How Travel Agency Consortia, Hosts, & Franchises Are Making the Most of AI

Discussions about AI (artificial intelligence) have matured over the past several years, from a focus on why travel advisors shouldn’t fear it to spotlighting the ways advisors should be and are using it.

From automating the mundane to aiding communication to data mining and more, travel agency consortia, hosts, and franchises are already making good use of AI and have a lot of plans for its future uses.

“At first everyone was afraid that it was going to replace the travel advisor,” said Kathryn Mazza-Burney, chief sales officer of TRAVELSAVERS and president of NEST. “Most of us knew that that would never happen because there’s nothing more powerful with the consumer than the human touch… We’re excited and inspired to see more advisors embracing the power of generative AI. They’re working smarter to streamline their businesses and save valuable time that they can use to capture sales…”

Despite the overall excitement, there is still some trepidation among advisors and agency groups are still focused on making sure advisors understand the value that AI brings to the table.

“I think some still have the fear of the unknown,” Mazza-Burney said, adding its incumbent on the agency groups to make sure that advisors have the tools they need to use AI easily. Groups should also be consistently reassuring advisors that AI is not a threat.

“It’s only to enhance what they’re doing today. If they embrace it, it’ll make their lives a lot easier,” she said.

How can AI make travel advisors’ lives easier? Here are several ways travel agency consortia, hosts, and franchises are using AI.

AI for Automation & Efficiency

“I think that from an AI perspective, it’s within everyone’s best interest to automate the mundane and focus on why we all got into travel,” Michael Johnson, president, Ensemble, told TMR.

Avoya Travel’s chief sales officer Phil Capelli agreed.

“Some of these advisors are so bogged down in minutia where AI can help them,” Capelli said.

“There are so many different AI use cases as it relates to our industry,” Johnson added. “Some of what we’re excited about is our introduction of client sites… so they’re less focused on administration and more on working with their clients. We use AI tools to help with content, custom bios, company information, etc.”

“Obviously, some of the workflow tools that are out there that can help do those redundant, repetitive tasks that have to get done, but done in a more efficient ways, giving them more time to do the more important stuff in terms of growing their business,” said Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion Travel.

Debbie Fiorino, chief operating officer at Dream Vacations, is also excited about how AI can make advisor more efficient.

“How do we streamline everyday tasks so our franchise owners can focus on what really matters to them? We’ve integrated across multiple platforms form marketing and itinerary building to content creation.”

AI for Research

Several of the executives that TMR spoke with are most excited about AI’s potential for helping travel advisors with research.

“Access to so much information so quickly is very exciting,” said Lindsay Pearlman, president of Travel Leaders Network, calling AI “Google on steroids.”

Friedman agreed.

“We’re looking at some developments at Internova with using AI for a knowledge base where they can navigate through all of the information by just asking,” she told TMR. “The AI can point them in the right direction. They don’t have to worry about finding it, it can pull up the information for them.”

But while Pearlman told TMR he’s excited about the possibilities, he emphasized that advisors and agency groups also have a responsibility when it comes to AI.

“We still have a responsibility to make sure it’s accurate, that it’s reflective of what the customer needs, and if it fits into your business.”

For Alex Sharp, president and CEO of Signature Travel, the Holy Grail of AI is in the research that advisors need to do to match their clients with the right supplier.

“We’re pretty darn close, but how do we use AI to ensure that an advisor gets to the perfect supplier partner for the specific request,” he said. “We have over 1,500 preferred partners… All I want is guidance to the right preferred partners, someone we have a trusted relationship with.”

He added this is especially important as more new-to-industry advisors join, not only Signature but the overall industry as well.

“Using AI to take someone to the perfect product or at least narrow it down for them will be a huge asset for advisors.”

AI for Marketing & Communication

“A predominant piece is to help them with communication,” Sharpe told TMR, including being able to pull together comparisons and quotes much faster using TobyAI, a third-party AI tool built specifically for the travel industry.

Part of what Sharpe wraps into communications are things like comparisons and quotes. But TobyAI doesn’t only help with creating those faster. It also enables advisors to easily and quickly tweak any messaging related to a quote or comparison, whether they want something short and to the point or longer with more information.

“What’s cool about it is that this is an internal piece. It’s pulling only information that we know and trust.”

TRAVELSAVERS and NEST also built their shared proprietary AI tool – AI Connect – using TobyAI functionality.

“It allows them to create polished marketing content quickly,” said Mazza-Burney. “They can seamlessly access and promote exclusive offers to clients and prospects in minutes instead of hours.”

Using the tool advisors can write blog posts, social media captions, and landing pages faster while also featuring real-time promotions and pricing.

Fiorina said much the same.

“They can create full marketing campaigns in minutes, generate personalized itineraries faster than they’ve been able to do before,” she said.

Ensemble’s Johnson added that marketing list segmentation is another case use for AI for travel advisors.

AI for Data Analytics

Sharpe also told TMR that Signature also uses AI for internal data analysis.

“What’s more exciting for me is how my team is using it for data analytics. For reporting, marketing list selects…” he said, adding this helps make his team “more effective and more efficient behind the scenes.”

Getting Creative with AI

While standard business uses comprise the bulk of what agency groups are doing with AI, the possibilities for it are unlimited.

Nexion’s Friedman advised getting creative with it.

“I’ve seen it used to source new groups, to find potential pied pipers to reach out to… get creative, learn how to prompt… I just think it’s a game changer.”

(This is part five of TMR’s annual look at how the travel agency industry fared in the first six months of the year, what executives wish they could change, what actually keeps them awake at night, and more. )