AI is reaching a turning point in the travel industry. It’s no longer just about quick fixes and simple tasks; the tailor-made and luxury travel sectors are reaching a new era of AI adoption. With AI’s potential growing, the big question still remains – how do you actually put it to work in your day-to-day business?
That’s precisely what we explored in our latest webinar, ‘AI in Travel: Getting Started and Staying Ahead’. Joined by a panel of industry experts, including Charlie Cowan (Kowalah), Stuart Howarth (Audley Travel), Alisdair Luxmoore and Peyton Labiak (Vamoos), we shared practical examples and actionable tips to help you get started with AI tools for travel. Ready to dive in? The full recording is ready to watch below…
‘AI in Travel: Getting Started & Staying Ahead’ Webinar Recording
Charlie Cowan: why small steps beat big projects
To kick things off, Charlie Cowan, founder of Kowalah, an AI-powered technology buying platform, shared his top tips for implementing AI. Travel companies turning to AI often start with fewer, larger projects, hoping to drastically upgrade their workflow. But as Charlie argued, the real power of AI lies in ‘a thousand little fires’ – utilising AI for everyday tasks to drive more consistent results across your business. For example, in a live demo, Charlie demonstrated how ChatGPT can be leveraged for role-playing training, helping employees to handle tricky client calls more effectively.
Charlie also spotlighted a key concept; Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), also known as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – the practice of designing content so it’s cited by AI tools in response to search queries. But why does this matter? More and more travellers are turning to AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity to submit queries instead of Google, making AEO a powerful new marketing tactic for travel companies. At the same time, Charlie advised tour operators to exercise caution when submitting sensitive information into free ChatGPT accounts, as only paid accounts guarantee compliance and data protection.
Want to get started with AI? Check out Charlie’s AI hub, packed with training materials, sample prompts and ready-to-use guides to help you get started. Don’t miss the ChatGPT 101 tab, where the Kowalah team have shared a practical session to kickstart your journey to AI proficiency. From podcasts and videos to hands-on tips, it’s packed with everything you need to adopt AI into your travel business with confidence. Have a question? Drop Charlie a line here: charlie@kowalah.com.
Stuart Howarth: AI tagging in action
Next, Stuart Howarth, AI engineer at Audley Travel, shared a practical AI use case; tagging activities for itineraries. With thousands of experiences to sift through, from pastry classes to boat tours, the Audley Sales team needed a faster way to relevant activity recommendations for their travellers. AI tagging proved to be the perfect solution, providing them with organised, searchable options without hours of manual tagging.
However, Stuart was quick to point out that implementing a new AI tool requires time and constant feedback to refine its accuracy. He also stressed the importance of using clear prompts and quality data, as vague inputs often deliver vague results. Using AI effectively comes down to trial and error, constant refining and choosing the right tool for the task.
Read now: Get started: Vamoos’ AI travel resource hub
Imsert: the latest AI-powered image management tool
Peyton Labiak from Vamoos introduced Imsert – which began as an AI image recommender tool within Vamoos’ itinerary builder, and has since grown into a standalone image management system for travel companies. Say goodbye to scattered photo libraries; Imsert offers a central hub for users to store, tag, and search for their visuals.
Powered by AI, Imsert assigns 6 descriptive tags per image, from generic terms like ‘bell tower’ or ‘boat’ to the names of specific landmarks. Plus, with automatically geotagging, Imsert pinpoints the location of each image, complete with coordinates. Users can then search by keyword, theme or destination, group images into ‘collections’ folders, and even generate posts tailored to different social media platforms – hashtags and emojis included! With API-first technology, Imsert connects directly to WordPress via a handy plugin, reservation systems like Spark Travel, and travel apps like Vamoos, making it simpler than ever for tour operators to manage their travel imagery. Whether it’s building itineraries, updating your website, or crafting marketing campaigns – the applications of Imsert are endless!
Read now: integrate your reservation system and travel app with 1 click
Curious to find out more about Vamoos, or Imsert, the handy AI image sourcing tool? Book a Zoom meeting now to find out more, or get started with a FREE trial of Vamoos!
