If it isn’t Rishi Sunak and Elon Musk’s recent love-in, it’s the subject of panel discussions at World Travel Market London or the recent ABTA Travel Convention.

There’s no doubt that generative AI – software which scrapes existing online resources to create answers to queries posted by users in a matter of seconds – opens vistas of opportunity for travel marketers and agents that range from content optimisation to personalised email comms.

Lured by the siren call of reduced marketing costs, readers might already be under pressure from their bosses to start using it. But before wondering whether they could begin using AI, travel marketers need to think about whether they should.

As marketers ourselves, whose careers have coincided with travel marketing’s online revolution, we’re no strangers to adapting to and optimising new technologies, and could use that accumulated wisdom to give you our response to that question. 

However, we thought we would first ask an AI engine – in this case ChatGPT – for five reasons why travel marketers should use it. Here’s what it told us:

• 1. Personalisation: AI can analyse vast amounts of data, such as user preferences, browsing history, and demographic information, to create highly personalised and targeted communications, which can in turn increase engagement and loyalty and ultimately convert to bookings.
  
  
• 2. Content generation: AI can generate high-quality, SEO-optimised content for travel websites, blogs and social media, saving agents time and effort in content creation.
  
  
• 3. Data analysis: AI can quickly analyse customer feedback, reviews, and social media sentiment to gauge customer satisfaction, identify areas for improvement and respond to issues in real-time.
  
  
• 4. Tactical pricing: AI algorithms can adjust prices in real time based on demand, competitor pricing and time capacity. This ensures tactical marketing remains competitive.
  
  
• 5. Recommendations and upselling: AI can suggest additional products or services based on customer preferences and thus drive upsell potential. 

There you have it – straight from the AI’s mouth, so to speak. Enhancing, streamlining and optimising your marketing comms. What’s not to like?

Fools rush in

With that said, as with any emerging and rapidly evolving technology, the proverb that "fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ applies. The reliance of AI on existing online resources means its output is by no means infallible, and still needs to be fact checked by a human.

In SEO terms, the greater emphasis Google is giving to author authority, which mandates OTAs produce content crafted by creators who have actual experience and expertise in the travel domain, means content produced using AI could easily fall foul of the search engine’s Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trust (EEAT) guidelines and be penalised as a result.

Finally, there are legitimate concerns relating to privacy, bias, data security and GDPR, of which travel marketers need to be aware to ensure their use of AI stays within legal boundaries. Not doing so could land you in hot water with regulators and customers – undoing whatever benefits you think you’ve gained by using it in the first place.

So before jumping on AI because it’s the "shiny new toy" or because "everyone else is so we should too", keep in mind the suggestion made by Dr Shorful Islam as quoted by Amanda Cromhout in her book Blind Loyalty: don’t think of AI as "artificial intelligence" but rather "augmented intelligence".

It’s a tool that invites travel agents and marketers to layer their intuition, skills, experience and knowledge over the reams of data the technology can quickly and easily crunch, and which can in tandem turbocharge the speed, accuracy and efficiency of your marketing.

But you should always remain in control of the engine. 

Mags Sikora is an SEO and digital marketing specialist, who has devised and implemented search strategies at a range of high-profile global travel brands. These include Expedia and dnata, where she was group SEO director and led the SEO function across Netflights, Travelbag, Emirates Holidays, Travel Republic and dnata Travel. She is a member of the Llama collective of travel marketing specialists, helping brands all over the world to sharpen their marketing.