VisitBritain says the complex trips that Kiwis take to the UK need agents rather than AI to properly arrange.
While artificial intelligence has a place, Paul Gauger, VisitBritain’s deputy director Americas, Asia, Australia & New Zealand, says it is nowhere near replacing real people.
With attractions and visitor trends changing quickly in Britain, for a market such as New Zealand, where customers are taking longer trips and often travelling regionally, human expertise remains important. AI is increasingly helping travellers discover destinations and experiences, but travel advisors continue to add value through curation, packaging and confidence in booking decisions, he says.
Travel agents offer on-the-ground support and can manage the intricacies of longer and more complex trips. While AI is beneficial at the research stage, having an advisor’s assistance and advice on the ground is invaluable.“I played around recently with AI and some stuff was fine but a lot wasn’t, a restaurant wasn’t there anymore, something was closed,’’ says Gauger.
. . . Back On Track
VisitBritain says visitor disruption due to the Middle East was short-term for the destination. Sharp declines seen at the peak of disruption have eased, says Gauger, and bookings picked up from Jul as travel advisories were lifted and Middle Eastern airlines resumed services—and travellers switched to other routes.
More Kiwis are expected to travel to the UK in autumn and winter which supports expectations of a stronger end of year.
At the recent VisitBritain NZ Workshop, 14 UK tourism businesses and destinations met with more than 180 product managers and agents in what Gauger says is the biggest push here for more than a decade. The Auckland event was timely given the rebuild in the face of the Middle East conflict.
. . . Sell Beyond
VisitBritain is encouraging Kiwi agents to sell beyond London and the traditional hotspots and to promote shoulder and off-peak travel, where Kiwis are already showing strong interest.
Gauger is urging agents to leverage Britain’s strong pipeline of new attractions, major sporting events and screen tourism experiences, and highlight the ease of access with more than 20 one-stop flight options into multiple UK gateway cities. See more on selling Britain HERE.
