One year ago at the Dream Vacations/CruiseOne National Conference, AI -- and its latest and most buzz-worthy subset, generative AI -- was still a nascent technology in the minds of agency owners.
They were talking about it, said Alicia Linden, vice president of consumer and recruitment marketing at parent company World Travel Holdings. But their questions were pretty basic: What is this? How am I going to incorporate it in my travel business?
This year, advisors polled from the stage during the National Conference held on the Celebrity Ascent were asked how many were using AI every day.
"Nearly every hand went up," Linden said.
"I think, especially post-pandemic, the home-based travel advisor is busier than ever," she said. "That's something we hear quite a bit. They are very busy, and they are constantly looking for tools and resources to help save them time. They went from being kind of confused or curious about what is AI to now fully embracing it and enjoying it."
Right now, advisors are largely using AI for copywriting, Linden said. Whether it's social media posts or emails, that's helping save time. What might have taken them 45 minutes to write in the past is now taking just a few minutes, she said.
Sandi Szalay, vice president of information technology, said advisors are also using AI to build itineraries, especially in destinations they don't know very well.
Dream Vacations and CruiseOne have offered advisors AI-powered technology for some time, but at this year's National Conference, the company said those tools would be consolidated into a suite of AI products. The main goal with any AI tools introduced is to help advisors be more profitable, Szalay said.
One of those tools will enable advisors to create marketing campaigns using AI, Linden said. While advisors could previously create one-off social media posts or content for marketing pieces, now they can create an entire campaign, whether it's content for a blog or a series of social media posts.
Additionally, a new tool will enable advisors to query Dream Vacations/CruiseOne's learning platform, Szalay said. It will help them find content more efficiently and suggest related content. It also summarizes events such as webinars with key talking points.
To heighten advisor awareness and the use of AI tools, Dream Vacations and CruiseOne have been holding AI-focused training. At the National Conference, for example, educator Dave Birss shared best practices and guidance. One of the biggest points he made, Szalay said, was to get on the bandwagon now.
"One of the messages was AI is not going to replace you as a travel advisor, but someone who knows how to use AI effectively might, so get on the bandwagon, learn it, implement it in your everyday business and help create efficiencies for you," Linden said. "If you're saving yourself time writing those emails, writing those social media posts, building those itineraries, then you can have more bookings and be more successful."