Thomas Cook launches AI-powered holiday search experience via ChatGPT

Online travel agency Thomas Cook has joined a handful of early travel adopters by announcing the rollout of a new AI-powered holiday search experience, developed using OpenAI’s third-party Model Context Protocol (MCP) tooling and accessible through ChatGPT.

This new app enables ChatGPT to search Thomas Cook’s live package holiday inventory - including flight and hotel combinations - on behalf of users, transforming the AI assistant into a conversational travel search tool rather than a traditional text-based results engine. 

Instead of browsing static listings or clicking through external links, customers can search for holidays using natural language prompts by using the Thomas Cook app housed inside ChatGPT, such as “Find me a seven-night all-inclusive holiday to Greece in July under £2,000”. Results are then returned directly within ChatGPT as rich, interactive widget-style cards.

These widgets display key booking information at a glance, including hotel imagery, star rating, board basis and live pricing - offering a significantly more intuitive experience than standard text listings typically surfaced within AI platforms.

Each widget also includes a direct link to the Thomas Cook booking checkout page, allowing customers to move seamlessly from AI conversation to purchase without restarting their search journey via the Thomas Cook website.

Tomasz Lis, AI Advocate at eSky Group, parent company of Thomas Cook, said:

“Artificial intelligence is already part of everyday life for many of us, so it’s important we embrace this and find ways to genuinely add value to the customer experience. We’ve now enabled ChatGPT to actively search our holiday inventory and present results in a highly visual, intuitive way - making it faster and easier for customers to find and book the right holiday for them.”

Customers booking with Thomas Cook can choose from over 20,000 hotels across 72 destinations throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, and enjoy flexible travel options with more than 190 airline partners. All package holidays are ATOL protected, giving customers peace of mind and enhanced financial security, as well as the reassurance of ABTA's Code of Conduct.