I go down the AI rabbit hole so you don’t have to!

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(A big thanks from me to Propellic who have extended their sponsorship of this newsletter through Q3 - great validation & much appreciation).

Hear more wisdom from Brennen here below.

The marketing special edition

DMO’s are asked - “Ready to drop 50% of your traffic?”

A bold post from the team at GroupNAO would surely have turned a few heads when it pronounced the Googlegeddon could reach right into the (normally authorititive world of) DMO’s.

We’ve already seen much gnashing of teeth in the blogosphere on this topic as well as the likes of “Mediavine is collecting human stories about how these algorithm changes are affecting creators.” (Mediavine makes its living selling ads on behalf of bloggers).

And we are just at the start of this, not the end. It is pretty clear that traffic sources are going to get well and truly diversified - if the traffic even makes it at all after the AI summary has been digested.

Janette Roush from NYC Tourism comes to the rescue this week with some practical and actionable advice for her fellow DMO’s in an easily digestible video. I’m sure there is something in there for all of us, not just DMO’s.

Now you can have a travel conversation with an AI avatar

Also spotted on LinkedIn this week was the release of a new AI (Travel) Agent for hire. The virtual avatar “Vesper” chats to you like on a Zoom call about your travels. The demo (which you can have a go at yourself for FREE) tries initially to engage you in chit chat about how to be a good cultural tourist (which is great!) but I just dived in with some questions I pondered earlier in the day about an upcoming trip to Lombok.

I asked if I needed a visa for Bali and Vesper said most nationalities can get a visa-on-arrival so it should all be good. Which is partly correct. You can get a VOA so long as you do an application online 48 hours prior…..

To be fair the company behind Vesper, Soul Machines, are not travel specialists and they are really just trying to demo the capabilities of natural speech alongside a pleasant face with lots of expressions! (They also have avatars for learning language, school tutoring etc).

The experience is somewhere between chatting to a Thunderbird and those girls in the background of Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love film clip.

I’m being mean - it’s actually pretty good.

Digging into the Soul Machines pricing I noted that you could connect a “custom LLM” on the $299 a month plan (1000 minutes of chats, 100 video downloads). It wasn’t clear if custom LLM meant hooking up to an already functioning chatbot but I’ll keep digging!

5 bold predictions

Alex Bainbridge didn’t hold back with 5 big predictions to come after 2030:

1. end of the web browser (for travel ecommerce)

2. end of the group tour

3. end of the tour guide

4. end of the tour bus

5. end of the current OTA > reztech > tour operator industry structure

To be fair, we are already somewhat on the way with most if not all of these, but I’m afraid the reports of their deaths may be greatly exaggerated.

People don’t choose (or not) to do group tours because of the tech available. Some people actually really like other people & making new friends.

(Good) Tour Guides bring their own story to tours. “What was it like growing up here under communist rule”; “What was your favourite thing your Mum or Dad used to make you for dinner when you lived at home?”

The tour bus will change as all transport changes.

Many seem to agree that the OTA’s seem to be the upcoming losers, especially if prediction 1 comes true and we interface with just one app on our phones to gather all our knowledge and research.

What do you think? You can leave your thoughts on the thread here.

If you think someone (or everyone) you know or work with could grow from being more informed on the topic of ai + travel (or could use the training above) then please forward this email to them and they can click the button below:

Apple sherlocks a bunch of startups and leaves a trail of questions

Apple finally got in the game this week with its WWDC 2024 (developers conference) this week. They are letting use whatever emoji we want when replying to an imessage (at LAST!!), we can do maths on an iPad with an upgrade to the calculator and they are sniffing in all our data and taking what it needs to get us the answer we need by just asking Siri.

It is this last bit which got Elon Musk all hot under the collar and foreshadowed a total ban on iPhones at any of his workplaces because on occasions, it seems, this data might also head off to OpenAI under a new partnership to get better answers. Apple also foreshadowed other external businesses might be able to access some of this data (with permission) to better personalise for the user.

I can see Elon’s point that he probably doesn’t want his competitors reading the staff emails as a core part of the operating system with no news yet on what the opt out looks like.

Tim Cook and his team said the words “Privacy” many (MANY) times during the presentation. They obviously see it as one of their competitive advantages so it does right now have the feeling of a Volvo crash test gone a little awry in public.

For the rest of us not in direct competition with Apple (yet…. remember when we weren’t in competition with Google…. those were good times) it started to fill in some of the gaps for me about how this much heralded “personalisation” might manifest itself. If (when) we feel comfortable to tell our single app agent all of our whims and desires (personalisation data) this can be loaned out to those who can fulfil our whims. Apple said if you want to play as a business, you need to be prepared to have your code based independently audited to demonstrate you are not doing evil things with what you find out. Over to you on that one OTA’s, that seems like your way in here!

However, instead of every business in the world trying to bombard us individually for our data (most of whom don’t know what to do next), it makes much more sense to me, that my desires live close to me on my phone and my agent(s) take that off to find me what I need, negotiate a great price (shop around) and just bring me back in the loop when it thinks I’ll be happy with what it has come up with.

In somewhat related news, Fritz Oberhummer brought to our attention that there was a big buzz around the imminent European mandating of a digital identity that will live in a wallet………… on our phone. If we can keep data as precious as our passport info so it is easier to check in to hotels (and Governments know who has checked in…………) then what else can be kept in this lock box for others to interface with.

Voice command (prompt) —> important data on our wishes —>AI AGENT—>←- those who can fulfill the wishes

In other news, AllTrails copped a whack as Apple is making possible for runners and hikers to build their own trails on Apples topographical maps, Grammarly like functions are becoming core functionality and a bunch of others like Bitmoji might also be nervous.

LGBTQ+ AI stats

Matador this week released some specific LGBTQ+ statistics on how this community is leaning in to AI adoption. According to the report there are “62.1% turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for their vacation planning…& are almost 16% more likely to have engaged with AI for travel purposes compared to the general population. Moreover, they are 25% more inclined to incorporate AI in planning their upcoming summer travels.”

What the research found was “AI can customize travel planning by taking into account safety, LGBTQ+-friendly destinations and accommodations, local laws, and cultural attitudes which are critical factors for these travelers.”

When I read this, I asked myself, would a non AI and non LGBTQ+ travel agent have all these answers? Whilst I’m sure there are plenty who are extremely well versed and this is why people are pretty choosy in who they pick for the travel agent - across the board, I think this is a great use case where AI would do a better job.

I had a conversation this week where I heard about there being some traction for one AI startup in the deaf and blind travel communities. Again, a broad amalgamation of everything published on this use case is most likely better than the average knowledge of the single human travel agent who is not a specialist in this area.

The takeaway is this seems like a pretty strong GTM pathway for startups out there!

CVENT outlines the pathway to AI

The CVENT conference this week in San Antonio outlined their plans to bring AI deeper into the world Event planning.

Now this looks like an area ripe for some serious AI upgrades. When recording a podcast recently with Susan Barry from The Top Floor (coming out this week), she mentioned in passing the massive manual workload in responding to RFP’s in the event game. A game that pretty much every hotel is playing to some extent.

There is a lot of data on both sides of the equation here. The event organiser generally has a picture in their mind around rooms and spaces and ambiance they are looking to achieve. On the other side the hotel and event centre has a bunch of amenities which may or may not fit perfectly with that vision. And then there are dates and overlaps. And RFP’s by definition are not a one to one game. It is competitive and speed matters.

I know outside of the hospitality industry there are already AI native software providers like AutoGenAI who are helping all manner of businesses perfect their RFP’s and tenders in areas like Government procurement, civil engineering and all sorts of big business. We were fortunate to pitch alongside AutoGen with the HandbookFM business and it was very impressive what they were able to demo. (Happy to make an intro to anyone who might find this interesting). It hadn’t occurred to me that there was a big RFP business in travel.

From what i gathered from Susan, CVENT are pretty much the only game in town in terms of driving new inquiry for hotels for the events market . So it is their prize to lose for not moving fast here. Interested to hear from startups in this space as it seems like a big opportunity and this seems like the time to make ground and rethink this model? For example, wouldn’t video first be a strong play here to show off facilities? Hmmm

The first movers have moved into measurement

Part of the big news out of the Phocuswright conference in Europe this week is that those who featured in some of the very earliest stories in this publication, like Booking and Flight Centre are now at the point of measuring the impact of their early moves.

“Because we’re starting to give these tools to different teams, we can actually measure by doing this task with AI we’re saving 20 minutes per day, and that’s an easy number to keep track of savings,” said Adrian Lopez, the corporate head of AI at Flight Centre Travel Group.

Rob Francis, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Booking.com. agreed “Code generation is one that lots of people are using in the software development world,” he said. “I'm going after, literally, the number of engineering hours saved through that. So there are some cases where you can do that very explicitly.”

So that is in the optimisation and internal space. How about in the customer facing arena? It’s not so simple with external-facing tools, Francis conceded. Oh well - there is always next years’ conference!

What I did love about this piece was the simple masterclass in how bring AI into a business. ““We say, ‘OK, tell us about your day-to-day problems.’ And they end up so happy because at the beginning, they’re like, ‘I thought you were coming here to kill my job and replace me with AI. This is actually going to make my day much better because I’m not going to waste two hours doing these really low-value things I've done and I can focus on doing the better part of it,’” said Lopez

“We have found over time that the closer you put the problem into the hands of people who deal with the problem and democratize access to GenAI, the more likely something will percolate,” he said, later adding, “It's a mind shift that you have to really incentivize and encourage.”

If you are doing AI as a Skunk Works in your business, you are probably doing it wrong.

Skift AI & Data Conference

Phocuswright wasn’t the only conference on recently. Skift also held their AI conference and the team at Short Term Rentalz were there to cover the main points. Here is a quick overview

While the integration of AI shows great promise for efficiency and personalization, its adoption faces both optimism and skepticism, particularly in hospitality where human touch remains crucial. The future of AI is viewed as a gradual evolution with substantial long-term potential.

- AI and Data Integration:

- Rafat Ali, Skift: Emphasized the importance of quality data for effective AI, encouraging continuous experimentation for innovation.

- AI Use Cases: Improving experiences, market prioritization, path-to-purchase tracking, operational efficiency, scenario forecasting, and outcome measurement.

- Marriott's AI Initiatives:

- Drew Pinto, Marriott: Highlighted Marriott's digital transformation with generative AI for personalized searches, trip planning, and a new Gen AI Studio for concept testing.

- Homes & Villas: Growing inventory with generative AI to enhance traveler behavior insights and search capabilities.

- Guest Loyalty and Emotional Connection:

- Mobi Systems: Shifting focus from transactional to emotional loyalty through intent-driven search, aiming to evoke specific feelings from consumers.

- Expedia's AI Developments:

- Rajesh Naidu, Expedia: Launched Romie, an AI-powered travel buddy for curated searches and smart property comparisons, learning from traveler feedback.

- Future of AI in Travel:

- Investors' Views: Gen Z’s demand for automation and inspirational content; AI expected to be worth $4.5 trillion by 2025, but current hype exceeds reality.

- Voice AI in Travel:

- Matthias Keller, KAYAK: Potential of conversational search and voice recognition in curating dream trips, with voice tech seen as a new frontier.

- AI's Role in Hospitality:

- NYU IHIC Panel: Mixed views on AI's impact; seen as enhancing efficiency but not replacing human interaction, with a focus on specific, practical applications.

How to work with Tony

The calendar is now very full I’m afraid.

Lots of work going on to launch the marketplace for buyers and suppliers to find each other with ai solutions. If you have an ai solution in market (product, SaaS tool, service) - please get in touch to get information about being listed. We are grandfathering forever the lowest listing price for those who are in for the launch.

Please email me to deep dive into the specific opportunities within your business you might wish to explore. By interviewing key internal stakeholders we can identify which of your bottlenecks are most ripe for an ai powered fix and the approach to take to fix those across a month long project. The earliest I am available for this is now July with very limited availability.

For the fully committed business who now understands the transformative power of this technology, the final phase is to move to build your own internal “AI centre of excellence” which is combination of building an ai culture in your business by taking a human centric approach as well as building out or buying in the best solution to each identified issue. Please email me for more details on any or all of these phases.

Want to follow in Propellic’s footsteps and get in front of a highly engaged audience of travel decision makers by sponsoring the newsletter? We are booking Q4 sponsorships now. Also email me on that one for rates and details.

Always happy to chat to anyone looking to engage either of the two travel related startups:

• HandbookFM.com for those looking to up their training and onboarding game such as DMC’s who want to show prospective customers how they will train their local teams on the customer brand values and safety criteria

• Customised Trip which is an ai that mimics the human travel agent to build out a bespoke itinerary for a client before the human sales team gets involved. It comes also with a fulfillment option so the whole process from conversation to travel experience is taken care of if your business doesn’t do fulfillment. Great if you have an engaged audience and looking for something to really add some big value and big revenue.

Most clicked last week was the link to the McKinsey report into the state of AI in 2024.. That’s it - you’ve made it to the end of this edition. I’ll be putting the result of the most clicked post in next week’s edition so you can see where others are focussing. If I’ve missed something, you’ve got a tip or any feedback at all - you can simply reply to this email and it will come straight to me. I’m doing this for You so please don’t be shy to tell me what you think