Flagstaff, Arizona, has joined the growing list of destinations that have turned to AI to help push travelers from the ideation stage of vacation planning to actually booking the trip.
Discover Flagstaff is the first destination management organization (DMO) to embed Tripist -- an AI-powered proprietary travel-planning tool created by Off Madison Ave -- into its website to serve up customized recommendations for visitors heading to the Northern Arizona mountain town.
Personalized itineraries -- created from the information gathered about a user’s behavior and intent, and taking into account factors like seasonality, budget, group size, cuisine preferences and activity type -- will include recommendations for dining, events, cultural attractions, shopping and outdoor experiences, and will also allow potential travelers to save and share itineraries.
However, Tripist "doesn't work like a traditional prompt-based tool," said Spike Stevens, chief technology officer at Off Madison Ave, who likens it more to a "guided personal experience."
"The platform walks travelers through a series of contextual inputs and dynamically builds an itinerary around their responses," he said. "Think less prompt/search, and more 'smart travel concierge.'"
In some cases, complete bookings could be made entirely in the program, if a DMO has an integration with an OTA, Stevens added, noting that this capability is not implemented with the current Discover Flagstaff deployment.
Users are first prompted to select travel categories that interest them. Among the options are arts and culture, astrotourism, attractions, breweries, entertainment, events and hotels. A chatbot can answer destination questions and provide narrowed-down recommendations. From there, visitors can get access to a personalized list of suppliers and vendors, along with their addresses and contact information.
A beta trial of the integration showed that Route 66 was a popular theme choice for a potential trip to Flagstaff (it was selected more than 500 times as a focal travel theme from users over the course of the two-month trial), along with an interest in the region's nature and dark-sky experiences.
The technology also factors in real-time trip factors, like time of day, weather and location, Stevens said, and can point users down a less-trodden path, bypassing the most popular options for tourists and recommending alternative neighborhoods and niche experiences.
"In Flagstaff, for example, when Mount Elden's Fatman's Loop Trail -- the top Outdoors & Nature recommendation -- hits a high volume of weekly recommendations, Tripist automatically de-prioritizes it and surfaces alternatives like Humphreys Peak Trail instead over the next few weeks," Stevens said. "Once a location exceeds its recommendation threshold, Tripist would shift focus to lesser-known alternatives, spreading visitation more evenly and giving travelers a better experience overall."
Off Madison Ave. is currently working on a structured launch with other DMOs, rolling out in 21-day cohorts capped at three DMOs each. Destinations interested in joining the next cohort are encouraged to visit the Tripist site.