Five new travel tools to save time and money this summer

LONG before there was ChatGPT, you’d have to visit an actual brick-and-mortar travel agency to craft and book your dream itinerary. This month, travel agency Fora has brought that nostalgic experience back to the modern era with a pop-up location – open through May 29 – in New York City. It’s more like Soho House than the old AAA mainstays where you’d pick up road maps, with luxury hotel brands and tourism boards carrying out elaborate activations while Fora agents brainstorm vacation ideas with clients at a communal workstation.

Yet, the reality is that most travellers this summer won’t talk to human travel agents face-to-face, or even online, as they plan their trips. Rather, generative artificial intelligence tools will increasingly play a role in helping us decide where to go.

A 2024 survey from global consulting firm Oliver Wyman LLC showed more than 41 per cent of travellers from the US and Canada had recently used this emerging technology for trip inspiration and design – up 30 per cent from a year earlier. (One travel agency is embracing that inevitability, using AI to help turn your emotions into itineraries.)