garden to translate existing descriptions, tips, and other information about its merchants’ services into Simplified Chinese and Korean.

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