Can Videreo help create a cohort of travel influencer millionaires?

A couple of days of getting together in the same room and analysing all the data to date, has helped to sharpen the Videreo value proposition and strategy.

More than ever, we believe in the power of shoppable videos in travel.

The sector of travel most likely to benefit: video content creators; influencers. 

Videreo can move the value of content from a moment of time, as is the case in social, to a searchable and most valuable “story-selling” stop directly prior to transaction.

Currently the influencer post from 2 years ago is 700 posts away. No-one is scrolling to find it. It is dead as an asset.

And yet that might be the destination the follower now wants to visit.

By making the entire library of a content creator searchable both on a map and via natural language search, the influencer can intercept the traveller in the moment of intent - which is the current missing piece in social.

Videreo can offer influencers an agnostic & safe space to host their community away from the vagaries of social media platform algorithms and deliver value to them with all the content they’ve ever created. Videreo allows it to be searchable in a way that real humans actually search - based first on the location they want to go to.

Influencers don’t need a website. They can launch directly from the link-in-bio.

Trillions will be spent on social selling in travel. Many millionaires will be minted.

And for perhaps the first time ever, content creators will be able to create a consistent full time living doing the work they love. Videreo support that a vision for everyone.

If you find this vision inspiring, Videreo will be at the Traverse Creator Awards (3NOV); Travel Massive London (4NOV), Everything AI in Travel WTM catch-up (5NOV) and WTM (5&6NOV).

This content is provided by the newsletter sponsor Videreo.com

Travelai.com quietly rakes in the cash

Whilst in many other parts of the AI world there is much wringing of hands around whether the investment in AI is going to earn its payback and if so, when, this article tells a very different story over at Travelai.com 

“….we’re on target for $16m USD in net revenue for this year with a gross merchandise value (GMV) of €230m USD. With the applied use of AI, we can offer travelers personalized discovery experiences and deliver significant value and high-intent converting customers to our industry partners,” said John Lyotier, CEO of TravelAI.com.”

Travelai.com “operates a vast ecosystem of over 400 brands, all designed to serve high-intent travelers with personalized travel discovery solutions.”

(Disclaimer: Travelai.com is the main sponsor of the Everything AI in Travel podcast)

AI agents have arrived

The moment has come for the next phase in generative AI technology! The Guardian this week reported that Anthropic via its Claude product has released live its agent tool.

“US company Anthropic said its AI model, called Claude, could now perform computing tasks including filling out forms, planning an outing and building a website.”

As always, travel got a run in the early demos of the new tool and the Slack group associated with this newsletter lit up!

So is that game-over for what is now being termed as “drudge work” (basically any of the boring small manual tasks we all have to do many times daily)?

““At this stage, it is still experimental – at times cumbersome and error-prone,” the company said.

Oh - OK. Everyone keep filling your own damn forms for the time being.

BUT the days of humans doing planning and booking look numbered taking these tasks out of sight then out of mind of the travel consumer - so everyone best start sharpening their inspiration and travelling phases of the customer journey.

What does AI really mean for content?

A very thorough thought piece from Neethling du Toit in the Southern & East African Tourism Update this week.

du Toit who is CEO at WeTu identified 5 key areas where AI intersects with content to make a huge difference:

1. Advanced visual search capabilities

2. Sophisticated recommendation systems

3. Real-time video processing

4. Context-aware text generation

5. Content safety and compliance

As du Toit explains content “is the visual storyteller that connects travellers emotionally to destinations, triggers memories and helps them visualise their future experiences.” and he finishes by reminding us all “The travel industry stands at an exciting intersection where technology meets storytelling.”

Indeed!

Are AI agents a death knell for Apps?

A super interesting article this week in Forbes that outlines exactly how AI agents could impact some of the tools that as of today we think of as indispensable.

“Imagine, then, a future AI-powered device with a powerful security operations center with the GPU/NPU and amazing connectivity that allows digital assistants and agents to sit at the operating system level. You can simply talk to your digital assistant.”

This again feeds into the death of the digital customer journey as we know it.

As the author Daniel Newman explains “My preference isn’t the app. It is the experience the app creates. Hail my ride, prepare my coffee, show me my account balance.”

Read it again. The customer digital journey is getting some of its appendages amputated. AI agents will battle their way through ineffective processes in planning & booking in a way a human wouldn’t tolerate. They are indefatigable. They are here to serve.

If all your value to the consumer is locked up in this space - start scrambling.

AI created restaurant in Austin racks up 72K followers on IG thanks to its hippo shaped croissants (which don’t exist)

Well there is a headline I thought I’d never write.

This story is bonkers.

Also this week I heard about groups of people heading into Reddit to talk up obviously horrible chain restaurants in their city to trick AI search engines into recommending those restaurants instead of their favourites!

Fun times!

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:

AI stats from Amadeus

Amadeus have released some new stats about the uptake of Gen AI within travel businesses having “surveyed more than 300 experts from across the travel industry.”

The study “reveals 46% of travel companies feel it is a top priority for 2025. More than half of the travel leaders surveyed (51%) say Generative AI already has a significant presence in the travel industry in their country.”

“41% of travel companies say they have the budget and resources in place to implement Generative AI, while 87% are open to working with a third-party vendor to develop Gen AI-powered applications.”

Klook get close to Google

Klook are one of the most interesting businesses out there at the moment IMHO.

First their innovative work with TikTok shows they understand well the potential in video and influencer sales and now their teaming up with Google for their AI work.

“For customers, the platform’s upcoming ‘shopping guide’ feature will simplify the process of comparing similar experiences.”

The article gives more hints for what is in store by telling us “Klook’s AI strategy will leverage traveller feedback and merchant insights to develop an AI-powered conversational commerce approach. This chat-based interface will offer personalised recommendations and streamline trip planning and booking.”

Slack Group!

Where is Tony?

I’m in Europe!

I’ve reserved my place at the London Travel Massive event to be hosted by Stripe. It’s a sell out but there is a waitlist.

Otherwise catch me: Traverse Creator Awards (3NOV); Travel Massive London (4NOV), Everything AI in Travel WTM catch-up (5NOV) and WTM (5&6NOV).

LinkedIn is the easiest way to catch me whilst travelling.

The Everything AI in Travel marketplace is now launched - please just jump on the site to grab your listing if you have an AI tool or service that you want the industry to know about.

Most clicked last week was the link to the Videreo.com piece on LinkedIn! Great to see the interest!

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