PORTO/HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - Artificial intelligence (AI) is to make travel planning easier for vacationers, and tourism group Tui wants to accelerate this development. To this end, a first "Digital Hub" was opened in Porto, Portugal, on Monday, Tui announced. At the site, 150 technology experts will initially work on the further development of the Tui app and drive the integration of AI technologies.

"Developing new digital products and services for our customers while ensuring high quality standards is key to our transformation," Group CEO Sebastian Ebel said at the opening of the new site, according to the statement. "Portugal proves that it's not just a destination already, but also a digital innovation center where we're helping to shape the future of tourism."

The travel group previously worked with IT services provider Cocus in the country. Together, they had established a software development center in Porto starting in 2017. Now, Tui is taking over the existing facility itself and turning it into its first digital hub. By the end of the year, the workforce is expected to grow from the current 150 to 200 employees. Two more hubs are to follow, one in Poland and one in India.

"It will fundamentally change the way people plan and book their trips in the future," Tui IT boss Pieter Jordaan had recently declared during an initial test run with the ChatGPT text robot. Sample users in the UK receive personalized suggestions for excursions and answers to questions about vacation destinations via AI. Germany will follow after the test phase is complete, Jordaan said. "If all tests are successful and we are satisfied with the security, we want to launch the product by the end of the year."/fjo/DP/men