Towards desktop personal travel agents

The growth of the World Wide Web has invested personal computer users with direct access to a wealth of information sources and services-for example, one can now check stock market share prices, book flight tickers or even do grocery shopping over the Internet. However, while the Internet enables direct access to various information sources and services, effectively integrating these services to provide a total solution to a complex task, such as arranging a transatlantic trip itinerary, remains a challenging task that requires significant human intervention This paper discusses some of the challenges involved in providing computer-based integrated personalised travel services through a medium such as the Internet. Further a software agent solution to this problem is presented and an agent-based travel assistant demonstrator described, which was developed using the ZEUS collaborative agent building tool-kit.