An increasing number of travelers are relying on artificial intelligence to help plan trips — and they have plenty of options from which to choose.
While some simply ask ChatGPT or another major LLM to make an itinerary, there’s an array of AI tools made specifically for travel. These often have additional tech to address many of the challenges of using AI for travel planning, such as specifically tracking changes in restaurant or museum hours.
In addition to AI tools specifically for travel, you may be able to find one specific to your destination. GuideGeek is the leader in building custom AI tools for destinations, with more than 30 partners including New Zealand, Aruba and Greece.
With all the AI options available to them, why should travelers consider using these destination-specific tools? There are a few reasons they offer the best experience.
Trained on the leading source of data for that destination
Destination-specific AI tools are generally operated by destination marketing organizations (DMOs), or tourism boards. Odds are, you’ve looked at many DMO websites while planning past trips, potentially without even realizing it. They often rank highly in search results for questions about hotels, restaurants and attractions in their location.
In fact, DMOs often have the most and best data about their destination anywhere on the web. Using a destination-specific AI tool ensures that this high-quality data factors more heavily into the responses than random Yelp reviews or bloggers.
Impartial recommendations
While using a base LLM like ChatGPT may seem more likely to produce unbiased results than an AI tool operated by a DMO, promoting the destination while maintaining neutrality among businesses in the area is a priority for DMOs.
“Some DMOs who are new to using AI have expressed concern about the responses potentially showing favoritism for particular businesses in the destination,” explains Ross Borden, CEO of Matador Network, which created GuideGeek. “This is an issue older chatbots, before the recent advances in AI, would run into. They had a certain set of responses they would dole out. But GuideGeek is extremely personalized. The AI generates a different response for each user based on their question and the overall flow of conversation.”
Using an AI tool directly from a destination actually ensures that bias is excluded from the results and that an array of suitable options are presented for any given query.
DMOs really want you to have a good trip
DMOs want nothing more than for you to come to their destination, have an amazing time and then go home and tell all your friends and family about it. Their AI tools are extensively configured with exactly this goal in mind.
Meanwhile, broader tools, like ChatGPT, have broader objectives. They just want to be the best LLM for all purposes, whether that’s writing song lyrics or editing a real estate contract.
While OpenAI is not invested in your vacation being a success, the DMO’s have gone to great lengths to make sure the responses from their AI tools for any kind of travel question or itinerary are spot on. And they’re also monitoring conversations closely to learn more about what visitors are interested in or worried about.
Plus, many destinations want to make accessing their AI tool as easy as possible so that travelers can use it on the spur of the moment during their trips. For instance, you can message 6ix, the official AI from Destination Toronto, on their official Instagram and Facebook pages — apps virtually every visitor is likely to already have on their phone.
“Using AI in this way feels expansive. It feels creative,” explains Borden. “Your relationship with the destination is growing and unfolding before you touch down. And that connection, that flow, is strongest when you’re in conversation with an AI tool from the destination itself.”
Source: Does Your Next Destination Have Its Own AI? Here's Why You Should Try It
