Travel agents who do not integrate effective AI tools into their business risk being left behind by competitors, InteleTravel president Tara Minson has warned

Speaking exclusively to Cruise Trade News onboard AmaWaterways’ AmaLea during the homeworking firm’s River Symposium trade training event, Minson said if agents are “not using AI in the right and secure way, you run the risk of falling behind and even being put out of business in extreme situations”.

“AI will alleviate some of our work… but it’s not going to replace a human anytime soon,” she continued. “A customer could sit there and for an hour and go back and forth with an AI, but the truth is it’ll never know you the way a person does.”

InteleTravel is in the process of developing a new AI concierge-style tool for agents, designed to help create social media content, newsletters and blogs, as well as improving pre-written content for marketing collateral.

“The new system will tell you if you don’t have a strong enough call to action or if you need better hashtags, for example,” Minson continued. “We’ve got 25 developers working on AI, and that team is growing every year. Instead of integrating pre-existing tools, we’re building our own from the ground up to give us, and our members, more control.”

The developments come as InteleTravel’s cruise business continues to grow. The company saw a 60 per cent increase in cruise turnover across the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, recording gross cruise sales of £17.5 million, up from £11 million.

The agency also saw a 66 per cent spike in the number of agents booking cruise, with average booking values up 5 per cent.

When asked what the driving force behind this growth was, Minson said: “Cruise business has definitely taken a bit of a change in the past few years. There is way more inventory… and even more hardware coming to hit the water in the next few years.

“Looking ahead, I think brands are going to be more apt when it comes to finding their niche. We’re going to see a lot more powerful, stronger offers coming.”

Minson also reported a further growth in group travel amongst members, as well as an increase in demand for South East Asia destinations like Vietnam and Thailand.