For tourism brands, AI can be an incredibly powerful asset. 

And we get it: maybe you’ve played around with having ChatGPT write some of your emails, didn’t love the results, got annoyed, and went back to your normal routine. No shame there! 

But even freebie versions can help you streamline some of your operations and enhance content creation surprisingly well, if you’re using them the right way.

We’ll explore what types of tasks AI excels at, where it falls short, and how to use it effectively – especially in the travel industry.

First, What is AI Good At?

It can’t do your laundry yet, but generating high-level content ideas? Definitely in AI’s wheelhouse. 

1. Helping you brainstorm

AI can be a pretty solid partner in the creative process. Whether you’re generating ideas for blog posts, social media campaigns, or any other content marketing strategies, AI tools can offer a fresh perspective, especially if you’re in a creative rut (it happens to the best of us!).

2. Rewriting content in a specific tone of voice.

If you prompt it carefully, and especially if you invest in customizable AI tools, you can instantly adjust any writing to match your brand’s personality or the preferences of your target audience. 

It won’t always perform as well as a seasoned writer, but if you’re short on time and caffeine, it’s the perfect jumpstart. Keep in mind that you can keep adjusting your prompt to guide it and improve the output. Then you can dive in and make the finishing touches.

3. Writing the first draft.

In the early stage of writing when you just need to get words on the page, AI can come up with relevant content literally within seconds. This is especially useful for types of content that you put out regularly, such as emails, newsletters, blog posts, and social updates. If you feel like your writing is getting stale (and we’ve all been there), ask AI for a hand. You can even prompt it by sharing your preferred format and character limits.

4. Answering straightforward questions.

If you’re researching a new location for a tour and don’t know where to start, AI could give you some useful pointers and resources. Similar to an old-fashioned search engine, AI is pretty great at combing different sources and delivering the most useful information in a conversational, easy-to-consume way. 

This goes for some customer service and business ops functions as well. An AI-driven chatbot could help streamline common customer service and support tasks, for instance. 

It only goes so far though. Want to launch a successful Google ads campaign? You’ll probably want to partner with a digital marketing agency that keeps up with this stuff. This is partly because large language models like ChatGPT have a “cutoff” date when they stopped taking in new information. So in the fast-paced world of digital marketing, you could miss out on crucial updates. 

Same goes for more nuanced tasks like launching a Tiktok campaign: you’ll have to really know your audience and current social memes and trends to make it successful. AI isn’t great at that. 

Where AI Falls Short

So, yeah – AI can do a lot, but it has some important weaknesses. I mean, don’t we all? Here are some caveats to keep in mind.

1. Nuance and Humor

Not surprisingly, AI struggles with the subtleties of human communication. Just try asking ChatGPT to be funny and you’ll see what we mean. Cue the eye roll emoji!

When you’re trying to grab attention with social posts or blog titles, AI can help you come up with some ideas, but it’s up to you or a marketing agency that specializes in tourism to give it that flare that will make your brand stand out. This is especially true in the world of travel, where your audience wants to feel excited and inspired to pay you a visit on their vacation. 

2. Following Directions

This one might be counter-intuitive, since your entire interaction with AI is pretty much giving it instructions. But large language models might not always grasp complex instructions or follow them perfectly, especially over the course of a long conversation. Think of it like explaining something to a very young child: sometimes you need to repeat a prompt, or try explaining it differently, in order to get the outcome you want. 

3. Recent events

AI systems typically don’t incorporate recent developments or real-time information unless specifically updated. This can result in content that feels outdated or disconnected from current events or social trends. AI can produce content for you, but it may not be socially aware.

4. Inclusivity

Similarly, AI-generated content may lack the sensitivity and inclusivity needed for diverse audiences. It’s crucial to review and adjust the language before you hit “Send” to ensure it aligns with your brand’s values and resonates with your followers.

5. Empathy

Noticing a theme here? AI lacks a human touch and emotional intelligence. And you may not realize just how important that is until you start experimenting with large language models. 

While AI can produce content, it may come across as robotic or impersonal. 

This is a pretty big achilles heel for tour providers to be aware of, when you’re relying on your words and images to speak to potential customers who are in a different state or country. 

AI Best Practices

You don’t have to dive deep into prompt patterns and techniques in order to maximize the benefits of AI for your tourism brand. Here’s the TLDR. 

1. Ask it to Cite its Sources

For accuracy and credibility, you can ask AI to provide sources or references for the information it generates. This makes it easier for you to double-check for accuracy, and helps ensure the content is reliable.

2. Ask Why

You can ask AI to share its reasoning, along with its responses. Understanding why AI answered a question in a certain way can provide insights into its reasoning process. This can help you evaluate the output and also refine your future prompts.

3. Specify Your Format

To save time, start by clearly communicating the format you want. You could tell your AI that you want to create a blog post, Insta stories caption, or an email. If you want to get more granular than that, you could even give it a template to follow, such as:

[Title] 

[sub-title]

• [point 1]
  • [relavant quote]
• [point 2]
• [point 3]

Admittedly, this kind of prompting takes a bit of extra time, but it’ll probably be worthwhile for content that you frequently reproduce. 

4. Review and Edit Outputs

Always review and edit AI-generated content, especially for customer-facing materials. 

After all, you are the expert in your industry, and your potential clients want to hear from you – not ChatGPT or Gemini. 

Benefits of AI for Tourism Brands

AI can significantly reduce the time spent on routine tasks, such as content creation. This allows you and your team to focus on more strategic campaign planning and creative branding. Brands that effectively leverage AI are likely to be more efficient. If you’re offloading some of your more routine tasks that are easy to replicate, then you have more time and energy to innovate. 

Still, while AI can handle many tasks, it’s not a substitute for the human touch. Effective tourism marketing requires empathy, emotional connection, and a deep understanding of your audience—elements that AI can’t usually replicate.

By understanding the strengths and limitations of AI, you can use it as a valuable tool in your tourism marketing toolkit. Embrace its capabilities while recognizing the importance of the human touch to craft compelling, empathetic content that resonates with your audience.