AI Travel Responds to "Business Trip Refugees" Amid Rising Hotel Prices: Launches "Stay Location Slide" Feature Using AI to Expand Options

千緩島田
Dec 24, 2025
3 min read

株式会社トランスファーデータ

Transfer Data Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yusuke Murata) has launched the "Stay Location Slide" feature for its business travel management cloud service, "AI Travel." This feature automatically suggests alternative areas based on a single search to assist travelers who face hotel prices significantly exceeding corporate travel policies in urban areas.

The Challenge: "Cannot Stay Within Policy for This Trip"

In recent years, hotel prices in urban areas have continued to soar. Often, when travelers search for accommodations near their destination, only options that far exceed their travel budget are displayed, forcing them to cancel trips or reschedule. Broadening the search to nearby areas can often reveal options that meet the policy without significantly increasing travel time. However, judging how far and in which direction to expand the search is a heavy burden for travelers without local knowledge or understanding of train lines.

What is the Stay Location Slide Feature?

The Stay Location Slide feature activates when a traveler's search results near their destination significantly exceed the travel policy. "AI Travel" compares the results with the corporate policy and automatically presents alternative areas that are easily accessible by train and within budget. The AI expands the search area to a range where travel time by train or on foot does not change significantly and extracts only hotels that are actually available for booking. This eliminates the need for travelers to re-search manually. The service starts with the Tokyo 23 wards and will gradually expand to other urban areas across Japan and internationally.

Usage Example

Consider a search for accommodation in the Shinjuku area where the market price has surged to 30,000 JPY per night, while the travel policy limit is 15,000 JPY per night. With the Stay Location Slide feature, "AI Travel" immediately provides an alternative: "You can stay in the Ikebukuro area for 12,000 JPY per night. It is 13 minutes by train and a 5-minute walk to Shinjuku." By considering travel time, route feasibility, and policy compliance, it offers clear alternatives to make the trip possible.

Benefits of Implementation

The feature provides value in three key areas:

Compliance: Makes it easier to find stays within budget, reducing the need for policy violations or manual exception handling.
Schedule Maintenance: Focuses on areas within a reasonable travel time, allowing changes without affecting meetings or conferences.
Booking Efficiency: Shows only hotels with actual availability, eliminating the need to check for vacancies.

For travelers, it provides peace of mind, while for management, it improves policy compliance and reduces administrative work. For the company as a whole, it reduces trip cancellations due to lack of accommodation, supporting business opportunities and project progress.

Technical Background and Roadmap

Since its launch in 2015, "AI Travel" has supported over 350 companies and more than 600,000 business professionals. By combining accumulated travel data with market prices, corporate policies, and transit information, the system can estimate the best areas to expand searches. Following the "Travel Intelligence Agent" vision announced in July 2025, the company is developing AI agents that understand individual needs. The Stay Location Slide feature is the first step in this initiative. Future releases will include automated itinerary suggestions and approval assistance.

Statement from the CEO

Yusuke Murata, CEO of Transfer Data Inc., stated: "This Stay Location Slide feature is the first step toward reducing the moments when travelers feel they cannot stay within policy. Business trips are vital for advancing corporate activities, and losing these opportunities due to a lack of accommodation is a significant loss. We aim to transform business travel by using AI to connect fragmented information and eliminate the need for manual searching. Our goal is to provide an AI Agent for every business trip in the world, contributing to business efficiency."