AI Trends + Tips Every Tour Operator Should Know
- caseyhanisko
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 13
A practical AI snapshot for 2025 - note: new resources will be added to the bottom as they come in!
You don’t need to be a tech expert to benefit from AI. These tools and trends are already shaping how operators, and travel advisors, attract guests, support clients, manage teams, and streamline operations.
Over the last several weeks I have watched webinars, listened to podcasts, and read articles. Some of them were very good and some were, well, more talking and less substance. With that in mind, I took notes, saved links, and then I used Chat GPT to summarize it all for me into the sections that I felt were most important below.
So here is to focusing on what I think matters most for my travel industry coaching and consulting clients:
1. Marketing
SEO is evolving fast – As travelers increasingly ask AI directly, traditional keyword strategies are losing impact. Instead, create conversational content, full-sentence FAQs, richly descriptive pieces, and authentic client quotes, to help AI systems recognize your expertise. And, know that the term AIO is a thing.
“AIO, or Artificial Intelligence Optimization, is an emerging approach to digital marketing that focuses on optimizing content and web presence to be effectively used and cited by AI-powered systems like ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and other AI search engines. It complements traditional SEO by ensuring your content is not only found by search engines but also understood and utilized by AI systems to provide answers, summaries, and recommendations.“ Google’s AI Overview
AI search delivers higher-quality traffic – Data suggests AI-generated search traffic converts up to 4× higher than organic. That means precise, thoughtful answers matter more than ever.
AI content as a co-creator – Use tools like ChatGPT and Claude to draft travel guides and themed lists, then bring them to life with your local knowledge, fact-checking, and storytelling. If you choose the paid version you can create models that know your brand, style, and voice to create content that aligns with your business and organizes your work into projects.
2. Customer Service & Client Experience
AI-powered review analysis – Tools such as Trustindex and Manus AI help you surface sentiment trends from hundreds of reviews, highlighting recurring praise or pain points before they escalate. Use these to get to know your ideal client better, to innovate your product, to address concerns and issues right away, and to nimbly share and act with your team, whether it is celebrating wins or solving issues.
Automated, personal outreach – AI can power pre-trip reminders, follow-ups, and quick guest responses, freeing your team to focus on deeper, human interactions. AI powered chat bots help answer simple questions, reducing team time and also helping internal team find the answers they need.
Customized trip suggestions – Utilize AI-curated itineraries or activity suggestions but tailor them to guest preferences and incorporate deep local community knowledge that only you know best. Result: automation with personalization.
3. Team & HR
Smarter scheduling and workflows – AI can optimize roster planning, balance workloads, and identify staffing opportunities, especially during peak seasons. Let AI process your data for you and give you suggestions that YOU can then analyze and discussion internally.
Upskilling through AI – Encourage your team to experiment with AI tools, such as Perplexity Labs for research, marketing content, or itinerary building, it’s becoming a core tour operator competency.
AI as a productivity partner, not a replacement – When used thoughtfully, AI helps your team free up bandwidth for meaningful guest work, not replace it. Travel is so much about relationship and trust, and that takes time and care.
4. Operations
Booking & confirmation automation – AI streamlines confirmations, syncs availability across platforms, and helps manage discount or promo code tracking. Look for the platforms you use now to offer more AI enabled solutions.
Real-time alert systems – Get instant notifications about operational issues or customer concerns, so you can address them proactively.
Trend monitoring – Platforms like Perplexity Labs allow you to catch emerging travel trends and adjust your offers swiftly. See Arival article below, great resource for operation tips.
Bottom Line
AI isn’t just coming, it’s here, and it’s transforming how travelers discover, book, and enjoy tours. Start small: pick one area (marketing, guest service, team management, or operations) and pilot one AI-powered improvement.
Know that AI is built into much of the solutions you use right now from Google to Canva, so you don't even need to switch platforms to benefit from AI.
Be thoughtful about your use of AI. As an example, personally I find that prompting Chat GPT to do a very light edit for grammar and to keep my style and writing intact, helps maintain my expertise, creativity, and thought leadership when working on public facing piece. While if I am summarizing data or information for a project, that becomes less important.
Best Resources & Further Reading
Key Articles & Insights
Future AI Events
Travel Trends AI Summit 2025 (October 28–29, virtual) — insights on AI’s impact across marketing, operations, customer experience, and leadership in travel. I recommend checking it out! Learn more
Other References
Orbit Media Studios - The AI-Driven Content Strategy: 6 Powerful Prompts for Content Marketing
Tourprenaur Podcast - Demystifying AI for Tour Operators- Episode 289
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Agent Mode: What It Could Mean for the Travel Industry – Skift, July 2025
Adventure Travel Trade Association AI Webinar - Technical webinar that focuses on coding and development best practices related to AI and search. ATTA for ATTA members only
Phocuswright Webinars - AI travel business themed discussions geared toward main stream, large scale travel businesses. Phocuswright
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