Method for assisting in booking accommodation products through travel service platform

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform. And receiving an interaction statement for requesting to reserve the accommodation product, which is input by a user in a voice input mode, at a client of the travel service platform. And presenting an accommodation product list retrieved from an accommodation product information base of the travel service platform based on a demand information set to the user, wherein the demand information set comprises at least one piece of demand information, extracted from the interaction statement, of the user for the accommodation product expected to be reserved. And for the accommodation product selected by the user from the presented accommodation product list, executing an accommodation product booking and ordering process. Therefore, the operation difficulty of reserving accommodation products by the user is obviously reduced, and the user experience is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to travel services, and in particular to a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform. Background Art

[0002] In the WEB2.0 era, the interface of Internet products is based on computer language and is written according to the logic of computer processing. In the process of providing services to users, multiple decision points where users need to make decisions are designed as interactive processes, and branch options are designed at each interactive process node (option) to guide users step by step to complete condition input and result screening, and finally find the information they want, such as the goods they want to buy, the services they want to book, etc.

[0003] In the booking scenario of accommodation products such as hotels or B&Bs, completing the booking of accommodation products requires users to enter several important information, such as time, location, desired price range, expectations / preferences for hotels or B&Bs, etc.

[0004] For example, in the hotel booking scenario, the user's real needs are often as follows: I want to book a hotel in a certain place on a certain date, within X yuan. It contains multiple parameters, such as time, location, price range, etc. In some cases, the user's formal needs can also include some preference information.

[0005] In the existing Internet service products of the WEB2.0 era, at least two pages are often designed. The first page asks users to fill in the time and place, and another list is provided for users to fill in the expected price range and preference information (such as POI, distance, etc.). After the user fills in the settings page by page and item by item, the search can be carried out. The process is very cumbersome.

[0006] Figures 1A to 1D The four-jump interface of the existing accommodation product booking process is schematically shown.

[0007] Figure 1A This is the hotel product search interface, where users need to enter the destination city, such as "Shanghai", and check-in date.

[0008] In addition, in some cases, users can further fill in specific location, brand, hotel and other information, and can also enter price information and hotel rating and other preference information.

[0009] The user clicks the "Search Hotels" button and the interface jumps to Figure 1B The search result presentation interface shown in the figure shows Figure 1A A list of hotels found based on the information entered in the search.

[0010] User in Figure 1BSelect a hotel from the hotel product list in the search result display interface, such as "DEF Hotel", and the interface will jump to Figure 1C The hotel details interface shown shows the hotel information in detail and lists the available room types of the hotel.

[0011] User in Figure 1C Select the room type in the hotel details interface shown, confirm the reservation and place the order, and the interface will jump to Figure 1D The booking order interface shown.

[0012] User in Figure 1D Enter or confirm the reservation room information and check-in guest information on the reservation order interface shown, click Submit, and complete the hotel room reservation.

[0013] It can be seen that the existing accommodation product booking process is very cumbersome. If the user is not very proficient in Internet products, or if the user is an elderly person with unclear eyesight and inflexible fingers, the efficiency and usability of the product will be greatly challenged.

[0014] Therefore, in the field of travel services, there is still a need for a method that can improve user efficiency and usability when assisting users in booking accommodation products. Summary of the invention

[0015] A technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide a method capable of improving user efficiency and usability when assisting users in booking accommodation products.

[0016] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform is provided, comprising: receiving an interactive statement of a user requesting to book an accommodation product through voice input on a client of the travel service platform; presenting to the user a list of accommodation products retrieved from an accommodation product information library of the travel service platform based on a demand information set, the demand information set including at least one item of demand information of the user for the accommodation product desired to be booked extracted from the interactive statement; and executing an accommodation product booking order process for an accommodation product selected by the user from the presented accommodation product list.

[0017] Optionally, before executing the step of placing an order for an accommodation product reservation, the method further includes: receiving interaction information further input by the user; presenting to the user a list of accommodation products retrieved from an accommodation product information library based on an adjusted set of demand information, wherein the adjusted set of demand information is obtained by supplementing or modifying a previously obtained set of demand information based on the demand information extracted from the interaction information.

[0018] Optionally, the step of receiving interaction information further input by the user includes: identifying demand information from the content of the input box obtained by the user from other applications and input into the client to supplement the demand information set, and the content includes at least one of pictures, texts, files and links.

[0019] Optionally, the step of receiving interactive information further input by the user includes: in the case where core class demand information is missing in the demand information set, prompting the user to input the missing core class demand information to supplement the demand information set, wherein the core class demand information includes location information, time information and price information of the accommodation product desired to be booked; and / or in the case where core class demand information is not missing in the demand information set, and the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is more than a first threshold, outputting a preference class demand inquiry statement to the user to inquire the user about preference class demand items that are not yet included in the demand information set to obtain corresponding preference class demand information; and / or in the case where the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is less than a second threshold, inquiring the user whether to adjust at least one item of demand information to increase the number of accommodation products that meet the demand information.

[0020] Optionally, when the number of accommodation products retrieved based on a previously obtained set of demand information is greater than a first threshold, the accommodation product screening effect that can be achieved by asking the user for at least one preference-type demand item is evaluated based on the information of the currently retrieved accommodation products, and the preference-type demand item to be asked of the user is determined based on the evaluation result; and / or when the number of accommodation products retrieved based on a previously obtained set of demand information is less than a second threshold, based on the number of search results that can be increased by adjusting the demand information in at least one way, suggestions on ways to adjust the demand information are provided to the user.

[0021] Optionally, the demand information includes core demand information and preference demand information, the preference demand information includes first preference demand information and second preference demand information, each item of first preference demand information corresponds to an attribute of an accommodation product with a certain value range, and accommodation products that meet the first preference demand information are screened according to the values ​​of the corresponding attributes of each accommodation product in the accommodation product information library; the second preference demand information corresponds to labels pre-marked for accommodation products in the accommodation product information library, and accommodation products that meet the second preference demand information are screened according to the labels.

[0022] Optionally, the label includes at least one of the following: a label marked by the values ​​of two or more attributes of the integrated accommodation product; a label marked according to the travel information and / or evaluation information and / or question and answer information of users who have previously stayed there; a label marked according to content information submitted by content sharing users of the travel and travel service platform for the accommodation product; a label marked according to content data about the accommodation product retrieved from the Internet.

[0023] Optionally, the method also includes at least one of the following: extracting preference demand information for the accommodation product to be booked from the user's consultation questions regarding the accommodation product presented to the user; obtaining preference demand information for the accommodation product to be booked based on the travel scenario; obtaining the user's preference demand information for the accommodation product based on the user's historical accommodation product booking orders.

[0024] Optionally, the method also includes at least one of the following: obtaining answers to consulting questions about accommodation products based on attributes or tags in the accommodation product information library; obtaining answers to consulting questions about accommodation products from a pre-prepared question and answer library; if answers to consulting questions about accommodation products cannot be obtained from the accommodation product information library or the pre-prepared question and answer library, searching and generating answers to consulting questions about accommodation products from content information submitted by content sharing users of the travel service platform for accommodation products and / or descriptive information about accommodation products provided by the travel service platform.

[0025] Optionally, the method also includes at least one of the following: presenting an interactive interface jump control on the search page of accommodation products on the client of the travel service platform, and presenting a conversational interactive interface in response to the user clicking the interactive interface jump control, wherein an interactive statement is received on the conversational interactive interface, and a list of accommodation products is presented; when the list of accommodation products is presented in the conversational interactive interface, in response to the user clicking the reservation order control to select the desired accommodation product, or receiving a reservation order instruction for the desired accommodation product entered by the user through voice input, the reservation order process for the accommodation product is started; in response to the user clicking the payment confirmation control on the conversational interactive interface, or receiving a payment confirmation instruction entered by the user through voice input, the payment process is started; in the conversational interactive interface, a modification instruction entered by the user through voice input is received to modify at least one of the following: room type information, time information, traveler information, payment method information, value-added service information, and preferential content information of the accommodation product.

[0026] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a computing device is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory on which executable codes are stored, and when the executable codes are executed by the processor, the processor executes the method described in the first aspect above.

[0027] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising an executable code, and when the executable code is executed by a processor of an electronic device, the processor is caused to execute the method as described in the first aspect above.

[0028] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium is provided, on which executable code is stored. When the executable code is executed by a processor of an electronic device, the processor executes the method described in the first aspect above.

[0029] Therefore, the present disclosure proposes a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform, which significantly reduces the operational difficulty of users booking accommodation products and improves the user experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through a more detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals generally represent like components in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figures 1A to 1D The four-jump interface of the existing accommodation product booking process is schematically shown.

[0032] Figure 2 It is a schematic flow chart of a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform according to the present disclosure.

[0033] Figures 3A to 3E These are multiple exemplary interfaces presented on the client when a user uses the client of a travel service platform to book accommodation products.

[0034] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computing device that can be used to implement the above-mentioned method for assisting in booking accommodation products according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure more thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0036] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of the relevant countries and regions, and provide corresponding operation entrances for users to choose to authorize or refuse.

[0037] With the development of generative pre-trained transformers (GPT) and large language models (LLM) in processing long texts, artificial intelligence (AI) technology can now communicate with people through natural language.

[0038] For problems that can be explained clearly in one sentence in human natural language, it is more convenient to use conversational interaction. For example, in the hotel reservation scenario, the user says "I am going to City A on a business trip from September 18 to 19, looking for a hotel near Building C in Area B, within X yuan", which contains five parameters: time, location, point of interest (POI), distance, and price range.

[0039] Based on this technical background, the inventor of the present invention proposes to change the design concept of Internet service products that have been booming with the mobile Internet in the past 20 years in the accommodation product booking service process of the travel service platform, and rely on the natural language processing capabilities of the large language model to achieve the effect of allowing everyone to book accommodation products with "one sentence".

[0040] In the context of the present disclosure, accommodation products may include hotel products, homestay products, and other products that rely on physical accommodation spaces (such as hotel rooms, apartment rooms, residential rooms, etc.) to provide accommodation services to users.

[0041] At present, in the field of accommodation product booking, online travel agencies (OTA), online travel platforms (OTP), and online travel ecosystems (OTM) across the entire network all adopt the "passive user information collection" model, which requires pre-designing several information input interfaces, waiting for users to click on one interface at a time and fill in relevant information to build a full picture of user needs.

[0042] This disclosure proposes to adopt the "active demand collection" model. For those needs that can be clearly expressed in one sentence in human natural language, such as "I am going to City A on a business trip from September 18 to 19, looking for a hotel near Building C in Area B, within X yuan", the user can directly speak it out through voice input, and then directly obtain the user's demand information from the user's spoken sentence, and then present the user with hotel information that meets the user's needs for the user to choose and place an order.

[0043] In this way, users do not need to go through tedious project screening and form filling operations, they can express their needs just by saying a few words.

[0044] Then, if necessary, through further conversational interaction, you can ask additional questions step by step to gradually understand the user's complete needs.

[0045] In this way, the user experience will become better.

[0046] Moreover, since it is convenient to further obtain more information about users' needs, the search results provided to users will be more accurate.

[0047] Figure 2 It is a schematic flow chart of a method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform according to the present disclosure.

[0048] like Figure 2 As shown, in step S210, the client of the travel service platform receives an interactive statement of requesting to book an accommodation product input by the user through voice input.

[0049] For example, the user can input through voice input "I am going to City A on a business trip from September 18 to 19, and I am looking for a hotel near Building C in Area B, within X yuan."

[0050] At least one item of demand information for the accommodation product that the user wants to book can be extracted from the interactive statement, for example, time information: September 18-19; location information: near Building C, Area B, City A; price information: within X yuan, etc. In this way, a demand information set can be formed, including the demand information extracted from the interactive statement. The operation of extracting demand information can be performed on the client and / or server of the travel service platform.

[0051] The number of requirement information elements in the requirement information set may be 0 (no valid requirement information is extracted), 1, 2 or more.

[0052] Then, based on the demand information set, multiple accommodation products can be retrieved from the accommodation product information library of the travel service platform to form an accommodation product list. The operation of retrieving accommodation products can be performed on the server of the travel service platform, for example.

[0053] In step S220, a list of accommodation products retrieved from an accommodation product information database of the travel service platform based on the demand information set is presented to the user.

[0054] Some voice assistant products can also interact with users through voice. However, in response to user requests, such assistant products can only aggregate information on the Internet, but do not guarantee authenticity, have no ability to verify the authenticity of information, and have no actual transaction capabilities.

[0055] The present disclosure is implemented by relying on a travel service platform, started from the client of the travel service platform, and searches are performed in the accommodation product information database of the platform. All retrieved accommodation products are official and reliable and can be directly booked and ordered in the client.

[0056] Thus, in step S230, if the user selects a hotel product that he or she wishes to book from the list of accommodation products presented to him or her, the process proceeds to step S250.

[0057] In step S250, the accommodation product reservation ordering process is executed for the accommodation product selected by the user from the presented accommodation product list.

[0058] As a result, users can book and order accommodation products through convenient voice input operations, avoiding the tedious operation of filling in information page by page, and significantly improving the user experience.

[0059] If in step S230, the user has not yet selected the hotel product he or she wishes to book, then step S240 may be entered to receive further interactive information input by the user before executing the accommodation product booking order process, so as to gradually discover the user's more complete and accurate real needs in further interactions.

[0060] After the accommodation product list is presented in step S220 , the user may further actively input interaction information in various ways.

[0061] Alternatively, a prompt statement may be provided to the user to prompt the user to further supplement or modify the demand information. The user further inputs the interaction information in response to the prompt statement.

[0062] Alternatively, one or more optional items may be provided to the user as a supplement or modification to the demand information. The user further inputs the interactive information by selecting the optional items.

[0063] When the demand information in the previously obtained demand information set is insufficient to achieve effective screening, for example, when too many results are retrieved, the demand information can be supplemented by further interactive information.

[0064] In addition, in some cases, the interactive information can be used to modify a previously input demand information. For example, if the previously input price range is less than 200 yuan, but there are actually almost no accommodation products that can meet this price range, the price range can be adjusted upward, for example, to about 400 yuan.

[0065] In this way, the client and / or server of the travel service platform can extract further demand information from the further interaction information, supplement or modify the previously obtained demand information set, and obtain an adjusted demand information set. Accordingly, the server of the travel service platform can perform further retrieval.

[0066] Then, the process may return to step S220 to present to the user a list of accommodation products retrieved from the accommodation product information database based on the adjusted set of demand information.

[0067] In this way, through one, two or more interactions, accommodation products that better meet the user's expectations are gradually screened, until the user selects the accommodation product that he or she wishes to book in the accommodation product list presented to him or her, and then enters step S350 to enter the reservation order process to complete the reservation of the accommodation product. The entire process can be achieved through a simple and convenient interactive method, without the need for conventional interface layer-by-layer jumps, form item filling and other complicated operations, and the user experience is very good.

[0068] There may be various ways to further input interactive information to the user. For example, the user may click on the options provided to the user in the dialogue interface to input interactive information, and may interact through simple text input, voice input, etc. Alternatively, the user may also copy content from other applications and paste it into the input box (e.g., dialogue-based interactive interface) of the client of the travel service platform. The content copied from other applications may include at least one of pictures, text, files, and links.

[0069] The client of the travel service platform can receive the content obtained by the user from other applications and input into the input box of the client, and the client and / or server of the travel service platform can identify the demand information contained therein to supplement the demand information set.

[0070] For example, in many cases, the origin of user needs does not come from the client of the travel service platform, but the user comes to the client of the travel service platform with a purpose to find a hotel. In this way, users can copy (obtain) and paste (input) some content containing their needs from other applications and directly input it to the client of the travel service platform as interactive information.

[0071] For example, the content may be a location search result link of a map software. For example, after the user learns the destination of a business trip, he or she searches in a common map software. After searching for the destination, the location search result link of the destination POI can be imported into the input box (e.g., a conversational interactive interface) of the client of the travel service platform. In this way, the client and / or server of the travel service platform can automatically identify the destination from the location search result link, thereby retrieving the hotel, saving the user from entering the address information in the client of the travel service platform.

[0072] For another example, the content can be a screenshot. For example, a user receives travel information sent by others through a message on an instant messaging software. The user can copy and screenshot the travel message in the instant messaging software interface, and then paste it into the input box of the client of the travel service platform (such as a conversational interactive interface). For another example, the user can even take a screenshot of the map of the destination and paste it into the input box of the client of the travel service platform (such as a conversational interactive interface). In this way, through OCR recognition, travel demand information, such as destination address information, etc., can be automatically identified, and the automatically identified travel demand information can be added to the demand information set for further retrieval.

[0073] For another example, the content may be a content link of a content platform or the content of the content platform itself (e.g., text, pictures, videos, etc.). The content platform will have a lot of excellent content about accommodation products, such as Internet celebrity hotels, hot hotels, recommended hotels, etc. Users can input content or content links from the content platform into the input box (e.g., a conversational interactive interface) of the client of the travel service platform. In this way, information about the accommodation products that users wish to book, such as location information, hotel name, and user preference information, can be obtained from these content or content links.

[0074] It should be understood that the "obtain and input" mentioned in the context of this disclosure should be understood broadly. For example, the operation of copying content from other applications (to the clipboard of the terminal system) and then pasting it to the client of the travel service platform should be regarded as an operation of obtaining and inputting. The operation of "forwarding" from other applications to the client of the travel service platform should also be regarded as an operation of obtaining and inputting. The operation of taking screenshots of other application interfaces, saving them to terminal albums or folders, and then uploading the screenshots from the terminal albums or folders to the client of the travel service platform should also be regarded as an operation of obtaining and inputting.

[0075] Some possible ways in which the user further inputs interaction information in step S340 are described above.

[0076] The following describes strategies that may be used to guide the user to further input interaction information in some embodiments.

[0077] The present disclosure proposes that the user's demand information for the accommodation product they wish to book can be divided into core demand information and preference demand information, and the user's experience of booking an accommodation product can be abstracted into three stages: core demand information decision, preference demand information decision, and transaction decision.

[0078] Accommodation products have many different attributes. Some attributes are basically involved when users book accommodation products, such as location information, time information, and price information. The demand information for these attributes is called "core demand information."

[0079] In other words, the core demand information is the demand information that usually needs to be input by the user in order to achieve effective retrieval of accommodation products, and may include, for example, location information, time information, and price information of the accommodation product that is desired to be booked.

[0080] As for other attributes of accommodation products, such as distance, rating, brand, decoration, setting, rights, service level, etc., and some open conditions such as "Internet celebrity hotel" and "cost-effective hotel", etc., they do not always need to be entered as conditions in the search. The demand information for these attributes is called "preference demand information".

[0081] In some embodiments, in the process of receiving interaction information further input by the user, two types of demand information may be processed in a differentiated manner.

[0082] First, it can be determined whether the requirement information set contains all the required core requirement information, that is, whether the user has input all the core requirement information.

[0083] In the case where the core category requirement information is missing in the requirement information set, the user is prompted to input the missing core category requirement information to supplement the requirement information set.

[0084] If one or two core demand information has not been entered, such as time information and / or price information, the search results based on the existing demand information set may be presented first, and the user may be prompted to make additional inputs. Alternatively, the search may be performed again after the user makes additional inputs to present the search results (i.e., a list of accommodation products).

[0085] Even when the core category demand information is missing from the demand information set, the retrieved accommodation product list can generally be presented to the user.

[0086] In addition, in some embodiments, when there is no lack of core demand information in the demand information set, and the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is large, for example, more than a first threshold, a preference demand inquiry statement is output to the user to inquire the user about preference demand items that are not yet included in the demand information set, so as to obtain the corresponding preference demand information.

[0087] In this way, it is first determined whether core demand information is missing, and after the core demand information is collected, it is determined whether it is necessary to further inquire about preference demand information according to the needs (whether the search results can meet the user's needs).

[0088] In some embodiments, when the number of accommodation products retrieved based on a previously obtained set of demand information is greater than a first threshold, the accommodation product screening effect that can be achieved by asking the user for at least one preference-type demand item can be evaluated based on the information of the currently retrieved accommodation products, and the preference-type demand item to be asked to the user can be determined based on the evaluation result.

[0089] In this way, when there are multiple optional preference requirements to be asked to the user, the preference requirements with better screening effects can be selected to be asked, which can also improve the efficiency of users in screening accommodation products and enhance the user experience.

[0090] In addition, in some embodiments, when the user's demand information set conditions are harsh and the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is too small, for example, less than a second threshold, the user is asked whether to adjust at least one item of demand information to increase the number of accommodation products that meet the demand information.

[0091] In some embodiments, when the number of accommodation products retrieved based on a previously obtained set of demand information is less than a second threshold, suggestions for adjusting the demand information can be provided to the user based on the number of search results that can be increased by adjusting the demand information in at least one way.

[0092] For example, if the price range information previously entered is "less than 200 yuan", and it is found through search that there are actually almost no accommodation products that can meet this price range, the user can be asked whether to adjust the price range up, for example, to "around 400 yuan".

[0093] In some embodiments, when the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is less than the second threshold, the conditions for adjusting one or more demand information settings may be given to obtain the search result (accommodation product list).

[0094] For example, when there are too few (or even no) available accommodation products within the set price range near the address set by the user, on the one hand, the user can be informed of the lowest price of accommodation products in the target area, and the search results after adjusting the price range can be given. On the other hand, the distance range relative to the target location can be expanded, and the search results after adjusting the distance range can be given to recommend other accommodation products within a certain range nearby.

[0095] In this way, after one or more rounds of information interaction, the two stages of core demand information decision and preference demand information decision are completed successively. After the user selects an accommodation product in the search results (the list of accommodation products searched), he can enter the transaction decision stage and complete the booking process after confirming the transaction information. The content of the transaction decision may include, for example: order information confirmation, platform discounts, rights and interests, payment channels, value-added services, etc.

[0096] The preference type demand information can be divided into first preference type demand information and second preference type demand information.

[0097] Each item of first preference demand information corresponds to an attribute of an accommodation product with a certain value range, and the accommodation products that meet the first preference demand information are screened according to the value of the corresponding attribute of each accommodation product in the accommodation product information database. The first preference demand information may include, for example, distance, evaluation level, brand, decoration, setting, rights, service level, etc., which have certain value ranges. For example, the value range of the evaluation level is no rating, level one to level five, and the value range of the brand includes the brand to which each accommodation product belongs.

[0098] The second preference demand information corresponds to the labels pre-annotated for accommodation products in the accommodation product information database, and accommodation products that meet the second preference demand information are screened according to the labels. The second preference demand information corresponds to some open conditions, such as "Internet celebrity hotel", "cost-effective hotel", etc. These open conditions correspond to some qualitative questions, and their semantics do not directly contain screening parameters. Screening is achieved by pre-annotating various labels to accommodation products.

[0099] Here, some types of tags may include tags annotated with values ​​of two or more attributes of the integrated accommodation product.

[0100] For example, labels like "high cost-effectiveness" cannot be directly filtered based on ready-made parameters. They need to be comprehensively evaluated based on price and one or more other attributes, and then pre-labeled.

[0101] In addition, labels may be added based on travel information and / or evaluation information and / or question and answer information of users who have previously stayed at the hotel.

[0102] For example, the hotel chosen by users traveling with children can be marked as a "family hotel", and the hotel chosen by users who consider the difference when booking a hotel can be marked as a "business travel hotel".

[0103] In addition, you can also share tags marked with content information submitted by users for accommodation products based on the content of the travel service platform.

[0104] For example, some users will share some content about accommodation products on the travel service platform, such as text, pictures, videos, etc., to describe the accommodation products and accommodation experience. The accommodation products can be labeled based on the content information shared by these content sharing users on the platform.

[0105] In addition, tags can also be added based on content data related to accommodation products retrieved from the Internet.

[0106] For example, when searching for an accommodation product on the Internet, you can add tags based on frequently appearing evaluation terms for the accommodation product.

[0107] These pre-marked tags can better filter out accommodation products that meet user preferences.

[0108] It is described above that the user's preference requirement information can be obtained by receiving interaction information further input by the user. In some embodiments, the user's preference requirement information can also be obtained by other methods.

[0109] In some embodiments, preference information for the accommodation product to be booked can be extracted from the user's consultation questions regarding the accommodation product presented to the user. For example, if the user asks questions about parent-child travel during the consultation process, the user can be considered to have a preference for parent-child hotels.

[0110] In some embodiments, preference demand information for the accommodation product booked this time can be obtained based on the travel scenario. The travel scenario of the user's current trip can be learned, for example, by receiving the user's selection, or can also be determined by analyzing other information of the user. For example, when the travel scenario is a business trip scenario, it can be considered that there is preference demand information for a king-size bed room.

[0111] In some embodiments, the user's preference demand information for accommodation products can be obtained based on the user's historical accommodation product booking orders. For certain attributes of hotels, such as evaluation ratings, services, brands, etc., users often have fixed preferences. Therefore, with the user's permission, the user's preference demand information can be obtained based on the user's historical accommodation product booking orders.

[0112] In addition, for example, when the details of an accommodation product are presented to a user, the user often asks questions related to the accommodation product.

[0113] In response to user questions, answers to consultation questions about accommodation products can be obtained based on the attributes or tags in the accommodation product information database.

[0114] In order to improve the speed, accuracy and coverage of Q&A (the ratio of successfully finding answers to questions), a Q&A database can be pre-built. In this way, answers to consultation questions about accommodation products can be obtained from the pre-prepared Q&A database.

[0115] In some embodiments, when it is impossible to obtain answers to consulting questions about accommodation products from an accommodation product information database or a pre-prepared question and answer database, it is also possible to search for and generate answers to consulting questions about accommodation products from content information submitted by content sharing users of the travel service platform for accommodation products and / or descriptive information about accommodation products provided by the travel service platform.

[0116] The method according to the present disclosure is further described below with reference to examples.

[0117] Figures 3A to 3E These are multiple exemplary interfaces presented on the client when a user uses the client of a travel service platform to book accommodation products.

[0118] Figure 3A This is an example of a search page for accommodation products on a travel service platform client.

[0119] like Figure 3A As shown, an interactive interface jump control is presented on the search page of accommodation products on the client of the travel service platform, for example Figure 3A Shown is a control labeled with the text "Search for hotels" and an icon control next to it representing voice input.

[0120] In response to the user clicking the interactive interface jump control, a conversational interactive interface is presented. An interactive statement input by the user may be received on the conversational interactive interface, a list of accommodation products may be presented to the user in the conversational interactive interface, and a prompt statement or optional items may be output to the user in the conversational interactive interface.

[0121] Figure 3B This is an example of a conversational interactive interface presented on the client of a travel service platform.

[0122] The user can tap the voice input control, such as Figure 3BThe control marked with the text "Press and hold to speak" is shown, and then speak to perform voice input. In this interface, for example, the user can use voice input to input "I am going to City A for a business trip on September 18-19, and I am looking for a hotel near Building C in Area B, within X yuan". In this way, the user can clearly express his demand information for the accommodation product he wants to book in a simple sentence, so that the travel service platform can search for it.

[0123] In addition, in addition to voice input, in some embodiments, the conversational interaction interface also provides users with a variety of simple human-computer interaction input methods, such as text input, and content obtained from other applications such as pictures, text, files, links, etc. can be input by copying and pasting.

[0124] Figure 3C An example of simple human-computer interaction in a conversational interaction interface is shown.

[0125] For example, in the conversational interactive interface, you can ask the user about their travel scenario, "What is your travel scenario this time?" You can also provide several corresponding option controls, such as "business trip", "family travel", "photographing and checking in". The user can click the option control to give an answer, or enter the answer by themselves in various other ways. As mentioned above, some user preference demand information can be extracted from the user's travel scenario.

[0126] For another example, when the travel scenario is "business trip", the user can also be asked about the travel expense standard in the conversational interaction interface, "What is your travel expense standard this time?" Similarly, several travel expense range option controls can be provided for the user to choose, or the user can input it by himself.

[0127] Next to the user's answer, you can also set a default selection control, "Set as Default". If the user clicks on the default selection control, the answer will be recorded as the default requirement information for future bookings of accommodation products.

[0128] If the user has not previously input an interactive statement requesting to book accommodation products through voice input or other means, the user may be asked in the conversational interactive interface, "What is your travel information?" Here, the user may also be prompted to upload content information such as pictures in addition to text in order to extract the required information.

[0129] exist Figure 3CIn the example, before the user inputs an interactive statement requesting to book an accommodation product, the user is first asked several simple, easy-to-answer (for example, just click to select) and relatively important (relatively important demand information, which is of high importance to improving the efficiency of selecting accommodation products that meet the user's expectations) questions, which can also simplify the difficulty of the user inputting the interactive statement to book the accommodation product. When the user inputs the interactive statement through voice input, the questions that have been answered before do not need to be involved again, which reduces the difficulty of the user to organize language.

[0130] After the user inputs travel information in the conversational interaction interface through various input methods such as voice input, at least part of the extracted travel information (demand information), such as target location information and time information, can be presented in the conversational interaction interface, and a list of retrieved accommodation products that meet the user's demand information set can be presented in the conversational interaction interface.

[0131] Figure 3D An example of presenting travel information and search results identified based on user input information in a conversational interaction interface is shown.

[0132] Each retrieved accommodation product can be presented in the form of a card, on which the accommodation product picture, name, review, basic information, room type, price, etc. are presented.

[0133] When the list of accommodation products is presented in the conversational interaction interface, in response to the user clicking on a reservation order control to select an accommodation product to be booked, or receiving a reservation order instruction for the accommodation product to be booked input by the user through voice input, a reservation order process for the accommodation product is started.

[0134] Figure 3E An example of presenting order information in a conversational interaction interface during a reservation ordering process is shown.

[0135] After the user selects an accommodation product and starts the booking process, the order information, such as the guest information, contact information, etc., can be presented in the conversational interaction interface.

[0136] Further, a payment confirmation control "Pay Now" may be presented.

[0137] In response to the user clicking the payment confirmation control in the conversational interaction interface, or receiving a payment confirmation instruction input by the user through voice input, the payment process is initiated.

[0138] In addition, in the conversational interaction interface, at each stage, a modification instruction input by the user through voice input can also be received to modify at least one of the following: room type information, time information, traveler information, payment method information, value-added service information, and preferential content information of the accommodation product. In response to receiving the modification instruction input by the user through voice input, corresponding adjustments can be made.

[0139] For example, if the demand information is changed, the search result is re-searched and presented. If the order information, such as the passenger information, is modified, the corresponding modification is made. If the payment method information is involved, the corresponding switch is made.

[0140] During each stage of accommodation product search, viewing, booking, ordering, and payment, there will be a large number of information reminders, and corresponding modifications are allowed, including but not limited to: date modification, room rate modification, traveler information modification, value-added service modification, payment method modification, discount content modification, etc.

[0141] The platform has the ability to automatically bring in known user information into the ordering process, and then remind the user through conversational interaction whether to confirm the traveler's name, phone number, email address, etc. The user can change these contents through conversation, change the card to pay, and change the time.

[0142] The above describes in detail the method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform according to the present disclosure.

[0143] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, it can help users quickly complete online booking of hotels, homestays and other accommodation needs when traveling, solving the problem of too many steps and high user costs when booking according to the four-step booking process in the existing solution. In some embodiments, natural language conversational interaction is realized, users can ask questions according to their preferences, different recommendations will be given based on the answer results at the decision stage, and supplementary recommendations will be given when there are few results. Compared with ordinary GPT-style question and answer, the introduction of decision-making processes and few recommendations will make the product smarter and better meet user needs.

[0144] User decision-making is a complex process. Currently, because mainstream online travel platforms (OTPs) have not moved towards conversational booking, research on the decision-making process is blank. In an era when large language models are not so smart and understand users, it is necessary to study how to conduct conversational interactions to help users get search results conveniently. Some (sufficiently smart and accurate) branch options (hotel results) can be given to evaluate whether the user is satisfied or not, whether additional questions for preference information are needed, and finally analyze the user's real needs and intentions, and provide accommodation product search results that meet the user's expectations.

[0145] In addition, unlike ordinary GPT question-and-answer platforms that can only gather website information, the travel service platform has a complete order process and system for accommodation products such as hotels, and can display necessary order information for the purpose of booking accommodation products.

[0146] The accommodation product search results presented are all accommodation products that can be booked and ordered on the travel service platform. They are not just simple recommendation information, but real and payable products that can truly meet the travel needs of users.

[0147] As mentioned above, the process of searching for accommodation products on all OTPs and placing reservation orders is very long and complicated, requiring many steps, and the page needs to be loaded continuously, wasting time. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, through input methods such as voice dialogue, an order can be placed in one sentence. After confirming the information and payment channel, the user can say "book" to complete the order. The operation process is simple and convenient, which significantly improves the user experience.

[0148] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a computing device that can be used to implement the above-mentioned method for assisting in booking accommodation products according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0149] See also Figure 4 , the computing device 400 includes a memory 410 and a processor 420 .

[0150] Processor 420 may be a multi-core processor or may include multiple processors. In some embodiments, processor 420 may include a general-purpose main processor and one or more special coprocessors, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc. In some embodiments, processor 420 may be implemented using a customized circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0151] The memory 410 may include various types of storage units, such as system memory, read-only memory (ROM), and permanent storage devices. Among them, ROM can store static data or instructions required by the processor 420 or other modules of the computer. The permanent storage device may be a readable and writable storage device. The permanent storage device may be a non-volatile storage device that does not lose the stored instructions and data even after the computer is powered off. In some embodiments, the permanent storage device uses a large-capacity storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk, flash memory) as a permanent storage device. In some other embodiments, the permanent storage device may be a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk, optical drive). The system memory may be a readable and writable storage device or a volatile readable and writable storage device, such as a dynamic random access memory. The system memory may store some or all instructions and data required by the processor at run time. In addition, the memory 410 may include any combination of computer-readable storage media, including various types of semiconductor memory chips (DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, flash memory, programmable read-only memory), and disks and / or optical disks may also be used. In some embodiments, the memory 410 may include a readable and / or writable removable storage device, such as a laser disc (CD), a read-only digital versatile disc (such as a DVD-ROM, a double-layer DVD-ROM), a read-only Blu-ray disc, an ultra-density optical disc, a flash memory card (such as an SD card, a mini SD card, a Micro-SD card, etc.), a magnetic floppy disk, etc. The computer-readable storage medium does not include carrier waves and transient electronic signals transmitted wirelessly or wired.

[0152] The memory 410 stores executable codes. When the executable codes are processed by the processor 420 , the processor 420 can execute the method for assisting in booking accommodation products mentioned above.

[0153] The assisted booking accommodation product according to the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0154] In addition, the method according to the present invention may also be implemented as a computer program or a computer program product, which includes computer program code instructions for executing the above steps defined in the above method of the present invention.

[0155] Alternatively, the present invention may also be implemented as a non-temporary machine-readable storage medium (or computer-readable storage medium, or machine-readable storage medium) on which executable code (or computer program, or computer instruction code) is stored. When the executable code (or computer program, or computer instruction code) is executed by a processor of an electronic device (or computing device, server, etc.), the processor executes the various steps of the above-mentioned method according to the present invention.

[0156] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both.

[0157] The flow chart and block diagram in the accompanying drawings show the possible architecture, function and operation of the system and method according to multiple embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each square box in the flow chart or block diagram can represent a part of a module, program segment or code, and the part of the module, program segment or code contains one or more executable instructions for realizing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the square box can also occur in a sequence different from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two continuous square boxes can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they can sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each square box in the block diagram and / or flow chart, and the combination of the square boxes in the block diagram and / or flow chart can be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or operation, or can be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0158] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terms used herein are selected to best explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications, or improvements to the technology in the market, or to enable other persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for assisting in booking accommodation products through a travel service platform, comprising: Receiving, at a client of the travel service platform, an interactive statement of a user requesting to book an accommodation product input by voice input; Presenting to the user a list of accommodation products retrieved from an accommodation product information database of the travel service platform based on a demand information set, wherein the demand information set includes at least one item of demand information of the user for an accommodation product that he or she wishes to book extracted from the interaction statement; For the accommodation product selected by the user from the presented accommodation product list, an accommodation product reservation ordering process is executed.

2. The method according to claim 1, before the step of executing the accommodation product reservation order process, further comprises: receiving interaction information further input by the user; A list of accommodation products retrieved from the accommodation product information database based on an adjusted set of demand information is presented to the user, wherein the adjusted set of demand information is obtained by supplementing or modifying a previously obtained set of demand information according to the demand information extracted from the interaction information.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of receiving interaction information further input by the user comprises: Demand information is identified from the content obtained by the user from other applications and input into the input box of the client to supplement the demand information set, wherein the content includes at least one of pictures, texts, files, and links.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of receiving interaction information further input by the user comprises: In the case where the core demand information set is missing, prompting the user to input the missing core demand information to supplement the demand information set, wherein the core demand information includes location information, time information and price information of the accommodation product desired to be booked; and / or When the demand information set contains core demand information and the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the demand information set previously obtained is greater than a first threshold, outputting a preference demand inquiry statement to the user to inquire about preference demand items not yet included in the demand information set to obtain corresponding preference demand information; and / or When the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained set of demand information is less than a second threshold, the user is asked whether to adjust at least one item of demand information to increase the number of accommodation products that meet the demand information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: When the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is greater than a first threshold, evaluating, based on the currently retrieved accommodation product information, an accommodation product screening effect that can be achieved by asking the user for at least one preference demand item, and determining the preference demand item to be asked for the user based on the evaluation result; and / or When the number of accommodation products retrieved based on the previously obtained demand information set is less than a second threshold, suggestions for adjusting the demand information are provided to the user according to the number of search results that can be increased by adjusting the demand information in at least one manner.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The demand information includes core demand information and preference demand information. The preference type demand information includes first preference type demand information and second preference type demand information, Each item of first preference type demand information corresponds to an attribute of an accommodation product with a certain value range, and accommodation products meeting the first preference type demand information are screened according to the value of the corresponding attribute of each accommodation product in the accommodation product information database; The second preference demand information corresponds to a label pre-marked for accommodation products in the accommodation product information database, and accommodation products that meet the second preference demand information are screened according to the label.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The label includes at least one of the following: A label that combines the values ​​of two or more attributes of an accommodation product; Tags marked based on travel information and / or review information and / or question and answer information of users who have stayed previously; Tags annotated with content information submitted by content sharing users on the travel service platform for accommodation products; Tags are annotated based on content data about accommodation products retrieved from the Internet.

8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising at least one of the following: Extracting preference information of the accommodation product to be booked from the inquiry questions of the user regarding the accommodation product presented to the user; Obtain preference demand information for this booking of accommodation products based on travel scenarios; Obtaining user preference information on accommodation products based on the user's historical accommodation product booking orders; Obtaining answers to consultation questions about accommodation products based on attributes or tags in the accommodation product information database; Get answers to your accommodation product-related questions from a pre-prepared Q&A database; If answers to consulting questions about accommodation products cannot be obtained from the accommodation product information database or the pre-prepared question and answer database, answers to consulting questions about accommodation products are searched for and generated from content information submitted by content sharing users of the travel service platform for accommodation products and / or descriptive information about the accommodation products provided by the travel service platform.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising at least one of the following: An interactive interface jump control is presented on the search page for accommodation products on the client of the travel service platform, and in response to a user clicking on the interactive interface jump control, a conversational interactive interface is presented, wherein: receiving the interactive statement on the conversational interactive interface, and presenting the accommodation product list; When the list of accommodation products is presented in the conversational interaction interface, in response to the user clicking on a reservation ordering control to select an accommodation product to be booked, or receiving a reservation ordering instruction for the accommodation product to be booked input by the user through voice input, starting a reservation ordering process for the accommodation product; In response to the user clicking a payment confirmation control in the conversational interaction interface, or receiving a payment confirmation instruction input by the user through voice input, starting the payment process; In the conversational interaction interface, a modification instruction input by the user through voice input is received to modify at least one of the following: room type information, time information, traveler information, payment method information, value-added service information, and preferential content information of the accommodation product.

10. A computer program product, comprising executable codes, which, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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