Will Travel Agents Be Replaced By AI?

Earlier this month, The Mirror published an article that tested the travel planning capabilities of AI compared to those of a travel agent. Ultimately, the article concluded that the information provided by the travel agent was superior to that of the AI. Despite that, a recent paper released by ChatGPT puts travel agents in the top ten list of jobs that AI will replace.

Should you be worried?  

There are several factors to consider here. 

The first is that ChatGPT is an AI program and may be biased toward replacing as many jobs as possible with AI. While other sources also claim that travel agents are at risk, there are just as many who say that they are not. 

Secondly, it is never wise to underestimate the value of a human touch. You can probably think of at least a few times in your career when you were able to score a reservation because you had a relationship with the restaurant, or when you helped a client out in an emergency where the ability to reassure them that everything was okay was just as important as the ability to fix the problem. 

There is also the matter of specialization to consider. AI will never have the type of first-hand knowledge or connections that an agent who specializes in a certain region or type of trip will have. While not every agent has a specialization, those that do will always have an edge over any AI program. 

Finally, while AI can currently find answers to travel questions and plan a simple trip for customers, it will be a very long time before it can plan the types of complex trips that travel advisors do. It won’t be able to do the legwork that agents do for clients.  

In short, AI can be an effective research tool and may be a great alternative for people who don’t already use a travel agent. But it has a long way to go before it can replace agents, if it ever does. 

While many industry experts predict that AI isn’t going to be a direct threat to travel agents, that doesn’t mean you can completely ignore it. Instead, you should be figuring out how to use it to make your agency more effective. You should also be investing in skills and knowledge that will make you a better option than AI, even as it improves. 

Savvy agents will use AI to improve 

In the immediate future, the travel agents who will succeed the most will be the ones who embrace technology and use it to improve their business. And one of those technologies is AI. 

You can easily employ AI to take over the time-consuming and repetitive tasks that have to be done, but not necessarily by a human. Things like responding to basic client requests, simple research, and certain marketing tasks can all be easily handed over to an AI. This would give you more time to add the personal touch that makes you more valuable. 

You might not be able to do all those things with AI yet, but being open to embracing the technology to help you offer higher-quality service to your clients will help you stand out from the competition. 

Invest in standing out 

When you look at the ways that travel agents beat out AI, it is easy to see where you should invest your time and resources in the coming years to make sure you always come out ahead in the future. 

For one, focus on the things that you do for your clients that only a human can do. Improve upon those things and highlight them in your marketing.  

Another thing you can do is focus on specializing and expanding your skillset so that you can take on bigger and more complex trips that an AI can’t handle. 

So, will AI take your job? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a bad idea to figure out how to incorporate it into your agency and figure out how to differentiate the service that only YOU can provide. 

Join the Conversation

Here are some of the posts from the past few weeks from other LinkedIn members who are talking about this subject. If this is a subject that interests you, commenting on some of these posts is a great way to continue the conversation.

Mathieu Turban ✨ shares a summary of the list released by ChatGPT that details why each job is expected to be taken over.

Greg Apple shares how other travel companies have used AI to improve productivity, showing how travel agents can utilize this technology without worry.

Glenn Fogel shares how his company has been using AI across its brands to meet its vision to recreate and exceed the ease and personal touch of a travel agent.

Nitin Raj is more focused on how agents can use AI to help them create personalized marketing content.

Markus Stumpe shares an article published by Travel Weekly UK where he discusses how agents can use AI to support them in their daily work.

And Raja Jain shares ideas that travel agencies can use to delegate certain tasks to AI to free up human agents to handle complex issues.

What do you think? Is AI going to eliminate travel agents or is it just going to make your life easier? Share your thoughts in the comments!

PSST!

GRNconnect.com is at the Las Vegas Travel Agents Forum this weekend. Stop by to see us at Booth 618 if you're there! We'd love to chat with you about how you can use our booking tool to find the best deals and plan trips for your clients! #LVTAF2023