#Japan #Tokyo #Corporate Travel #AI Travel #Yusuke Murata

AI Travel's Innovative Solution for Business Travelers

In an era where the cost of hotel accommodation in urban centers is skyrocketing, business travelers often find themselves facing the harsh reality of being unable to book compliant lodging. Many find themselves searching for hotels only to discover that the prices far exceed their company's travel budget, leading them to cancel their trips altogether or make last-minute changes to their schedules.

To address this pressing issue, Transfer Data Inc., headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, has introduced a new function in its cloud-based travel management service, AI Travel, called the "Accommodation Slide Function." This feature automatically suggests alternative areas for accommodation based on a single search, thereby helping business travelers find suitable lodging within their corporate budget constraints.

The Strain of Rising Hotel Prices

Recently, hotel prices in metropolitan areas have been on an upward trajectory, leading to countless instances where travelers must conclude that it's impossible to book within budget as soon as they begin their search. This predicament forces them into tough decision-making scenarios where they may either forgo the trip or spend time reassessing their plans.

Traditionally, the solution has been to broaden the search radius to nearby neighborhoods, which could potentially offer more budget-friendly accommodation options without significantly increasing travel time. However, many travelers lack the necessary local knowledge or information on public transport routes, making this task overly cumbersome.

Consequently, more and more business travelers are giving up on trips, believing that they cannot work within the rules set by their company’s travel expenses guidelines.

What is the Accommodation Slide Function?

The "Accommodation Slide Function" becomes active when a business traveler searches for accommodations in their desired area, only to find that the available options far exceed the preset travel limits. In this case, AI Travel quickly matches the search results with corporate travel policies. If a suitable accommodation within budget is identified in nearby areas, it automatically suggests these options without requiring the traveler to conduct another search.

For instance, if a traveler searches for hotels in Shinjuku and finds that average prices have surged to 30,000 yen per night, which is well above their budget of 15,000 yen, they would normally have to resign themselves to either cancelling their plans or manually searching multiple areas one at a time. However, with the Accommodation Slide Function, as soon as they make their initial search, AI Travel would immediately respond with alternatives such as, "You can stay in Ikebukuro for 12,000 yen per night with a 13-minute train ride and a 5-minute walk to Shinjuku." This not only reopens the traveler’s options but enables them to continue attending their business engagements without interruption.

Benefits of the Slide Function

The introduction of the Accommodation Slide Function yields significant benefits from three perspectives:

1. Ease of finding compliant lodging: It reduces instances of exceeding travel budgets and limits the necessity for subsequent exceptions and justifications.
2. Minimized travel disruption: By concentrating on areas with negligible changes in travel time, it allows for seamless scheduling of meetings and discussions.
3. Real-time availability: It suggests only hotels that are available for reservation, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming vacancy checks.

As a result, travelers can experience the peace of mind that comes with quickly discovering accommodations that comply with their company’s budget while providing more flexibility in scheduling and lowering the administrative burden for corporations.

Technical Framework and Future Roadmap

Since its launch in 2015, AI Travel has supported over 60,000 business travelers across 350 companies. By integrating normalized business travel data with comprehensive information on market hotel pricing, company travel policies, expected travel times, and transportation transfer details, the platform has become adept at estimating which areas are likely to have available accommodations that adhere to corporate guidelines.

In July 2025, Transfer Data Inc. will unveil its "Travel Intelligence Agent" concept, aimed at creating AI agents that understand the unique contexts and needs of individual travelers. The Accommodation Slide Function serves as the first step in addressing the rational concerns of business travelers and is committed to lowering the number of contributed reasons that lead to the abandonment of trips.

Future enhancements will continue to build on this foundation, incorporating features such as automatic itinerary proposals, optimizing sales negotiations, and supporting approval processes to assist with all decision-making surrounding business travel.

Overview of Features

CEO's Perspective

The introduction of this Accommodation Slide Function marks a pivotal first step toward alleviating the frustration of travelers feeling unable to book within budget constraints. Business trips play an essential role in enhancing corporate operations, and denying travel due to accommodation availability translates into significant lost opportunities.

We have continually advocated against superficial implementations of digital transformation that lead to disparate departmental actions with no real operational improvement. This new function seamlessly integrates previously separated data on hotel pricing, travel budgets, and travel times, thereby eliminating the need for travelers to engage in repetitive searches.

Our vision is to provide an AI agent for every business trip in the world, fundamentally transforming the landscape of travel management. We remain dedicated to delivering valuable travel experiences for travelers, administrators, and executives alike, contributing to the overall efficiency of business operations across Japan.

— Yusuke Murata, CEO of Transfer Data Inc.