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Searching for flights by typing destinations and comparing fares across tabs may no longer be the default way people plan trips online. Online travel platform, ixigo, is now pushing a different approach – one where users can simply talk to an AI assistant and let it handle large parts of the journey planning process.
Ijaj Khan is a tech journalist and Senior Content Producer at HT Tech, where he translates the fast-paced world of consumer tech, gaming, and AI into stories that spark curiosity and connection. Always on the lookout for the next big trend, he believes technology should be as relatable as your everyday conversations. When he’s not decoding gadgets and innovations, you’ll likely find him hopping across cities, chasing new adventures, and sampling cuisines that tell their own stories.
At its tech event, ixigo NEXT, the company introduced a rebuilt version of its app that has been developed around artificial intelligence from the start. Instead of adding AI features later, ixigo says it redesigned the entire app experience to work around conversations, voice prompts and automated travel assistance.
At the centre of this new strategy is TARA, a multimodal AI assistant that can interact with users through voice, text and taps. The assistant currently supports English, Hindi and Hinglish, with more languages expected to be added later.
According to ixigo, the goal is to reduce the need for users to move through multiple booking screens or rely on keyword-based searches. TARA is designed to understand natural requests and provide travel suggestions based on user intent.
For example, users can ask for hotel recommendations in specific locations with detailed preferences, such as rooms facing landmarks or properties with certain facilities. The assistant can also build multi-city travel plans through regular conversation instead of manual search filters.
The company says TARA is integrated into the app’s core system instead of functioning like a separate chatbot window. That allows the assistant to access travel history, booking patterns and user preferences to offer recommendations that are more contextual.
ixigo also showcased how the assistant can respond to indirect travel-related prompts. A message such as “I forgot my anniversary, help me” can trigger suggestions for short trips, hotels or staycations based on the user’s previous activity and preferences.
The platform is also expanding AI support beyond trip discovery. TARA can monitor flights in the background, track delays, manage cancellations and process refunds. Users can also receive updates related to weather conditions, airport terminals, boarding gates and lounge availability.
Another addition is Trip Mode, a feature that groups post-booking travel details into a single dashboard. It includes boarding passes, baggage belt updates, boarding information and real-time alerts during travel.
The company is also introducing what it calls “agentic” travel services. In this setup, AI agents handle certain travel-related tasks automatically without requiring repeated user input.
For flight travellers, ixigo’s AI system can send boarding passes directly through WhatsApp and allow users to store them in Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Digi Yatra-supported services. If flight schedules or gate numbers change, the boarding pass information updates automatically. The company says its AI systems will also support hotel stays by coordinating with hotels before check-in to confirm room readiness and reduce delays during arrival.
Rajnish Kumar, Group Co-CEO at ixigo, said the company believes travel platforms will increasingly move toward AI-led systems that can understand user intent and assist travellers before, during and after their journeys.
Ijaj Khan is a tech journalist and Senior Content Producer at HT Tech, where he translates the fast-paced world of consumer tech, gaming, and AI into stories that spark curiosity and connection. Always on the lookout for the next big trend, he believes technology should be as relatable as your everyday conversations. When he’s not decoding gadgets and innovations, you’ll likely find him hopping across cities, chasing new adventures, and sampling cuisines that tell their own stories.
