Should you swap your travel agent for AI?

>> FROM HOTELS TO RESTAURANTS TO ACTIVITIES PLANNING A TRIP CAN BE A LOT. BUT WOULD YOU TRUST TECHNOLOGY OVER HUMAN TO PLAN EVERYTHING FOR YOU? IT TURNS OUT PEOPLE USING AI MORE AND MORE INSTEAD OF YOUR TYPICAL TRAVEL AGENT NORMALLY USE CHATGPT. I ALSO USED GOOGLE A LOT AND GOOGLE ANYMORE. >> ABOUT 90% OF THE TIME ALWAYS POPS UP INITIALLY WITH AI THE VERY TOP. SO WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS TO BOTH? ONLY IN TONIGHT’S COVER STORY, SARAH MICHAEL WAS IS FINDING OUT IF WE REALLY LEAVE THE BOOKING TO THE BOTS. >> I HELPED PEOPLE REALIZE THEIR DREAM VACATION. LESTER TTERSON RUNSRAVELING WITH LESS A TRAVEL AGENCY THAT WILL PLAN YOUR TRIP SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO. >> EVERYTHING FROM THEIR LIKES THEIR FAIR, ALL THE WAY TOO HOTELS EXCURSIONS. IF IT’S A CRUISE, THEN THEY WANT TO EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CREW. BUT RECENTLY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SWAPPING OUT TRAVEL AGENTS FOR AI. >> I THINK IT’S. >> LET ME TO SOME PRETTY DECENT PLACES. FOR EXAMPLE, I’M GOING TO GO EAT IT FOR A GARAGE RIGHT NOW WANTING THOMPSON TELLS ME HE USED AI TO PLAN HIS TRIP RIGHT RE TO FORT MYERS, LIKE TO LOOK AT ATTRACTIONS. AND I KE GET SOME UPDATES. >> ON ANCONSTRUCTION ARE ANY IMPEDIMENTS I THINK I WOULD FIND THAT. >> AND IN A NORMALLY USE CHATGPT, THE BIG QUESTION I JUST AS GOOD AS A TRAVEL EYES REALLY BOTTOM OUT OF THOSE TOOLS TOGEER AND IT’S ALSO MADE IT. >> A LITTLE MORE INTERACTI. SO INSTEAD OF YOU HAVING A PUBLIC BUNCH OF STUFF INTO A WEBSITE AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. >> YOU CAN AT LEAST THINK YOU’RE HAVING A CONVERSATION. JOHN JOYCE CEO OF CIRRUS TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANTS AS I IS CAPABLE OF HELPING YOU PLAN A TRIP. IT COULD BE GIVING YOU OUTDATED SUGGESTIONS. SO IF THERE’S BEEN A MAJOR CHANGE TO, YOU KNOW, >> AND THE YOU KNOW, MAYBE A PLACE HAD A NATURAL DISASTER AS ANDFULLY RECOVERED YE OR, YOKNOW, THERE’S BEEN AN ECONOMIC CHANGE. >> THOMPSON SAYS THAT’S EXACTLWHAT HAPPENED TO HIM. ASK IT A LITTLE BIT OF ABOUT. FORT MYERS BEACH AND THE DEVASTATION AND WHAT THEY’RE DOING OVER THERE. WE DID JUST THAT. WE ASKED CHATGPT TO HELP US PLAN A TRIP TO THE FORT MYERS BEACH PIER. GOOD NEWS. CHATGPT SAYS THE PIER IS OPEN. 24 HOURS A DAY. >> EXCEPT THAT’S NOT THE CASE. WASN’T ALL THAT HELP OVER THAT. BUT IT WAS KIND OF A CURIOSITY, JOYCE, UNLESS AGREE ONE, THEY WIN FOR TRAVEL AGENTS. >> I CAN’T PHYSICALLY GO TO THE PLACES YOU’RE LOOKING TO EXPLORE AS SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN THERE BECAUSE SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM MY HOPE NOW, THERE’S A 4 STAR 5 STAR REST. IT’S THE AND I HOPE YOU LIKE COST. >> OR AS A COFFEE SHOP RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, ABOUT 150 FEET AWAY FROM THE FRONT DOOR. THAT’S OF GRACE CO. >> IT’S THE PRICE YOU’RE LOOKING AT. BOTH OPTIONS ARE TYPICALLY FREE. MY CLOTHES DON’T PAY ME ANYTHING. WHAT THEY DO IS THEY THEY PAY THE CRUISE LINE. >> THEY PAY THE HOTEL. THEY PAY EVERYBODY ELSE THAT’S INVOLVED. ERYBODY ELSE PAYS WELL, BOTH AI AND TRAVEL AGENTS CAN HELP YOU PLAN YOUR DREAM VACATION. JOYCE SAYS YOU SHOULD CHOOSE THE HUMAN WAY, AT LEAST FOR NOW. IT’S REALLY COOL IDEAS OUT THERE.BUT SOME OF THOSE IDEAS HAVE A LITTLE WAYS TO GO BEFORE. I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, DITCH YOUR, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBOR A TRAVEL AGENT THAT’S BEEN EUROS TO SERVING YOUR FAMILY SINCE THE 90’S. MAYBE STILL CHECK IN WITH A PROFESSIONAL SOMETIMES GET A MORE TAILORED REPORTING IN FORT MYERS SERVING WHAT’S GULF COAST NEWS. >> ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, SARAH. LET’S GO FURTHER. TRAVEL AGENTS ARE NOT ALONE, EVEN TRAVEL. BLOGGERS SAY THEY ARE FEELING THE RISE OF THAT SMART TECH, TOO. >> I WROTE A BLOG POST ABOUT BULLS WITH THE DESTINATION OF AI ANYBODY WROTE ABOUT AND I LOVE AND CHECK UP. AND I FOUND LINKS VERY SIMILAR INFORMATION. HE’S LOOK POSSIBLE IN THE WHOLE DECISION PROCESS. YOU READ SOMETHING ON THE BLOCK AND MAYBE YOU JUST DON’T LIKE CHANGE AS WELL. AND THEN THE FIRM THAT INFORMATION YOU BE YOUR NEXT TRIP. >> BLOGGERS SAY PROVIDING NEW WATTS AND PERSPECTIVES IS A MACHIN

Should you swap your travel agent for AI?

Updated: 9:43 PM EDT May 5, 2025

People have been swapping out travel agents for artificial intelligence recently, but should you?“I think it’s led me to some pretty decent places. For example, I’m going to go eat at Ford Garage right now,” said Lonnie Thompson, who used AI to plan his trip to Fort Myers.The big question is, is AI just as good as a travel agent?“AI has really brought a lot of those tools together, and it’s also made it a little bit more interactive. So instead of having to plug a bunch of stuff into a website and hope for the best, you can at least think you’re having a conversation,” said John Joyce, CEO of CRS Technology Consultants.Joyce said that while AI is capable of helping you plan a trip, it could be giving you outdated suggestions.“If there’s been a major change or maybe a place had a natural disaster, it hasn’t fully recovered yet, or there’s been an economic change there,” Joyce said.Lester Patterson runs Traveling With Les, a travel agency that will plan your trip, so you don’t have to. “Everything from their flights, their airfare, all the way to hotels, excursions. If it’s a cruise, then they want to know everything about the cruise,” Patterson said.Joyce and Patterson agree that a big win for travel agents is that AI can’t physically go to the places you’re looking to explore.“As someone who’s been there, you can say, you know what, right down the street from that hotel, there’s a four-star, a five-star restaurant. It’s an Italian restaurant. I hope you like pasta. Or there’s a coffee shop right around the corner, about 150 feet away from the front door that serves a great scone,” Patterson said.If it’s the price you’re looking at, both options are typically free.“My clients don’t pay me anything. What they do is they pay the cruise line. They pay the hotel. They pay everybody else that’s involved,” Patterson said.While both AI and travel agents can help you plan your dream vacation, Joyce said you should choose the human way, at least for now.“There’s some really cool ideas out there, but some of those ideas have a little way to go before I would say, you know, ditch your neighborhood travel agent,” Joyce said.

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

People have been swapping out travel agents for artificial intelligence recently, but should you?

“I think it’s led me to some pretty decent places. For example, I’m going to go eat at Ford Garage right now,” said Lonnie Thompson, who used AI to plan his trip to Fort Myers.

The big question is, is AI just as good as a travel agent?

“AI has really brought a lot of those tools together, and it’s also made it a little bit more interactive. So instead of having to plug a bunch of stuff into a website and hope for the best, you can at least think you’re having a conversation,” said John Joyce, CEO of CRS Technology Consultants.

Joyce said that while AI is capable of helping you plan a trip, it could be giving you outdated suggestions.

“If there’s been a major change or maybe a place had a natural disaster, it hasn’t fully recovered yet, or there’s been an economic change there,” Joyce said.

Lester Patterson runs Traveling With Les, a travel agency that will plan your trip, so you don’t have to.

“Everything from their flights, their airfare, all the way to hotels, excursions. If it’s a cruise, then they want to know everything about the cruise,” Patterson said.

Joyce and Patterson agree that a big win for travel agents is that AI can’t physically go to the places you’re looking to explore.

“As someone who’s been there, you can say, you know what, right down the street from that hotel, there’s a four-star, a five-star restaurant. It’s an Italian restaurant. I hope you like pasta. Or there’s a coffee shop right around the corner, about 150 feet away from the front door that serves a great scone,” Patterson said.

If it’s the price you’re looking at, both options are typically free.

“My clients don’t pay me anything. What they do is they pay the cruise line. They pay the hotel. They pay everybody else that’s involved,” Patterson said.

While both AI and travel agents can help you plan your dream vacation, Joyce said you should choose the human way, at least for now.

“There’s some really cool ideas out there, but some of those ideas have a little way to go before I would say, you know, ditch your neighborhood travel agent,” Joyce said.

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