From Telex to AI: Why Trust and Human Care Still Matter in Travel

So like I was talking to a friend of mine who booked, he booked his family holiday recently to Thailand and he was complaining to me to tell me how long it took them to figure it out.

Number one, the package.

And then the time it took them to actually document book all the individual suppliers.

So he was like, isn't a solution out there for people? And I said, yeah, they're called travel agents.

But he was asking, isn't there a technological solution out there for people for them to put the package together? So currently, when somebody has to book a package, they have to book multiple suppliers.

They have to understand what the supplier is providing.

They have to understand the ratings of that supplier based on people's past experiences, which is there currently, right? So online, you know, that's what we would do.

We would look at something that we've never used or experienced before that we would look at all the reviews.

of that experience.

So we sort of get a sense of, can I trust, can I trust booking this supplier myself? So, I mean, I see that, I see that agents, you know, DMCs, agents, we all provide, we all provide our necks on the plate when we're making a recommendation.

Meaning, so if something goes wrong, there is somebody who we can talk to that can solve the problem.

But the question I have is that what if something goes wrong and the problem gets solved? Is that where the trust builds or is it that I need a human there to solve the problem or I just want this problem solved? Then I'm happy.

Yes, it depends on what the problem is, Dylan, right? So if your coach breaks down, for example, how is he going to get solved without you speaking to a human being?

Well, I mean, not that it's out there, you know, in full force, but I can imagine a future in the next five years where a coach breaks down.

it's reported on some form of an app or some form of whatever it is device you know an AI agent then understands the coach is broken down and then starts trying to replace the coach as quickly as possible with some either local companies or a company that we've contracted or if it's the same company or if it's a local whatever it is ultimately trying to get a coach there as quickly as possible for the customer so they don't they're not weighing around too long how is that any different from a human being that's going to do the same thing

So I'll tell you how it's different here.

It's different because the coach is broken down.

Replacing the coach is one thing, but taking care of the customers while they're waiting for the replacement is another thing, right? So we see this all the time when we have long-distance coaches.

Something breaks down in the middle of the road.

You've got 45 people.

They have to wait three hours for a coach to come because the nearest city is three hours.

First of all, you have to find a coach.

Invariably, the coaches break down in the middle of season.

So what do our operators do? They speak to the tour manager, they calm them down, say, hey, don't worry, we're working on it.

If there's a restaurant nearby, take the customers there, make them sit down, make them comfortable, make sure that their experience, even though problems happen because it's nobody's fault, that they feel at least pain as possible.