Apple’s Rebuilt Siri Opens New Doors for Travel Apps

Travel companies may soon have to decide which parts of their apps belong inside Siri.

Apple pushed that question forward Monday at its developer conference, where it rebuilt Siri to better understand personal context, take actions inside apps, recognize what is on screen, and answer questions using broader world knowledge.

For travel executives, the question is not whether Siri can book a trip today. It is whether Apple can make Siri useful enough that travelers start there before opening an airline, hotel, or online travel agency app.

That could matter because trips are scattered across inboxes, calendars, apps, confirmation codes, loyalty accounts, and live supplier systems. 

The most concrete travel example came from the Phone app. Apple said that when a user calls an airline to change a flight, the app can automatically find a confi