The opportunity for travel in Link-in-bio

Link in bio giant Linktree this week dropped a huge range of upgrades for their 50 million creator users for them to be able to better run their creator businesses.

They now have modules for creators to sell courses or guides. They have a spot for sponsored links and they have Shops: “Our social commerce marketplace is now open to everyone in the U.S. With over 10 million commissionable products over 150 brands and retailers.”

You know what they didn’t have? The ability to sell travel.

Despite travel creators being one of the largest cohorts of creators on social media, travel missed out.

Why? Because selling travel isn’t the same as selling a handbag or Roblox inspired lamp. Travel is nuanced in its consideration pathway and it’s booking pathway. Travel needs to find intent that isn’t spontaneous in the way a product purchase can be seen and immediately bought.

In short, it requires a specific solution. That is what Videreo is building and this week Net Influencer, the premier media for the creator economy took up the story. If you aren’t clear on what Videreo does and how it can help your business find a new growth pathway - then this article should clear everything up.

Who knows, you might see Videreo as a module in the next update from Linktree or one of their competitors like Bio.site or others!

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

Check out more here to join brands already in the vector database like global hotel meta-search business Vio.com or see Videreo in action from creator Mely in Paris.

Contact Adrian for more details on how to get your travel product loaded.

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

Agents = Agency = Action

Sometimes an article comes along and like the eye of a cyclone or the still crisp morning after a night of storms, just makes everything clear.

This article by Jamie Smith achieved this for where we currently sit in our AI journey. It is based on an upcoming book by Gam Dias called Agents Unleashed and it is written in simple language without a lot of jargon.

Last week we mentioned Model Context Protocol or MCP as almost an afterthought in Shorts section. I’m happy I didn’t go into trying to explain it myself because now we have a beautifully simple explanation here in this post.

“In technical terms, MCP is like ‘USB-C for AI’. A standard connector. One that lets any compliant agent interface with any compliant service, without needing a custom cable for every new integration.” As long as you apply to the MCP protocol, any agent that also corresponds can interact (with act being the core part of that word) with your data.

This isn’t the time to bet on Beta over VHS. This standard is being taken up by competitors like Open AI & Anthropic. “And just like HTTP transformed the web, MCP might quietly transform how business gets done.”

The comprehensive example in the article is also all based around a travel scenario, so we don’t have to try and figure out what it means for us here in travel.

Read this article and you will instantly be the expert in your workplace on the coming future for everyone.

“What started as a smarter chatbot is becoming something much bigger. A new interface layer for the internet, one built not around content, but around context.

The rise of AI agents isn’t just a technical evolution.

It’s a UX inversion, and we’re only beginning to see what that unlocks.”

An OTA for AI created digital experiences

In a guest post on the Cyborguide blog this week, Moti Erdeapel, CEO of Cityfans laid out the case for why he is building an OTA for digital experiences. “Think AI-driven guides that respond in real time. Story-based city games. Audio tours that adapt to your pace and preferences.”

Erdeapel sites companies that we’ve covered in this newsletter like iWander and Autopia who are building the future of how a destination is physically (audibly, visually) experienced when you are in a destination.

He rightly explains the current versions of experiences OTA’s like Get Your Guide, Viator, Klook and others are not built to handle the discovery or the redemption of digital products. Get Your Guide famously purged digital products as a category last year.

Where the generalists move out, the specialists move in.

For mine, digital experiences like these seem like the ultimate ancillary. I don’t know about a dedicated home that consumers might actually seek out but paired say with eSIM’s it could be huge addition that many travellers would take up. And someone needs to power that.

Would I pay $30 for 30 days access on top of my eSIM to have access to a range of dedicated audio, city games and in-city concierge services? For sure! Subscriptions almost never work in travel, but they could work here!

In fact Maaltalknow released something like this, this week (not with all the digital products, but with some of the planning and concierge stuff built in). And they are giving everyone a 7-day free trial including the eSIM itself!

Google’s Eric Schmidt tells us we have no idea what is coming

A video emerged this week with Eric Schmidt talking about how things are changing, how fast they are changing and what might happen next.

In short, intelligence is about to decouple from us (by us, I mean humans).

He talks about computers doing recursive self-improvement meaning computer intelligence will be greater than the sum of all human intelligence. Timeframe: 6 years.

He also said that in 1 year, the vast number of programmers will be AI, not human.

“This path is not understood in our society. There is no language for what happens with the arrival of this.”

I guess that depends on how many times you’ve watched Terminator 2.

I hope our computer overlords will still let us go on holiday.

Back here in the now, Vietnam’s Best Flights laid out how their new AI customer service is also “reshaping the way travel firms operate, raising questions about human job security.”

“Instead of having staff work late into the night to answer questions and provide consultation, AI now allows travel companies to serve customers 24/7. With a 40% reduction in response time, sales teams can provide better customer service, resulting in higher conversion rates for tours and flight bookings.”

“Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours, noted that AI significantly reduces the time required to design and present travel products.” and “Nguyen Huu Cuong, General Director of Trang An Travel, said AI enhances interaction with customers, making them feel more involved in the tour planning process. Customers can choose their own tours with the help of a virtual assistant. His company is integrating with leading AI apps like ChatGPT to assess customer demand and tailor outreach to specific segments.”

With speed of response being a big determining factor in who a customer might end up booking with, this is no small thing. Still, it is probably good to be fast, but not too fast should you want the customer to attribute value to your work!

AI at Arabian Travel Mart

Arabian Travel Mart starts on Monday and is packed with AI content.

Not surprising really as there seems a greater openness to this innovation in those markets.

“Cassie Kozyrkov, CEO of Kozyr and a globally renowned speaker in AI, will lead an insightful session on “AI adoption: From Buzzwords to Business Strategy”. Best known for founding the field of ‘Decision Intelligence’ and serving as Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist, where she spearheaded the tech giant’s AI-first transformation, Kozyrkov is a sought-after AI advisor and speaker who has transformed how organisations such as Gucci, NASA, Spotify, Meta and GSK approach AI strategy.”

“Futurist and travel expert John Duffield will share fascinating insights on how AI and smart systems are reshaping the industry by enabling hyper-personalised experiences, seamless connectivity and innovations.”

“Dorothee Anjos, General Manager, Middle East at Multilem, will also touch on the importance of the human element in a thought-provoking discussion on the relationship between human connection and AI in the events industry.”

And lots more. Check the article if you are going and pencil in the best ones! Wish I was going!

Get Your Guide adds AI to supplier onboarding

GYG this week dropped onto their blog how they are looking at the opportunity of generative AI to help solve bottlenecks within their business.

Core to this was supplier onboarding. Having lived for 10 years on the other side of this, I can concur.

The article outlines that loading onto GYG is 16 step process. Now by just giving the GYG AI the link to your product on your own page, you can automate 8 of those steps. That’s pretty great!

The big surprise they found in the roll out - many suppliers didn’t use it!

Ultimately this is an excellent article that can help any business understand in pretty great detail how another company is going through the adoption and roll out of AI tools within their business, the pitfalls they came across and exactly how they solved them.

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: Intellias

Intellias is proud to be a Bronze Sponsor at the J On The Beach Conference. This vibrant tech event brings together developers, DevOps engineers, and data scientists to discuss big things in Big Data.

🗓 14–16 May 📍 Malaga, Spain

🎤 Don't miss the session by Kuba Jażdżyk, Machine Learning Engineer at Intellias, called "Empowering AI with MLOps — Beyond the DevOps Horizon”. Kuba will explore how MLOps can unlock AI's full potential with real-world use cases, technical depth, and lessons from the field.

Totally nerd out deep in AI, then go for a swim!

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 stats from Africa

The African Travel & Tourism Association this week released stats on AI adoption (or planned adoption) by their membership.

The high level findings were:

• 85% of African tourism businesses are either already using AI tools (58%) or planning to adopt them soon (27%)

• 71.8% are likely to invest in AI tools or training within the next 12 months

• 73 out of 100 is how executives rate AI's significance to African tourism over the next 3-5 years

Despite their enthusiasm, African tourism executives face what might be called the "Triple Threat" slowing AI adoption:

• Talent: 81.2% cite lack of technical expertise as their primary challenge

• Time: 44.7% point to lack of time or resources to learn new tools, a particular challenge for smaller organisations with limited staff

• Treasury: While only 27.1% cite cost as a barrier (surprisingly low given the predominance of small businesses), budget considerations remain important

Slack Group!

Podcasts and Sponsors

Podcasts now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

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

We’ve got a bunch of great guests now lining up and we’ll be back with new episodes very soon.

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Most clicked last week was the link to Buzz’s in destination concierge. This actually was a huge surprise as I thought the video from JAL would win hands down!

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