Travel trends guru Dan Christian has shared six ways he believes travel agents can harness AI off the back of new research into how today’s travellers plan and book their holidays.

Speaking at WTM London on Thursday (6 November), Dan Christian – host of the Travel Trends Podcast – outlined the key trends shaping travellers’ behaviours, and shared some practical strategies to help agents stay ahead.

Christian also offered insights from the Travel AI Summit 2025, which took place virtually last month, as well as predictions for the future of the sector. Here are just six of his key points.

Voice is key

Christian detailed research showing increasingly numbers of travellers are "speaking" to brands via ChatGPT and other AI tools, which is training users to engage by talking, rather than typing.

“Consumers are being taught to use their voice again,” Christian explained. “We’ve been forced into a world of typing and texting, despite the fact we can transmit three times more information if we speak.”

For agents, this means a voice-based interface must become a core touchpoint of their service. They must also optimise their businesses not only for readers, but also for listeners, and ensure their content is designed for voice-based search and dialogue-driven engagement.

Invest in PR

Christian advised agents to invest, or at least dabble, in public relations support to deliver "earned media", which now accounts for 80% of AI citations.

He warned “PR is now the backbone of AI visibility,” with public relations influencing brand sentiment in AI-generated summaries and feeding training data for large language models.

Optimise your content

Christian told delegates that 50-70% of travellers today are using AI tools to plan trips, with ChatGPT the most popular tool for building an itinerary.

And as AI becomes more sophisticated, it is also changing the way travellers conduct research – clients are now more likely to search for a highly-specific request, such as "where are the best places to go with two young kids in Rome".

Christian said this suggested strong intent to spend: “Travellers who use AI are ready to book – their credit card is out.” 

Agents must therefore optimise their content for AI Generative Optimisation (AGO), such as featuring user-generated content and using clear, concise language. They should also embrace platforms like Scrunch and Peec, which help brands improve how they are represented in AI search results.

Accept agentic AI

With its reasoning and planning capabilities, agentic AI is challenging the role of the travel agent. "When you think of your marketing teams, the reality is AI can out-deliver a human using their keyword optimisation tools,” Christian warned.

“Never in the course of human history have we ever invited a tool that can act on our behalf, and the very nature of that brings up all these questions of what it will be capable of doing.”

Christian predicted humans will soon become “supervisors of AI”, which means travel professionals – like agents – will need to learn how to manage, monitor and integrate these tools effectively.

Hyper-personalisation

One key takeaway from Christian's address for agents was that AI continues to evolve, travellers’ expectations of their advisor will increase.

"AI will enable agents to deliver experiences that adapt dynamically to each traveller’s context,” he explained. “This will be based on their past behaviour search patterns, social media signals, and real time triggers."

He added: "The expectation of personalisation from customers is therefore going to be table stakes,” before urging advisors to seek expertise from professional tech providers. “You won’t be able to do it on your own.”

Trust 'the new currency'

Christian's final warning was on trust. “As more content is AI generated, travellers will become more sceptical about generic content," he said. "Brands need to communicate authenticity, unique voices, local knowledge and trust signals to stand out.”

He added this is especially important for travel professionals, many of whom rely on customer relationships for their brand’s success. “Trust is the new currency.”