Chatbot for TMCs scoops Iata NDC hackathon prize

A white-label ‘chatbot’ for TMCs has won the Iata NDC hackathon in Berlin.

A white-label ‘chatbot’ for TMCs has won the Iata NDC hackathon in Berlin.

‘Nina’ is capable of blending corporate travel policy and user preferences, delivered through messenger platforms.

It was judged to be the most commercially viable and best executed project from the 22 presented in ‘the business traveller journey’ challenge.

Nina was developed using the APIs of Iata NDC and British Airways and executed using the Slack messenger service.

Barcelona-based travel technology company Caravelo developed and delivered Nina.

Caravelo chief executive Inaki Uriz, said: “We believe that chatbot technology will revolutionise the way that travellers interact with travel providers.

“We also believe that traditional TMCs have a vital role to play in managing corporate travel – but that through utilising Nina they can scale up their communication capabilities quickly, to the standard that travellers will soon expect.

“Travellers want instant responses and suppliers across the industry recognise that.

“Chatbot technology has very broad usage, from managing business travel, up-selling through to managing disruption.

“Everywhere suppliers interact with customers, chatbots can be deployed.”

Nina will be presented by Caravelo at the Iata Business Travel Summit in Geneva on June 22-23.