FCM Travel to help travellers book quicker and with more confidence with new AI-powered conversational booking

Sydney, Australia, August 4, 2026 – FCM Travel today announced the global launch of its conversational booking feature, giving customers a more intelligent experience through FCM Booking, its proprietary booking platform. Powered by Sam, FCM’s AI assistant and intelligence layer, FCM Booking now allows travellers to simply describe what they need and receive options shaped by their policy, profile, past trips, loyalty status, and preferred routes, dramatically cutting the time it takes to book.

Sam synthesises intelligence at every traveller interaction, helping to build a richer profile as time goes on. Every recommendation comes with its reasoning attached, showing why it fits policy, matches a traveller’s usual routing, reflects their loyalty program, or follows how their team travels. That visibility helps travellers book with confidence, without second-guessing.

 “Conversational booking only works if travellers trust what they’re being shown, and that trust comes from context, not just convenience”, said Jessica Dunderdale, Global Head of Product, FCM Travel. “Every recommendation explains itself, so travellers can act on it with confidence – and travel managers see adoption follow as a result.”

That same experience now travels with the user. Already available in Microsoft Teams and Slack, Model Context Protocol (MCP) technology will enable Sam and FCM’s other services to be reached directly inside the tools travellers already use, including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, without opening a separate app. For travel buyers, that means higher in-programme booking rates and better data capture, without asking travellers to change behaviour.

The intelligence that shapes conversational booking also feeds FCM’s reporting and predictive analytics, surfacing spend, compliance, and disruption risk as it emerges rather than after the fact. That does not reduce the travel manager’s role – it sharpens it, allowing them to translate what the technology surfaces into decisions that fit their business.

Booking is one moment in a much longer trip. Thanks to embedded native intelligence, FCM's technology and service teams stay connected with travellers from the first planning conversation through duty of care and in-trip support – not just the moment they hit confirm.

“We didn’t build FCM’s tech ecosystem to replace our consultants’ judgment. We built it to take the routine work off their plate, so they can focus on the moments that actually need a person”, said John Morhous, Chief Experience Officer, FCM Travel. “Travellers get speed from Sam and expertise from our consultants – they shouldn’t have to choose between the two.”