On September 10, at the 2025 TravelDaily Conference, DerbySoft Co-founder and CEO Ted Zhang and Fliggy Chief Strategy Officer and General Manager of Corporate Development Yanmin Shi discussed AI-driven travel entrepreneurship.
Will AI become the next traffic entry point for online travel?
Shi commented: “AI will definitely become the next traffic entry point for online travel, and this trend has already started to emerge. At the same time, the travel industry’s supply chain is highly complex and fragmented, with data scattered across silos. If a startup can leverage AI’s computing power and personalization to unlock this fragmented data, address user friction, deliver services at lower cost and higher efficiency, and achieve a sustainable business model, it can open a new lane in the industry.”
Zhang noted: “General-purpose large models will change how traffic is directed, but that doesn’t mean they will completely reshape the industry’s structure. Traffic is just an entry point—ultimately, what matters in travel is service capability. Even in this new technology wave, established companies like Trip.com and Tongcheng—with deep roots in service—will continue to hold a strong position. AI will transform front-end touchpoints, but the real foundation of the travel experience remains the underlying service capabilities and systems.”
Both agreed that current AI applications still have clear shortcomings and the user experience is not yet optimal—but the trajectory of improvement is steady.
