How can AI make life easier for travel advisors?
That question, said Cruise Planners chief information officer Brian Shultz, became a guiding principle behind the creation of Maxx Intelligence, Cruise Planners' AI technology.
Also foundational to the Cruise Planners team was understanding what tasks a travel advisor would hand off to an assistant if they were busy and where AI could step in to complete those tasks faster.
The result is the AI-powered tech that has been integrated with Cruise Planners' CRM and booking tool, CP Maxx, for about a month. Maxx Intelligence can help advisors with things like content generation, personalized marketing materials and travel recommendations.
"We really marveled at just how much it's taken off so quickly," Shultz said. "It's only been out a little over a month, and we've had thousands and thousands and thousands of usages of it already."
With the creation and integration of Maxx Intelligence, Cruise Planners (No. 20 on Travel Weekly's 2023 Power List) joins the growing ranks of agencies using AI and, specifically, generative AI. The latter technology, while not new, has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year, with adoption rates and use cases soaring.
American Marketing Group, for instance, is working on integrating AI into its TripXpress itinerary builder. Travel Leaders Network last month introduced TobyAI, an AI engine that assists advisors in crafting itineraries and generating content. Approach Guides, which has forged a number of partnerships with suppliers and agencies, applies generative AI to help advisors create and hone social media posts.
Shultz said he believes AI is useful in travel when applied responsibly. Content generation falls neatly into that category, he said. Maxx Intelligence's generative capabilities come from OpenAI's ChatGPT. Advisors are using it for things like recommendations of what to do in destinations they're not familiar with as well as client correspondence and other communications.
Of course, there is an inherent risk that the AI will get something wrong, especially in the area of recommendations. For instance, generative AI might recommend a restaurant that has closed.
"We have a lot of messaging in our screens that basically tells [advisors], 'You're responsible for the content,'" Shultz said.
Maxx Intelligence also uses AI outside of its generative capabilities for predictive analysis. Using customer data, AI can help predict the kind of travel a client might be interested in and overlay that with a particular product or promotion.
This technology is still "in its infancy," Shultz said, but it holds promise in helping advisors mine their customer database and more proactively reach out to clients.
Cruise Planners is also considering a few more use cases for AI.
One is better segmentation of marketing materials at its headquarters. Shultz said AI could better manage Cruise Planners' database for distribution.
Image generation is another possibility. It would be particularly useful for advisors who are crafting itineraries and need a specific shot, Shultz said.
However, Shultz said the technology for that is currently "too immature to make quality photos."
AI images often look a little weird, he said, and sometimes cartoonish. Simply put, they're not photorealistic.
While the technology has improved, it's still another six to 12 months away from reaching the level of quality necessary, Shultz said.
Cruise Planners franchisees do not have to use Maxx Intelligence: The franchise owner decides whether or not to make it available to their team.
But the "vast majority" have already turned on Maxx Intelligence, Shultz said.
Advisor feedback has been "almost exclusively positive," he said. Indeed, advisors have asked for Maxx Intelligence to be added to their mobile app, which is in the works.
"We're really happy with it," Shultz said. "We feel that it's just the beginning of what we will be able to offer."