Speaking to TTG at the Advantage Travel Partnership conference in Benidorm, chief commercial offer Kelly Cookes revealed Advantage has been experimenting with AI and ChatGPT – and sought to reassure agents that the onset of AI would be complementary to the trade.

“What tech can’t do at the moment is replicate the expertise of an agent,” she said on Monday (22 May). “So it’s about how you can make your life easier by using tech to concentrate on the things where you add value."

Cookes’ comments came as Advantage launched a raft of new tech advancements for members, including new bookable and non-bookable website solutions to help members tap new markets and customers, and transition to a more digital shopfront at their own pace.

Developed in partnership with travel technology solutions providers Travelgenix and Travel Marketing Systems, the software offers agents website packages with different levels of functionality and content to suit their business, as well as SEO optimisation. 

By using the new software, agents will also have access to payment gateway integrations, including Barclays Merchant Services, as well as to a substantial range of supplier content. “Tech is a big thing for us because we see our role as driving members to embrace tech,” she told TTG.

Other key benefits include access to dynamically packaged holidays and cruise product, integration with tools such as Widgety and Tour Hound, rich destination information and customisable content pages and omni-channel marketing functions.

Elsewhere, Cookes told TTG about Advantage’s work on a data project that will amalgamate feeds from members’ back offices. This data will then be “sliced and diced” and fed back to agents, giving them a more holistic view of their businesses – and allowing them to benchmark themselves against trends and booking 

“We’ll be able to talk more holistically across the membership about what we’re seeing, which ultimately will be able to drive different tech advancements,” said Cookes.

The consortium also on Monday announced that, following a successful trial, it will roll out in-store digital window screens throughout the country, underpinned by AI. The technology – which will initially be installed in 30 shops, with 20 more coming at a later stage – will boost bookings by showcasing the latest offers and availability.

The TV screens, Cookes said, will utilise an element of AI in the form of a data box that will collect and aggregate viewership data. “Not only does it tell you how many people have walked past the screen, but it gives you stats on who stopped and looked at the screen, the individual’s demographics, what content they’ve engaged with and for how long,” she said.

The TV screens are not Advantage’s first foray into using AI, though, with ChatGPT already utilised centrally within the business for functions such as writing blog content. According to Cookes, Advantage will also trial to using the platform to produce an entire edition of its digital magazine, Journeys.

“We obviously won’t deliver it just like that, but we’re going to try and do the whole thing to see what works."

Earlier this year, some of the consortium’s members participated in a booking challenge where they were pitted against ChatGPT.

The challenge saw a collection of Advantage agents compete with the tool to plan a European family holiday, with the result coming down in favour of the human agents – reinforcing Cookes’ belief that AI is only equipped, at this stage, to do the basics. “It could plan a flight from A to B, anything more complex it couldn’t do,” she said.