Triage AI: An Intelligent Route Optimization and Cost-Aware Travel Companion

The evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed the way travelers plan and experience their journeys. Triage AI is an intelligent travel planning and route optimization framework that integrates conversational AI, graph-based algorithms, and real-time cost estimation to deliver a personalized and context-aware travel experience. The system acts as a virtual tour companion capable of understanding user preferences, generating optimized itineraries, providing cost predictions, and visualizing routes through interactive map and graph- based views. It leverages the Gemini AI model for natural language processing, enabling human- like interaction and adaptive dialogue for effective trip guidance. To address the complex Tourist Trip Design Problem (TTDP), Triage AI implements multiple optimization algorithms including Advanced Greedy, Genetic Algorithm, Nearest Neighbor, and Dynamic Programming to achieve an ideal balance between travel distance, time, and budget. The backend is developed using Flask and MongoDB, integrated with Google Maps API for real-time routing and visualization. The frontend, built with React.js and Tailwind CSS, ensures a seamless and engaging user experience. A cost analysis engine is incorporated to estimate trip budgets based on distance, duration, and travel mode, offering transparent financial insights to users. The AI assistant also provides contextual travel suggestions, safety tips, and local recommendations, enhancing decision-making during trip planning. Through this integration of AI reasoning and optimization logic, Triage AI delivers a hybrid framework that merges intelligence, efficiency, and personalization. This approach bridges the gap between traditional trip planners and modern AI-driven travel companions, setting a benchmark for next-generation smart tourism solutions.