AirGuru: AI Travel Agent
Client Overview
AirGuru is a prominent Lithuanian travel agency specializing in leisure and exotic vacation packages. With a rapidly growing online presence and an extensive catalog of travel offerings, AirGuru sought to modernize their customer engagement strategy and create more efficient sales channels to meet increasing market demand.
Challenge
AirGuru faced several key challenges in their business operations:
- Rapidly changing inventory: Their website featured 70-120 offers at any given time, with pricing and availability changing frequently
- Customer response delays: Manual process of responding to inquiries led to lost sales opportunities
- Scaling limitations: Human agents couldn't efficiently handle inquiry volume during peak periods
- Data management complexity: Tracking available offers, dates, and prices created bottlenecks
- Customer engagement gaps: Potential customers often abandoned inquiries without timely, personalized responses
System Architecture
Detailed workflow diagram of the AirGuru scraping and data processing pipeline
Key Components
Advanced Web Scraping System
- • Monitors multiple key offer pages on AirGuru's website
- • Extracts comprehensive offer details including multiple dates and prices
- • Processes 70-120 active offers simultaneously
- • Captures full descriptions, imagery, and direct booking links
Multi-Tenant API Architecture
- • Python FastAPI application with modular design
- • Google Cloud infrastructure for scalable computing
- • Cloud SQL database with robust data isolation
- • Docker containerization for consistent deployment
Data Protection & Privacy
Customer Data Handling
- • Encrypted storage of customer contact information
- • Automated data retention and deletion policies
- • Consent management for marketing communications
- • Secure API connections for data transmission
Web Scraping Compliance
- • Respect for robots.txt and rate limiting
- • Ethical data collection practices
- • No collection of personal data from public sources
- • Transparent data usage policies
GDPR Compliance
The system implements GDPR requirements for processing customer data including lawful basis for processing, data minimization, and customer rights management. All email communications include clear opt-out mechanisms and privacy information.
Results & Impact
97%
Response Time
Reduction in customer inquiry response time
35%
Conversion Rate
Increase in booking conversions
160%
Inquiry Growth
Increase in processed inquiries without staff additions
Compliance Outcomes
AI System Governance
Automated Decision Transparency
- • Documented logic for offer selection and ranking
- • Audit trails of customer interactions
- • Version control for recommendation algorithms
- • Performance monitoring and quality metrics
Quality Assurance
- • Regular review of automated responses
- • Accuracy validation of scraped data
- • Customer feedback integration
- • Continuous improvement processes
Automated Marketing Compliance
The email automation system complies with EU marketing regulations including clear identification of commercial communications, accurate sender information, and easy unsubscribe mechanisms in every message.
Lessons Learned
The AirGuru project revealed several valuable insights about AI-powered customer engagement:
- Response speed matters: The dramatic reduction in response time directly correlated with higher conversion rates
- Multiple options drive conversions: Offering 5 date/price combinations significantly increased booking likelihood
- Data freshness is critical: Travel information becomes outdated quickly, requiring sophisticated scraping logic
- Format affects perception: HTML-formatted emails with consistent branding improved customer trust
- Modular architecture enables growth: The system's scalable design allowed for easy expansion as demand increased
Regulatory Context
Travel technology platforms in the EU must navigate several regulatory frameworks:
- GDPR: Requirements for processing customer personal data and marketing consent
- ePrivacy Directive: Rules for electronic marketing communications and cookies
- Package Travel Directive: Consumer protection requirements for travel packages
- Consumer Rights Directive: Transparency and information requirements for online sales
The automated system architecture ensures compliance through technical controls for consent management, data protection, and transparent communication practices that meet EU consumer protection standards.
Future Developments
Building on the success of the initial implementation, planned enhancements include:
- • Predictive analytics to recommend optimal travel packages based on customer preferences
- • Multi-language support to serve international customers in their preferred language
- • Enhanced personalization using customer history and preferences
- • Integration with additional travel inventory sources beyond AirGuru's website
- • Mobile messaging expansion to engage customers through additional channels
Confidentiality Notice
Due to the sensitive nature of travel technology and user data, I have signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Oro guru, UAB (AirGuru).
The information presented in this case study has been carefully reviewed and approved for public disclosure. For inquiries about additional technical details or implementation specifics, please contact jeremyspace2025@gmail.com.