The Power of Social Media and AI For Travel Businesses

Social media marketing has become the ultimate top spot to strive for over the years. While it is the most accessible form of marketing, it is also extremely competitive and can require a lot of adaptable skill and knowledge. In the same way, AI has become a prevalent form of making marketing more efficient in recent years. While, again, it is easily accessible, there is a certain point at which the ability to utilise it properly requires a greater understanding of the tool.

At Protected Trust Services (PTS) we have had endless conversations about social media marketing with our members and inquiries about the use and integration of Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and ChatGPT. While a lot of experienced people in travel are intimidated by social media and AI, there is equally a surge of start up businesses that are thriving on the basis of their social media presence.

In the travel industry imagery is extremely powerful. Beautiful images of resorts, destinations, hotels, and experiences are worth their weight in gold. Not just as a way of showing travellers where they could be right now, but as a way of authenticating your business. It isn’t enough in 2025 to tell a client that you can take them there, you need to make it clear that “there” exists, and you are a genuine business selling it.

In this way, social media has become a way for travellers to cast more suspicion on businesses, but also an easy way for you to create a trusted community and voice.

AI has had a slightly opposite effect. While it can help you to keep a consistent voice, ensure properly phrased, concise language, and give you ideas for new ways to market, if a traveller believes it is being used, they may see that as a reason to be more cautious about booking.

So the big question is: where is the right balance with social media and AI for your business?

Unfortunately, that can entirely depend on your business and how you choose to run it. Fortunately, however, there are a few key things you can keep in mind going into your business and choosing to integrate these tools.

First, have fun with it. Social media is inherently a more conversational platform, so take advantage of it. The best way to build a loyal community and get your name out there is to have a memorable presence, and a lot of the time this is done through humour, kindness, and creating interesting and entertaining posts, regardless of if your audience is going to book that holiday immediately.

It’s important to keep in mind that social media is very selective. Essentially, if a viewer just sees you as an advertiser, they’re mostly likely going to ignore all of your content after that, so it’s important to mix it up and present yourself as, basically, another person.

Secondly, don’t go overboard. With both social media and AI, there is absolutely a threshold. In terms of social media, posting too often can work against you. It can be tempting to get as much content out there as possible to ensure the chance that people see it, but what you’re really doing is flooding anyone who’s following you, and drowning out all your good content by essentially spamming it. You don’t need to rush, so space your posts out and let them breath.

It’s a slightly different issue with AI. While it is a helpful supportive tool, you need to use it in moderation. Your voice should be your voice, not the AI’s approximation of it, so don’t make the AI do all the work. Using it to brainstorm ideas, check grammar, tone, and other aspects will elevate your own brand and voice, but writing an entire social media post with AI can be a slippery slope that takes the charm out of your presence as a business.

Thirdly, communication is your biggest asset, so don’t outsource it. AI is a great tool for chat functions on websites and your socials. Especially when you need to take basic information, or you’re answering the same questions on repeat, having an AI function to take details or answer simple questions can allow you to focus on the clients that actually need the human voice. Just ensure that you are doing more communicating than the AI.

As a travel agent, your people skills are one of your biggest assets. So many travellers will return to the same agency if they come out of their first experience feeling like they were understood and had an enjoyable time booking the holiday with you, so don’t waste that talent. The important conversations should be yours, and let’s be honest, you would miss them if they were outsourced.

If you’d like to learn more about how we use social media for travel, please get in contact with one of Protected Trust Services’ (PTS) lovely staff members by calling 0207 190 9988. Or, you can visit our member support and travel trust account pages to learn more about how we protect you.