If you think ChatGPT is helpful, you really might want to make friends with Toby.

Built specifically to meet the needs of travel advisors, this new electronic assistant can make you more efficient, save you time and make your customers love you even more than they do now.

At least that seemed to be the sentiment of the travel advisors who have been beta-testing Toby and/or listening in on the podcast about him this week.

“I’m in love,” says Deneen Davis, owner of Gallivant World Travel in New Jersey. “I’m purchasing a 1/4 page ad for a Chamber of Commerce Gala and Toby helped me with the format. Of course, I’ll tweak it—but it sure pointed me in a good direction. Whew! This is a big step for me.”

“I asked Toby for a fun birthday wish to send clients and this is what I got.”

Happy birthday! May your year be filled with countless adventures, new experiences, and cherished memories. May you be blessed with good health, a wealth of travel opportunities, and the joy of discovering new destinations. Here’s to another year full of happy moments,” says Cruise Planners franchise owner Jill Wheelan. “Way better than what I could come up with!

– TobyAI

“Ok people, take it to the next level—Introduce Toby to Canva’s Bulk Create tool,” suggests KJ Malone. “Canva Pro has Bulk create; you upload captions Toby gives you and voila! Instant social media posts. From there, use Canva Scheduler and schedule to FB or IG or whatever.”

In short, travel advisors are beginning to explore and embrace the many ways ChatGPT in general—and Toby in particular—can serve as the assistant they’ve been meaning to hire. And of course, he takes no breaks, never interrupts when they are busy, and takes just minutes of training before he gets to work.

“I hired an assistant,” said Cindy Berre of Cindy Berre Travel. “I just asked my assistant, Toby, to create verbiage for a brochure outlining my expertise in honeymoons and destination weddings. He knocked it out of the park!”

“BIG, exciting day! I just hired an assistant. His name is Toby, and he works 24 hours a day for pennies,” agreed Wendy Bartley at Wandering Toes. “So far, he has written content for my website; weekly themed marketing content including a blog post, five social posts, a story, and a newsletter; scripts for my associates; a daily schedule that broke down priorities and allotted times to get things accomplished.”

The more specific the request, the better, everyone agreed.

“I asked him to create a social media plan for two days at Disney World focusing on Facebook posts, Facebook Lives, and Tik Tok videos,” said Johnna Hernandez, owner of A Magical Traveler.

Here is his response:

Day 1: Facebook Posts:

1. Let the magic begin! Our team just arrived at Disney World and we’re excited to share our journey with all of you. Stay tuned for updates on our adventure. #DisneyWorld #TravelAgency.
2. First stop: The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The stunning resort boasts Victorian elegance, world-class dining, and top-notch service. Being one of Disney’s deluxe resorts, it’s not hard to see why it’s a guest favorite. #DisneyDeluxeResorts #TravelAgency.
3. The Magic Kingdom never fails to enchant us. From the iconic Cinderella Castle to the adventurous rides, we’re having a blast at one of Disney’s most popular parks. #MagicKingdom #DisneyWorld.
4. Facebook Lives: We’re here for the Tron ride launch at Magic Kingdom! Brace yourselves for a thrilling ride that will take you to infinity and beyond! Join us for a live video of the launch #TronRideLaunch #DisneyWorld.
5. Tik Tok Videos: We’re engaging in a little friendly competition at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin ride. Watch as we try to beat our high scores and have a blast! #BuzzLightyearsSpanceRangerSpin #DisneyWorld #TravelAgency.

Day 2: Facebook Posts:

1. Today’s adventure takes us to Disney World’s Epcot. We’re excited to check out the newest roller coaster, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyCosmicRewind #Epcot #DisneyWorld.
2. Satisfy your taste buds at Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival. The festival brings together culinary masterpieces from all around the world. Indulge in the delicious food and drinks while enjoying the sights and sounds of the festival. #EpcotInternationalFoodandWineFestival #TravelAgency.
3. Facebook Lives: The wait is over! We’re about to experience Disney World’s newest attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Watch as we go on a thrilling ride through space with the Guardians of the Galaxy. #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyCosmicRewind #Epcot #DisneyWorld.
4. Tik Tok Videos: We’re taking a stroll around the World Showcase at Epcot. Join us as we marvel at the cultural diversity and indulge in some tasty treats. #EpcotWorldShowcase #TravelAgency #DisneyWorld.
5. Get ready to experience the best night-time show in Disney World! Watch as we take in the stunning visuals of Epcot’s IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. #EpcotIllumiNationsReflectionsOfEarth #TravelAgency #DisneyWorld. These posts, lives, and videos will help promote Disney World to potential clients while also showcasing the experience and expertise of your travel agency.

“So, I’ll have to tweak it as it’s a LITTLE dated, change Food & Wine to Flower & Garden & the Epcot light show, but man! Well done, Toby.”

Client Communication

Then there was the client letter. “Here’s something we ALL deal with on a daily basis: Write an email telling a customer that we will not reveal the resort names until our planning fee is paid and our contract is signed,” said Barb Peet.

His reply?

Dear [Customer],

I hope this email finds you well. I’m thrilled to hear that you are interested in our travel agency services for your upcoming trip.

We understand that choosing the perfect resort is a vital part of your travel experience, and we are pleased to help you with that. However, please note that we cannot reveal the exact resort names until our planning fee is paid and our contract is signed. This policy is to ensure that our customers are committed to working with us, and it also protects our customers’ interests from unauthorized use of our exclusive recommendations. We want to provide our clients with the best possible experience and service, and we believe that our fees and contract will benefit both parties.

Our agency holds exclusive contracts with some of the most luxurious resorts, and we provide our customers with a unique and unforgettable experience for their journey.

Once again, thank you for considering our travel agency services. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our services and the process should you choose to work with us. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Best regards.

– TobyAI

Webinar Take-Aways

On a webinar this week, Toby’s developer Richard Earls described how this product, which comes out of beta testing today, differs from ChatGPT in general. Drawing on his 40 years of experience, including 10 years owning a travel agency before creating and managing Travel Research Online, Earls set out to build an AI that meets the unique needs of the travel industry. “We originally wanted to use the name “Oliver” for the AI component, but in order to make a proper trademark filing, we named him Toby instead,” said Earls.

For starters, ChatGPT only has data through 2021—making it relatively useless for developing itineraries for current travelers. But Toby is being fed “a steady diet of travel all day long.”

“AI is not really intelligent; it’s a language model that’s been trained in the way humans express themselves in response to a question,” Earls said. “We saw an opportunity to step in and modify ChatGPT by training our version in travel. So, our Toby will tell you he is an expert in travel marketing. His mission is to help travel advisors write good prose. And we are feeding him a lot of current destination information.”

It’s important to keep in mind that Toby cannot write for you; he is designed to write with you, Earls stressed. It’s important to fact check everything Toby says and use a plagiarism checker like Grammarly to make sure you are not copying someone else’s story.

One great application for Toby is to stay in touch with clients between trips, Earls said. “Most travel advisors work with clients three times a year: when the trip is being planned, during the trip and just after the trip. But between trips you are out of touch and the traveler gets attracted by shiny objects, sees advertising and talks to friends, and the next thing you know they are booking with someone else.”

Said Angela Hughes of Trips and Ships Luxury Travel, his co-host on the webinar, “If you need to put together five to seven emails over the course of the year, you just go in there and create posts like a packing list, an article on how to exchange money, so you don’t lose touch with clients. And you can create those quickly with Toby.”

Indeed, Hughes told me, “AI is certainly a game changer for any travel business owner. I’ve been using AI for a couple of years, and it’s just saved my life in many ways. The most important thing is to use it with an SEO tool—that’s how I use it, to add in key words and make my posts more content-rich.”

The most important thing, though, “is that you still have to fact-check and check for plagiarism. I’m coaching my agents to have a series of email campaigns that can build on AI and always have touch points with clients, and then use CRM and Travefy. It’s just one more piece of the marketing funnel. You have to drip marketing. That’s fundamental in any luxury space.”

She also noted that the beta test, which officially runs through Saturday, includes hundreds of templates that can be used to generate engagement with clients, dozens of slideshows, videos, and destination guides. In addition to all that syndicated content, you can ask Toby anything.

Much like Googling something, you can ask Toby to spit out directions from a gate to baggage claim in the airport or whip up a quick itinerary or blog post. “I had five minutes to prepare for an interview about travel to China and Toby spit back enough talking points that I could go live immediately,” Hughes said.

While he doesn’t think professional writers are going to be replaced by Toby, “when you add your own voice and throw in photography, you have one heck of a beautiful article.”

Meanwhile, Earls himself is whispering in Toby’s ear, “make sure you check this out, access these databases, and make sure this is a well-constructed article for travel advisors.”

Travel advisors who enrolled in the beta test will be offered the Voyager Content Portal for $200; after that, it will cost $45/month or $450/year.

Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.