Travel Advisors Leverage AI for 40% Business Growth & Efficiency

Decades ago, travel agents were the undisputed architects of global journeys, meticulously crafting itineraries for everyday explorers. Then came the digital revolution, spearheaded by platforms like Expedia and Google, which shifted control directly to consumers and forced agents to adapt or face obsolescence. Now, another transformative force has arrived in the form of artificial intelligence. While its burgeoning ability to plan travel might reignite old fears, a growing contingent of forward-thinking travel advisors are embracing AI not as a threat, but as an indispensable tool to enhance their business.

Athena Livadas, owner of Páme Travel, a specialist in five-star luxury experiences, integrates AI into her daily operations. She leverages it to brainstorm high-level route and destination ideas, accelerate email composition, and generally streamline her business processes. Livadas strongly disagrees with any sentiment that views AI as a replacement for human advisors. Instead, she asserts that it equips advisors with “superpowers” to deliver even greater value to clients. Her own metrics support this view; in a six-month period after adopting AI, her business experienced approximately 40% growth. While acknowledging other contributing factors, Livadas credits the significant time savings from AI for enabling her to onboard more clients and dedicate more effort to marketing and outreach, directly impacting her bottom line.

Though industry-wide data on AI adoption is still emerging, Livadas is clearly not alone in leveraging the technology. Fora, a digital travel agency with hundreds of advisors worldwide, has integrated AI directly into its proprietary internal platforms, where most of its advisors regularly utilize it. Jake Peters, Fora’s cofounder and chief product and technology officer, notes that the company began rolling out AI-powered tools in the fall of 2023. These tools are embedded within the advisor workflow, assisting with tasks ranging from drafting proposals and building intricate itineraries to generating marketing content. One notable feature, for instance, helps format text for improved readability and client-friendliness, and is used in 70% of instances when rates are displayed on their booking platform. Another is Sidekick, a chatbot trained on Fora’s extensive proprietary information, including training materials, help center articles, and comprehensive hotel and destination data. Sidekick is accessed by 25% of all advisors monthly, with usage climbing to 35% among new Fora advisors.

Rita Carton, an advisor affiliated with Fora, attests to the profound impact of AI on her efficiency. She estimates that AI, encompassing both Fora’s internal tools and her strategic use of ChatGPT for research, halves her average trip planning time and client response time. This efficiency has translated into a threefold increase in bookings compared to the previous year. Carton highlights a dramatic expansion in her capacity, moving from managing two to three simultaneous trips, or perhaps five per quarter, to successfully handling nine concurrent trips in the first quarter of this year, all without compromising service quality.

Beyond its utility for advisors, AI is undeniably shaping how consumers approach travel planning. A Deloitte survey conducted between October 2023 and October 2024 revealed that the proportion of respondents using generative AI for trip planning doubled from 8% to 16%. Livadas draws a parallel to the early days of the internet, suggesting that advisors must adapt and master AI to enhance their client offerings or risk being left behind.

However, Livadas is quick to emphasize that AI is not poised to replace human travel agents anytime soon. She cautions that while AI can provide common, generic travel advice, it lacks the nuanced understanding required to uncover the unique, off-the-beaten-path experiences that human advisors specialize in. For example, an AI-generated Japan itinerary might predictably suggest Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka with major hotel chains. In contrast, an experienced advisor, knowing a client’s passion for surfing, might include Kamakura, a quaint fishing village known for its gentle longboard waves in summer. These personalized details, Livadas explains, are precisely the bespoke elements that AI consistently overlooks, yet are routinely woven into itineraries by human advisors.

This critical disconnect underscores the one major aspect AI cannot replicate: the power of human relationships. Carton stresses that the core of the travel agency business is built on these connections. Advisors can directly contact hotel managers after a booking, often leading to client upgrades or delightful in-room surprises—a level of personalized service simply unattainable through automated systems. Indeed, personalized perks, complimentary upgrades, and thoughtful gestures designed to delight are defining characteristics of the travel advisor’s touch. Livadas echoes this sentiment, asserting that much of the value advisors bring is relationship-driven and inherently enduring. She personally knows general managers of five-star luxury properties globally who welcome her guests with personalized gifts, a testament to a level of human connection that a bot cannot replicate.