- More than 30 airlines, hotel groups and theme parks join growing ecosystem as AI booking gains traction
- Surging AI-driven travel orders signal shifting consumer trust — and potential pressure on legacy OTA platforms
Alibaba Group is accelerating its bet on AI-powered travel services, with its online travel arm Fliggy and the Qwen AI assistant announcing partnerships with more than 30 additional travel brands, bringing the total number of collaborating domestic and international partners to over 80.
The expansion marks one of the most aggressive attempts yet by a major tech platform to embed generative AI directly into travel booking workflows, transforming chat assistants into full-service transaction channels rather than recommendation tools.
Under the partnership, airlines, hotel operators and theme parks will integrate with Fliggy and the Qwen app’s “AI tasking” capabilities, enabling users to plan trips, compare options and complete bookings through natural-language interactions while accessing exclusive subsidies and member perks available only within Qwen.
New airline partners include Sichuan Airlines, Capital Airlines, China Express, Cathay Pacific Airways and Etihad Airways.
Hotel groups joining the ecosystem span Hyatt Hotels Corp., Dossen Hotel Group, Sunmei Group, GreenTree Hospitality Group and Jinling Hotels.
Theme park partners include Hengdian World Studios, Universal Studios Singapore, Singaporean Oceanarium and Singapore’s Adventure Cove Waterpark.
The latest partnerships build on an earlier collaboration announced about a month ago involving more than 40 travel brands, including China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Wanda Hotels & Resorts and Shanghai Disney Resort.
Combined, the two rounds now give Qwen users access to discounts, instant coupons, hotel breakfast packages and late checkout benefits, with savings reaching as much as 300 yuan ($44) per booking.
Early data suggest consumers are rapidly embracing AI as a new transaction interface. During the Spring Festival holiday, Fliggy’s AI-generated orders surged more than 800% from the previous period, while AI ticket bookings jumped more than 24-fold, Qwen says, without specifying the comparison timeframe.
Besides, about 130 million users tried AI shopping for the first time during the same period, generating nearly 200 million orders, Qwen says.
Travel purchases — traditionally considered high-value and decision-intensive — performed strongly through the new channel. Average airline ticket transactions exceeded 700 yuan, while hotel bookings averaged close to 300 yuan per night, indicating growing user confidence in AI-assisted purchasing decisions.
Qwen executives said the figures demonstrate that travel services can gain traction through AI channels just as quickly as lower-cost everyday purchases such as food delivery or movie tickets, signaling rising trust in AI agents handling complex transactions.
New features currently in testing will allow users to select hotel room types, complete payments in-app, modify existing bookings, cancel orders and track refunds entirely through dialogue-based interactions.
Industry analysts say Alibaba’s latest moves could gradually challenge the dominance of traditional online travel agencies such as Trip.com Group and Tongcheng Travel.
As AI assistants combine user stickiness, ecosystem integration and expanding service scenarios, seamless conversational booking experiences may weaken long-standing competitive moats built on traffic control, platform scale and proprietary data advantages.
