What’s the deal with AI? Tips and tricks from tourism expert Peter Syme
Travel industry veteran Peter Syme shares his views on the increasing popularity of AI within the tourism sector.
Back in November 2023, FareHarbor hosted one of our famous Meetups in Edinburgh, Scotland. There we welcomed travel industry veteran Peter Syme to take the stage and discuss his view on the rising popularity of AI (artificial intelligence).
Read on to discover Peter’s insights and see which aspects you can incorporate into your business. And listen below to hear Peter’s full interview.
FareHarbor Meetups are intimate events traveling to a city near you. Attend your local Meetup to meet with your peers, share ideas and stories, and learn the latest industry trends. Our 2024 dates and locations are coming soon.
Get to know Peter Syme
Peter Syme has worked in the tourism industry for decades and has a particular passion for adventure travel as well as the benefits it can produce for both travelers and businesses.
He is not only the owner and operator of several niche travel startups and businesses, but also works as a consultant and mentor for other tour and activity companies across the globe.
With a wealth of knowledge and experience, we were thrilled to pick Peter’s brain about AI.
Should your business start using AI?
Short answer, yes.
According to Peter, AI is one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. First was the internet, then GPS, and finally AI. He believes that as an operator, AI must be adopted to avoid the risk of falling behind competitors.
He makes a traffic light analogy to explain which types of businesses are most in need to hop on the AI bandwagon. Ask yourself, “can AI take over parts of my business or product?” to decipher which zone your business falls into.
- Red Zone: You must use AI now because it is coming for your business.
- For example, if you run a walking history and culture tour, AI could take over the tour guide role.
- Amber Zone: You have some time to learn and research, but you must think about how to incorporate AI soon.
- For example, if you run a food tour, while it can take over the tour guide aspect, AI cannot replace the interaction with food or the chef.
- Green Zone: You have plenty of time to learn and research before you must use AI.
- For example, if you run a bungee jump activity, AI cannot replace the person’s experience nor the staff members needed for safety.
“Those who get in first [to utilizing AI] will do well, those who get into it in five years time will be struggling to catch up.”
How AI can keep you ahead of the competition
Regardless of your zone, Peter does stress the importance of AI for any type of tour and activity business. He explains that there are two phases of AI usage.
Phase 1: Use AI to improve your operations.
In this phase, operators should use AI to boost productivity and efficiency in the back end of their business. This can include writing emails, answering common questions with a chatbot or producing blog content.
Phase 2: Use AI to strategically change your offering.
This next phase pushes operators to use AI to better their tours and activities which will set them apart AND bring in more revenue.
For instance, you could make your experiences longer with AI assistance and increase your prices. Or you could use AI to offer more tours per day which may not be currently possible if you can only afford a certain number of staff members.
Note that Peter does warn that you should not move to phase 2 until you master phase 1.
Maximize success with Peter’s AI tips:
Ask more questions for more accurate results
Simply asking ChaptGPT or a similar software to “write a blog post about a walking tour” will not suffice. You need to ask several follow-up questions to produce a final product that is more accurate and conducive to your business.
“It’s just like holding a conversation with a human. The deeper you go, the better the information will become.”
Curate your own AI data rather than scraping the entire internet
Peter says that the latter is “lazy.” You will receive better results by inputting your own data and building from there. For example, you can choose to upload your current employee handbook and use AI to make further improvements. If you scrape the internet for all available employee handbooks, you will get irrelevant information and waste your time.
When AI projects are generated only from your own data and resources, they are more likely to be 100% accurate — or close to it.
Be conscious of your publicly shared information
Everything you share online is available to your competitors and the AI sweeps they perform. Of course, you need to attract customers with information like item descriptions, FAQ’s, and blog posts. However, any data or content that does not need to be publicly digitized is best kept behind a paywall or password.
Always check your AI work before publishing
Regardless of how tuned in your AI algorithm is, it’s critical to read through your AI-generated content before publishing. Peter says that “as of now humans are smarter than AI,” so you need to check for mistakes, accuracy, and tone.
If you enjoyed learning Peter Syme’s insights for mastering AI, be sure to listen to his whole interview on Growth: Powered by FareHarbor. You’ll hear more about his AI perspective as well as the specific ways to work with OTAs that will make you more money.
