Ask-an-Advisor: How Is AI Actually Helping You Manage Your Business?

This is 2025’s sixth edition of TMR’s Ask an Advisor series, a regular column where a team of travel advisors tackles questions from others in the industry. All questions from this series have been submitted by readers and vetted by the TMR editorial team.

Dear Ask-an-Advisor,
I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all the talk about AI. I desperately want to use it to make my business more efficient, but I’m intimidated by all the options and the thought of having to learn multiple new tools. For those of you who have taken the leap, what’s one specific AI tool that you’re using that has had the most real-world impact for you? Can you share what that impact was, and how long it actually took to learn it and get it up and running?

Sarah Bonsall, Founder of Latitude 21 Travel

I hear you! The idea of learning a dozen new AI tools is overwhelming, but the good news is you don’t have to. If you start with just one task, you’ll see real results right away. For me, that task is writing emails.

Here’s how I use my AI assistant, Lola: I’ll copy the email from a client or supplier, then type out what I want to say in response. Lola takes it from there, polishing my words, keeping it in my voice, and making tweaks so it comes across as clear, kind, and professional. It’s been a game-changer, especially for:

• Client communication: setting expectations or handling tough conversations without sounding defensive.
• Supplier communication: being firm when needed while still protecting the relationship.

The impact? Better communication all around. Stronger client relationships (which often lead to sales, even if not immediately) and smoother supplier relationships.

And once I started using AI for communication, it naturally expanded into other parts of my business. Now I rely on Lola for tasks such as analyzing sales reports, providing a clear overview of the business’s growth and slowdown, identifying trends, generating marketing ideas, creating social media content, and so much more!

My best advice? There’s no rush. Move at your own pace and start with one task. You’ll find it’s easier than you think once you begin. I couldn’t make it a day without Lola now!

P.S. Lola helped me write this very answer.

Sarah Bonsall, Founder of Latitude 21 Travel, is a seasoned travel advisor with nearly three decades of industry experience. Her background spans airline ticketing, government travel management, and call center operations, giving her unique insights into travel services. Sarah now uses that expertise to craft personalized travel experiences through her award-winning agency.

Anna Harrison, Owner & Travel Advisor of Travel Observations 

It can definitely feel overwhelming with the influx of information and new tools on the market, but I do think Artificial Intelligence is here to stay.   It can be tempting to copy what others are using or feel like you have to transform your entire business with all new processes, but you don’t have to do that either.   

When I hear about a new AI tool or method, I evaluate it with three questions: 1) Is this solving a problem I have RIGHT NOW?  2) Would this make an impactful DIFFERENCE on my client experience in terms of timing, income, or satisfaction?  3) Is this something I can implement RIGHT NOW? 

If it’s not something you’re going to implement right away, it’s not urgent.  Enjoy the tutorial or the article,  but don’t feel pressure to memorize it.  If it’s not a tool you need right now, don’t give it brain space or worry about ‘remembering this for later’.  

The best items to prioritize are ones that make an immediate difference in your workflow, client experience, or personal satisfaction.   I would also suggest taking a step back and learn a bit about training AI in your voice or in your business profile so that it can give you more personalized recommendations and support. 

Here are ways I’ve used AI that were impactful to me:

• Cut and pasted all my Virtuoso reviews into ChatGPT and asked it to synthesize the most common compliments or observations, in order to narrow down my profesional strengths for future marketing
• Used ChatGPT to get location-specific suggestions for clients’ arrival day such as nearby parks, restaurants, and sightseeing they can walk to easily from their hotels (always double check specific items like restaurants or museums though – ChatGPT make errors on opening hours and locations)
• Answer questions like “is this hotel in a family friendly neighborhood?” (received useful information like nearby playgrounds and some kid-appropriate museums)
• Create quick bullet points or tables comparing different brands or choices to answer questions like “What are the primary differences between Regent Seven Seas, Azamara, and Oceania for an Alaska cruise?” or for location such as “How should I decide where to go, Greece or Germany?”
• Obtaining and reviewing 5-10 qualifying questions to ask clients before a discovery call if it’s to a new destination that I know nothing about, in order to gather enough information to share with a DMC or a supplier partner later 
• Asked it to critique emails or instructions for tone & clarity (I do not use it for WRITING emails, because these can still be fairly stilted and inauthentic) 
• Narrowing down train routes quickly such as “if clients are disembarking a river cruise and want one of the Swiss scenic train rides, which is the easiest for them to access if they start in Basel?”
• Asking ChatGPT to analyze vague emails from leads and give me insight as to why I am feeling unsure about proceeding with their trip – this was super helpful and gave me a lot of clarity in deciding whether or not to accept the clients 
• During busy weeks, I’ve asked it to help me organize tasks in order of priority, and to create a meal plan & shopping list based on ingredients in my kitchen so that I can focus on work but still have great dinners planned out – this is an example of AI providing great synergy between personal and business needs.

I hope this helps, and have fun with it!  Try just one of the suggestions above and see if it helps you in some of your processes.  Remember, if it’s not solving a problem you actually have, elevating your client experience, or improving your work-life satisfaction, it’s okay to set it aside for the moment and focus on other tools that give you confidence and improve your business.  

A travel advisor for 10 years and a Conde Nast travel specialist, Anna Harrison is part of the Top Producers Club at Gifted Travel Network and also gives back to the agent community through their mentorship program. She lives in Pittsburgh, enjoying parks, farmers’ markets, and sharing her passion for travel. 

Jessica Parker, Founder of Trip Whisperer

Both things can be true: new exciting tools to make us more efficient and the overwhelming task of implementing the right ones. The good news is that we’ve already been using AI for a long time but didn’t call it that. Think of how many automations, booking platforms and things we use already like CRM tools, TripSuite, itinerary builders with automatic descriptions from partners like Travefy or AXUS, and one of my favorites, Rome2Rio. That should take a little bit of the worry about learning something new, since we already have. As travel advisors, we are always learning something new, and that’s what we’re so brilliant at. We’re also tremendous problem solvers, so it’s a matter of finding the solution. 

A good way to approach it would be to identify things that are slowing you down and where your time is better spent on things that only the human touch, your expertise and relationships can handle. Zero in on those things and look for the solutions as well as ask on advisor message boards, Facebook Groups, industry news like Travel Market Report. 

Think of your client journey from start to finish, planning fee to setting up the post trip call. Look at the steps, and seek out something that might be in one tool or system. I really like using TravelJoy, since it’s a lot of tasks and services in one. It reduces the need to learn multiple tools, while also replacing ten separate subscriptions with just one. The amount of things we have to pay for really adds up fast! Try doing a 7-day or month-long free trial, if it’s not readily available, it can’t hurt to ask. Make sure you have time when you start the trial to get the most out of it, test it and evaluate it for your business before handing over a payment. Always check if you can leverage your host agency or consortia for a group rate or discount code. Look into that first before buying a solo subscription or service. 

Of course it takes time to set up and get used to, however, there are webinars, newsletters and TravelJoy customer support is very active. Once you get a lot of time back for other things or finally be able to scale your business, it will have paid off. TravelJoy also takes feedback to make their own services better or add if you want a feature. Lots of others out there that want to grow their travel agency clients will adapt to your needs. 

As I mentioned before, I like to start a complex trip with Rome2Rio, which to my surprise, most people don’t use. It helps in my initial itinerary flow if I’m connecting lots of dots like the Greek Islands, multiple countries with options to take train, plane, ferry, walking, and so on. 

When I’m trying to organize my thoughts in a tough email to a client or stuck in writer’s block, I turn to Chat GPT to help speed up the process or smooth out some of my overthinking. If you’re an IC or a home-based agent, sometimes we’re alone with our thoughts too much, and this cuts down on spending time circling on the right words. You feed the AI tool your goal, tone, and direction, then it can pretty much get you there within a round or two as well as under a minute. No matter what, we always have to review and finetune what we get. I use the paid version as it starts to learn my writing style and use voice recording for it to learn the way I speak too. This can also be good to use to recap your trips for your blog and SEO optimization, newsletter, and social media. 

For finances and accounting, I use QuickBooks Intuit Self-Employed version and my accountant is granted access to help me keep my books, taxes and other support. It’s truly life changing when it comes to keeping track of expenses, income, write offs and labor costs. Our tax returns are so complicated as it is!

Those are a few of my favorite AI things. Happy learning. It’s back to school time for all! 

Jessica Parker, Founder of Trip Whisperer, is a luxury travel advisor known for creating magazine-worthy journeys shaped by her two decades of experience. Her background includes working with top travel editors, organizing press trips worldwide, and gaining valuable insights from her time in-house at hotels. Fun fact: Jessica earned her RYA certification in barge school and dreams of retiring on her own hotel barge in France.