The VoE Grand Finale: Highlights & Top Five from Season One

In this episode, Stephen Joyce and Janelle Visser recap the first season of the Arival Voice of Experiences podcast. They discuss their favourite episodes, the variety of content they covered, as well as the top five episodes from Season One by listener ranking.

The top five episodes mentioned feature the following guests: 5) Peter Brown from Big Bus Tours, 4) Christian Watts from Magpie Travel, 3) Kelsey Tonner from Guest Focus, 2) Emmanuel Marot from Google, and 1) Johannes Reck from GetYourGuide.

Reviewing clips from these conversations, they highlight the importance of elevating the guest experience, the potential of AI in the tours and activities industry, the advantages of working in the corporate sales niche, and the potential of AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. They also highlight the importance of personalization and elevating experiences in order to stand out both to AI-generated search results and to human travelers. The conversation touches on the challenges of bias in AI models and the need for unique and valuable content to improve visibility.

Key Takeaways:

• The Arival Voice of Experiences podcast covered a variety of topics in the tours and activities industry.
• The hosts discussed their favorite episodes and the different formats they experimented with.
• The top five episodes mentioned in the conversation are: 5) Peter Brown from Big Bus Tours, 4) Christian Watts from Magpie Travel, 3) Kelsey Tonner from Guest Focus, 2) Emmanuel Marot from Google, and 1) Johannes Reck from GetYourGuide.
• Elevating the guest experience was a recurring theme throughout the season.
• AI has the potential to revolutionize the tours and activities industry.
• Arival events provide a platform for operators to share their innovations and ideas.
• The use of AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can enhance the travel industry by providing personalized recommendations and improving search results.
• Working in the corporate sales niche can offer advantages such as premium pricing opportunities, streamlined planning processes, and diversified revenue streams.
• To stand out in AI-generated search results, it is important to focus on personalization, as well as providing unique and valuable content.
• Challenges with bias in AI models and the need for ongoing updates and improvements are important considerations when using AI in the travel industry.
• AI models in the tourism industry need to continuously evolve to keep up with changing media formats and user preferences.
• AI has the potential to enhance image and content creation processes in the tourism industry.
• Personalized and targeted offerings are crucial for different customer segments, such as corporate groups and bachelorette parties.
• Producing valuable and useful content is important for both humans and AI algorithms.
• The future of AI in search is expected to merge different interfaces and provide more refined and readable results.
• AI can streamline processes and optimize marketing strategies in the tourism industry.

You can find out more about and connect with the speakers here:

• Peter Brown from Big Bus Tours,
• Christian Watts from Magpie Travel,
• Kelsey Tonner from Guest Focus,
• Emmanuel Marot from Google,
• Johannes Reck from GetYourGuide.

You can find out more about Arival research and events here:

• Arival Guide to AI in Experiences
• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Optimizing Tours for Generative AI Search by Christian Watts
• The 2024 U.S. Experiences Traveler
• Arival 360 | San Diego 2024
• Arival Activate | Edinburgh 2024
• Ar