“Tony, we just need more sales”

After 18 months of consultancy work and near on 100 travel brand conversations, the jury is in. People don’t want little nudges towards conversion, they just want more sales.

Traffic is dropping from tactics that used to work. Performance marketing is getting harder to achieve the same results, without spending more money.

Everyone just wants more sales.

No-one is up for a heavy technology lift.

There isn’t upfront money to pay for anything.

Working in the confines of these rather snug parameters 😅, the instantaneous sales machine, from the channel hiding in plain sight, is what we built.

Videreo is the place for brands and creators to meet & create a new sales pipeline together.

Check out more here to join brands already being sold his way like Contiki, G Adventures & Globus.

This content is provided by the (interim) newsletter sponsor Videreo.com

Miss Piggy brought in to explain Booking’s new AI trip planner at Super Bowl

Wait? What!?

There is a sentence I never thought I (or anyone for that matter) would ever write.

But here is the video.

Perplexity comes for travel

All the LLM companies love a travel demo.

But it seems Perplexity is going a little bit deeper than just the demo according to the somewhat obscure (to me at least) Testing Catalog site.

“Perplexity AI appears to be developing new features centered on travel planning, specifically Hotel Pages and Travel Agent AI” the article says before dropping in a screenshot of “new strings” discovered on the platform.

“These features could position Perplexity as a competitor in the travel planning space, challenging platforms like Google Travel or Expedia. By combining AI summarization with real-time data, Perplexity aims to offer a comprehensive and user-friendly travel planning tool. the page say before ominously warning “these features are in advanced stages of development.”

But we in travel should not worried because no-one even knows who Perplexity is right?

Well, that may have been true except rather than drop $8M on a Super Bowl half-time ad, Perplexity decided to do a $1M winner takes all, in-app promotion. It was not clear the time of writing if they were hit with the 30% Apple Tax, but they did increase installs by 50%. 🚀 

Klook & Exoticca both raise cash for AI

The funding gates seem to be opening, but mainly for scale ups who are looking to entrench their advantage by loading up their AI capabilities, right now.

“The newly secured capital will drive Klook’s next phase of growth and innovation. Through its expanded AI partnership with Google Cloud, the company plans to enhance customer experience, merchant operations, and internal productivity.” reported Web in Travel.

US$100 million in funding led by the global growth investment firm Vitruvian Partners.

Meanwhile over in Europe, Exoticca also announced a $25M raise. Travel Daily Media reported “the tech-driven multi-day tour platform, has locked in €25 million in funding to fuel its cutting-edge AI technology and expand its footprint in key global markets.”

“This fresh capital will accelerate the development of the Barcelona-based company’s proprietary AI algorithms, designed to seamlessly sync trip components, personalize recommendations, optimize pricing strategies, and automate itinerary creation.”

The funding, provided as a venture debt facility from BBVA Spark, follows the company’s recent €60 million Series D round.

Picture this…..

A great story in Travel Weekly this week reporting on the findings of a consumer study into the sentiment around AI created images.

“AI images could have negative impact on trust but less so with younger consumers and men, Tui Group research has revealed.”

The story also compares and contrasts across different markets with Spainards not really down with the AI images. “Spanish consumers were especially wary of AI’s influence, with most believing AI-generated images would negatively impact their purchasing decisions.”

Other interesting info for our marketers out there included “user-generated imagery, was identified by 88% of respondents as crucial in building trust and influencing purchasing behaviour.”

The independent study, conducted by on behalf of Tui Musement with 1,200 adults across all age groups in Germany, Spain and the UK, was carried out last summer but the results have only just been released.

I also spotted some people really pushing the envelope on experimenting in this area this week, including with video. What do you think?

And then there is also this! (Great for say theme parks or if you have a company mascot as part of your brand).

Expedia keeping a close eye on AI

Expedia dropped its quarterly results and said “behaviour change” in search is already underway.

In my podcast with Kevin Indig a little while back he said that he loves travel from an SEO point of view because of the massive volumes of searches that it drives. And here is the type of stuff he is talking about.

“Travelers are going to start to search in different ways. And so we need to make sure that our brands are showing up in those new places where people are using gen AI native search.” said Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin.

Gorin thinks Expedia have got it covered.

HBU?

Gorin also said “The third priority, Gorin said, is to identify “native AI travel startups” that Expedia Group could partner with, for example as a supply partner.”

Hey, you startup people… get back here and finish the newsletter……………

If you think someone (or everyone) you know or work with could grow from being more informed on the topic of ai + travel (or could use the training above) then please forward this email to them and they can click the button below:

Marketplace Spotlight: Align Systems

Align Systems develops generative AI chatbots for your website or Meta platform integrated with Rezdy, FareHarbor, WooCommerce and Beds24 and more coming...

Simply give it some context like the persona of your chatbot, background information about your business, any instructions etc. and for more training, add links to your website pages and it’s ready to go.

If you use the Rezdy or FareHarbor Booking systems it can get live availability from your tours or accommodation and answer questions like:

I’m arriving this weekend with my partner and staying for 3 nights, what tours do you recommend and do you have availability?

If I only had 2 days in Prague, what do you recommend to see?

Do you have any vacancy for 3 people from the 10th October for 4 nights?

Everything AI in Travel readers can get access to a 14 day free trial to test it out.

If you have a B2B business underpinned by AI and looking for people to notice you, you can sign up to the marketplace for peanuts (top right corner, 5 mins, bring your logo).

I’ve priced for bootstrapped startups but also accepting larger companies too.

AI at the core

In this analysis of Phocuswire’s reporting into AI and startups, Hotel News Resource report that since 2005 over 400 startups have reported as having AI at their core.

2005 seems a long time ago. In 2005 I was smoking sheesha in Damascus whilst playing snake on my Nokia 1100.

Anyhoo - the impact of AI in startups on investing is also looked at. “While funding peaked in 2021, it rose again in 2024, with AI creating unprecedented funding opportunities for AI-driven travel startups. However, this has also exposed a divide among investors. On one side, some ride the hype wave without a clear understanding of AI's potential. On the other hand, more discerning investors understand the technology’s nuances and practical applications, leading them to identify applications that can deliver real-world impact and fuel startups with lasting potential.”

I’m looking to speak to the discerning investor right now actually. Please hit me up if you’d like to take a look at the Videreo deck for our pre-seed raise.

“Startups that build with sustainability and growth in mind, avoiding reliance on acquisition as their sole exit strategy, are more likely to succeed.” 😉 

Slack Group!

Shorts

Every week a lot of stuff is left on the cutting room floor. I though maybe I’ll just lest those here for anyone interested in digging more:

• Liked this analysis of OTA versus airline by Steve Endacott

• Speakspots is using AI to help travellers on a budget

Podcasts and Sponsors

Podcasts now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

This week we caught up with Adrian Villabruna from an awesome new startup called Videreo! Have you heard about it. Now you can hear it all.

New podcasts are now showing up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for your easy listening pleasure!

Sponsorship Opportunity:

Want to be known as the leading business in AI + Travel?

There is a unique opportunity right now for YOUR BUSINESS to come and take pole position in the AI + Travel world. We are currently fielding expressions of interest from suitable companies to take an owned media strategy like no other for 2025.

Available is blanket naming rights and coverage across both the Everything AI in Travel newsletter & podcast, with all the research, writing, scheduling, recording and publishing to an established and growing audience of decision makers in travel done in turnkey fashion. I’ll dig out each week what moves your company is making and make sure everyone knows about it.

Brands like Encora and Lufthansa use this owned/borrowed media tactic to huge effect and now you can too for about half the cost of a marketing coordinator. Shoot me a message if interested.

Most clicked last week was the link to Beautiful Destinations report into social commerce. Great to see the interest in this topic!!!

That’s it - you’ve made it to the end of this edition. I’ll be putting the result of the most clicked post in next week’s edition so you can see where others are focusing. If I’ve missed something, you’ve got a tip or any feedback at all - you can simply reply to this email and it will come straight to me. I’m doing this for You so please don’t be shy to tell me what you think