Publicis Sapient helps Marriott Bonvoy launch generative AI tool

Publicis Sapient, the digital consulting arm of ad agency Publicis, advised hotel firm Marriott Bonvoy on generative AI implementation.

Publicis Sapient specifically worked with Homes & Villas by Marriot Bonvoy, a global luxury home rental offering that competes with apps such as Vrbo and Airbnb, on upgrading its search engine with AI technology.

The new AI search feature, which is now live on the Home & Villas website, is built on GPT large language models within the Microsoft Azure OpenAI service.

Travelers can describe their ideal vacation and the tool will suggest destinations and identify specific properties from Home & Villas’ curated list of 140,000 available vacation rentals.

“Finding exactly the right vacation home can be hard and time consuming but no longer,” said Peggy Fang Roe, EVP and chief customer officer at Marriott International. “Building on our deep focus in understanding how customers think intuitively about finding the right vacation home combined with the power of generative AI changes the game in search for vacation rentals.”

Travelers can include as much or as little detail as they want. Some sample searches include “I’m looking for a private villa in Asia with a butler and enough room for 6 people” or “Best A-frame home in the mountains with a fireplace and stunning view.”

The AI tool will provide destinations and properties that match the search criteria, or close alternatives that match as many of the descriptors as possible. The tool will also provide things to do at the location based on the criteria, such as hiking, sightseeing, and dining.

The traditional search bar also remains available on the website.

“Generative AI is set to change the customer experience paradigm and drive new ways for brands to provide value to their customers. The new Gen AI-powered search product for Home & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy is going to transform how guests can search and plan for vacations, while further expanding Marriott’s data and AI capabilities,” said Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient.

Headquartered in Boston, Publicis Sapient has more than 20,000 people across 50+ global offices providing services in strategy, product, experience, engineering, and data & AI.