The Future Of Planning Your Trip

http://www.fastcolabs.com/3037306/elasticity/a-watson-powered-travel-agent-from-the-founder-of-travelocity I travel a lot with my family, and there is a lot more to decide than just hotel reservations and flight information. While websites like Expedia and Kayak are allowing us to find the best rates on hotels and flights, there is so much more that goes into planning a trip. When I am looking for a restaurant to go to with my family, I am on a number of different sites looking for reviews, menu's, proximity, etc. I am using Yelp, Trip Advisor, Google Maps, Zagat, all to find a place to eat when traveling. On top of that, I never really know what type of events are going on in that specific area. There isn't a 'hub' for me to find comprehensive information about where I am staying, and what I can do there. Instead of vacations being relaxing, they have become stressful because of the amount of info on so many sites that my family just cannot make up their minds. I recently traveled to Chicago and my mom had printed out a 15 page document detailing every website with everything there was to possibly do in the 2 days we were there. While the internet is allowing more exposure than ever before when it comes to information on restaurants, concerts, festivals, hotels, it also allowing a huge amount of clutter. This is where this new technology comes in. Its is called the Watson-Powered Travel Agent that uses a search tool that allows users to search specifics like "Im in the mood for some live jazz in Austin tonight" and get reccomendations that streamlines data from Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Trip Advisor etc. It is a new way to find exactly what your are looking for without visiting 100 sites to get there. Soon this website will include data about weather, traffic, venue check outs, and how people enjoy different areas. Many companies collect data on their users, but none are optimizing it to their full potential. This website will change how we travel and how we search to make coming to a city more exciting and engaging. Here is a video showing the process