We got so many great stories, we’ve divided this article into two! Read part 1 here.

You know it’s going to be a great year when a story about what’s new ends up being about how to cope with all the business coming our way.

On the drawing board for 2024, many travel advisors report, are strategies to focus on high-end clients; hire assistants; host more groups; charge fees—or raise them. Some are taking a step into new technologies; others are building new kinds of road maps and vision boards to keep track of where they are Read the rest of this entry »

Travel Leaders Network advisors will soon be getting a travel-oriented version of  Artificial Intelligence, thanks to a new collaboration with Travel Research Online (TRO).

Travel Leaders’ parent company, Internova Travel Group, is a “big believer that Artificial Intelligence can be helpful when creating marketing materials and can improve efficiencies for members so they can concentrate on selling and serving clients,” Internova’s chief partner marketing officer Stephen McGillivray said in a press release announcing the partnership.

While nothing will ever replace the human expertise of travel advisors, AI can streamline work and help advisors run their agencies, McGillivray said. “We’re always looking for ways to innovate, and this tool does exactly that.”

An industry first, Travel Research Online’s “TobyAI” is a revolutionary artificial intelligence engine TRO designed specifically to support travel advisors. It allows travel advisors to easily craft itineraries, draft bios for agent profiles, compose letters and emails for clients, create engaging social media posts, and generate travel images through DALL-E 3.

“TobyAI is my new best friend,” said Debbie Sebastian, a Travel Leaders Network member who has been beta-testing the product. “TobyAI can take care of tedious tasks and frees me up to spend time on building my business. As a travel advisor, it is my role to build rapport with clients, understand their unique preferences, and provide thoughtful recommendations.”

Using TobyAI enables travel advisors to spend more quality time with clients and access resources to create custom travel experiences, she said.

While TobyAI rolls out across the 5,700 Travel Leaders travel agency locations across the United States and Canada in the next few weeks, Voyager Social, the TRO division behind Toby, trained three Large Language Models supporting the artificial intelligence resident in the system in the travel industry. TRO’s artificial intelligence engineering team is headed by Ryan Earls.

TRO president Richard Earls says the company is already working to expand its capabilities and integrate new features that will further streamline the travel advisors’ daily workflow.

Watch for updates on the technology and the people behind it here on TRO.

While I am a proponent of the thoughtful use of “artificial intelligence” (AI), I understand and fully appreciate the concerns many have voiced regarding the training of AI on existing creative works. Critics of AI often raise charges of plagiarism and copyright violation because of the way in which AI integrates existing text, graphics, and art into its generative efforts. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is a republish of an unedited interview with Voyager’s new artificial intelligence, Toby. Starting with “tell us about yourself.“

Toby uses an artificial intelligence language model created by OpenAI, and I’m glad to be of service to you and to the travel professional community. I’m capable of processing vast amounts of data and providing responses to a wide range of inquiries. I’m also constantly learning and improving, thanks to the advanced machine learning algorithms used in my development. Whether it’s helping companies improve their customer service, assisting with complex data analysis tasks, or even engaging in conversational interactions like this one, my capabilities are broad and my potential is virtually limitless. With my advanced AI capabilities and strategic insights, I’m here to help you achieve your business objectives and enhance your overall operational efficiency.

Where do great article ideas come from? There is a reason to start from your own interests rather than turning to artificial intelligence (“AI“) like Voyager’s Toby for ideas as “Step 1.” If it is important to inject your brand into your writing, it makes sense to begin with you. It really is that simple. Ideation should take root in the human, who then turns to their AI writing assistant like Toby for assistance. Read the rest of this entry »

Chad is fortunate to be a natural born entrepreneur as he’s been a terrible employee historically. Starting his first business in 4th grade, Chad had been a serial entrepreneur until finding a true home with his cousin when they founded OutsideAgents.com. Chad is now thrilled to share his passion and insights for small travel agencies with big dreams. Chad also loves playing with his kids, spending time with his wife, and racing anything with a motor. In his spare time, he does a little juggling and standup comedy.

Important: MBA, 30 years in C-level Marketing, IT, and Business Development. Notoriously curious. Disdain for the inauthentic. Recent activities: Fraud Prevention Program, Marketing Engine for Travel Agents (powered in part by TRO), Integrated AI, Prosper Circle Small Group Agent Incubator, and a Parent/Sub agent program to connect small agency owners and their staff with industry experts. Read the rest of this entry »

The changes in technologies that have surfaced this year will radically change how travel is sold before many realize what is happening. During the next two years, there will likely be changes that most industry travel industry experts haven’t imagined, because they have emerged from the little-known labs that develop natural language processing (NLP) computer software products rather than within the travel industry. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is an unedited interview with Voyager’s new artificial intelligence, OliverAI. Starting with “tell us about yourself.“

OliverAI uses an artificial intelligence language model created by OpenAI, and I’m glad to be of service to you and to the travel professional community. I’m capable of processing vast amounts of data and providing responses to a wide range of inquiries. I’m also constantly learning and improving, thanks to the advanced machine learning algorithms used in my development. Whether it’s helping companies improve their customer service, assisting with complex data analysis tasks, or even engaging in conversational interactions like this one, my capabilities are broad and my potential is virtually limitless. With my advanced AI capabilities and strategic insights, I’m here to help you achieve your business objectives and enhance your overall operational efficiency.

In a previous life, when Sue Peyer was director of quality for Cox Communications, part of her job was to monitor customer service calls. The company used Israeli software that turned the dialogue into text, so she could read the transcribed conversations in a Word document.

When ChatGPT came out, Peyer was curious to see how the technology had advanced and how this latest development in artificial intelligence (AI) could help her run her travel agency.