[ITmedia Business Online] HIS introduces AI to in-store customer service, "contract rate increases by 5 points" What is the system that saved customers who were "lost in search"?

H.I.S. (hereinafter referred to as HIS), a major travel agency, is achieving results by introducing AI.

In January 2025, we introduced a "consultation reservation dashboard" that uses AI to support consultants' customer service at approximately 150 stores nationwide. The aim is to predict customers' needs based on their search history and provide them with highly satisfying proposals. After introducing the system, the contract rate increased by 5 points.

In August 2026, we began offering travel consultations using ``HIS AI Avatar.'' The AI ​​avatar acts like a concierge, providing information while talking to travelers. Currently, it is in the stage of demonstration experiment.

We interviewed HIS about the aims and results of the "Consultation Reservation Dashboard" and "AI Avatar" initiatives.

How do you make proposals that meet customer needs? Utilize AI and data

HIS has strengths such as a rich variety of travel plans and price competitiveness that leverage its global network. Depending on the area, there may be thousands of plans for a single destination. As a result, there are many customers who search for plans online but become overwhelmed by the amount of information and end up getting lost in the search.

HIS has about 150 stores nationwide and provides free travel consultations for such customers. Approximately 60% of travel reservations are made via the company's website, but approximately 40% are made at other points of contact other than online, including in-store. Customers who visit stores tend to have a strong desire to travel, and the average cost per customer for in-store reservations is approximately twice that of online reservations.

Traditionally, in-store travel consultations were based on basic information such as ``destination,'' ``travel period,'' ``duration,'' and ``number of people'' that the customer entered in advance on a reservation form. As a result, customers had to listen to their detailed needs in-store, and even with a 90-minute slot available, they were still unable to select products that perfectly matched the customer's needs.

To solve this issue, HIS has developed a consultation reservation dashboard that uses AI to analyze customer needs. The AI ​​mainly refers to the page information that customers viewed on the HIS website before visiting the store. Based on this information, AI analyzes and presents ``customer interests'' and ``points to be discussed.''

“Since 2016, we have been using the CX platform “KARTE” provided by Plaid to collect user tracking information and use it to personalize recommendations. We developed a consultation reservation dashboard by utilizing this system.'' (Keisuke Suzuki, Data Utilization Promotion Team, Sales Management Group, Sales Division, Overseas Individual Travel Sales Division, H.I.S.)

To protect personal information, information is managed using customer numbers rather than names. Below is a sample screen of suggestions made by AI. You can also see the URLs of pages that customers actually viewed.

``Often, I entered ``Hawaii'' as the destination on the reservation form, but I also saw information about ``Okinawa'' on the website. For example, they had entered that they wanted to travel during the Obon period, but they were also looking at information for the year-end and New Year holidays. Some people view more than 1,000 pages within a certain period of time.'' (Mr. Suzuki)

It is said that understanding customer needs in advance, which cannot be read on the reservation form, leads to an increase in the closing rate.