Google brings new travel-centric tools: AI Itineraries, hotel price alerts and more

When it comes to travelling, most people use Google as their go-to source of information, whether it is searching for flights, hotels, possible travel destinations, or landmarks around popular tourist spots. But Google also offers several tools, including Google Flights, which allows users to receive alerts on price drops. This helps you plan better, save money, and, of course, be more efficient when travelling. Now, building on top of this, Google has announced that it is introducing new tools to help users travel better.

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Hotel Price Tracking

Previously, users could track flight prices through Google Flights. Now, Google is extending this functionality to hotels. According to a new blog post by Google, users can now visit google.com/hotels to track hotel prices for their chosen destination.

To enable price tracking, users will receive email notifications if the price of a selected hotel decreases. Google’s system will also take into account filters such as star rating, beachfront availability, and other preferences. This feature is available on both mobile and desktop.

Turn Your Screenshots Into Travel Plans

Many travellers take screenshots of places they want to visit or save social media posts for reference, but these images often get lost in the gallery.

To address this, Google is introducing a new feature in Google Maps that uses its AI assistant, Gemini, to recognise places in your screenshots. These locations can also be saved as a list within Google Maps, allowing you to review and share them with your travel group. For now, this feature is limited to users in the U.S. and is available in English on both iOS and Android, with a broader rollout expected soon.

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Google Gemini For Travel Inspiration

Google has positioned Gemini as a personal assistant that provides both inspiration and information. Now, users can rely on Gemini to find travel destinations, ideas, and the cheapest flights. Additionally, Gemini’s "Gems" feature allows users to customise their AI assistant according to their travel preferences.

AI Overviews In Google Search For Travel Planning

AI Overviews in Google Search are not just for general information, they can also assist in planning day-by-day itineraries. This includes finding activities, restaurants, and even generating travel ideas for entire regions or countries.

For instance, you can ask Google to create an itinerary focused on nature for a specific country. Once generated, you can simply tap Export to share these recommendations via Google Docs or Gmail.

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