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Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Level up your travel plans with an AI booster-pack
Once considered a futuristic luxury, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are now becoming essential travel tools — especially when powered by artificial intelligence. Whether you're walking through ancient ruins via your smartphone or planning a solo trip with step-by-step AI guidance, travel has become less about logistics and more about immersion. As Aakarsh Gupta, executive producer at Nas Daily notes, 'It can personalise the experience for each viewer. AI can adjust the visuals or voiceover based on your language or even your mood.' But there is more to it than meets the eye. From passive viewing to immersive guidance How great would it be if you could navigate through unfamiliar streets while learning more about the location, its cultural history and significance, and getting suggestions based on your dietary preferences? Now that's an upgrade that AI, combined with AR, can bring you. As Aditya Sanghi, CEO & co-Founder, Hotelogix, says, 'The most exciting potential of AI-AR lies in its capacity for inclusivity. By incorporating features like voice-activated controls, multilingual support, haptic feedback, and customisable visual interfaces, these tools can become invaluable allies for travellers with disabilities. Picture a visually-impaired guest receiving audio prompts for spatial orientation or wheelchair users accessing real-time previews of accessible routes.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo How AI makes AR/VR smarter? It is the small yet noticeable things that make a big difference. When peoples' dependency on AI is increasing by the minute, it is only natural for them to expect convenience. To cater to this growing need, apps like and GuideGeek now use generative AI to build custom-curated itineraries based on a traveller's past preferences, browsing history, and even their mood — offering suggestions for flights, boutique hotels, hidden gems, and dining experiences. AI-powered AR and VR don't just offer guided tours — they can also recreate historic events, letting travellers 'step into' the past. Furthermore, for content creators, platforms like Tripp and The Wild are already enabling immersive, interactive travel storytelling — where the user explores a place at their own pace, with AI-based narration on interest areas. Talking about how this technology can be used in creating interactive travel vlogs , Gupta shares, 'Imagine doing a travel vlog, but with the option of choosing where to go, or what angle of the story they want to follow. AR could let you point your phone at a map and unlock videos from different parts of the world. VR could drop you on a deserted island or on a boat in Antarctica. It's about feeling the stories, not just watching them.' 'Our travel trends data for 2025 reveals that 87% of Indian travellers are likely to use AI tools (such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini etc.) to plan their trips in 2025. In fact, more than half (54%) would use it for travel safety tips, while 48% would use it for restaurant recommendations, followed by selecting destinations, finding accommodations and activity suggestions (44% each) - Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at a travel portal 'From creating a detailed itinerary, to guiding with the visa and immigration process, everything was made easy by AI for me. Plus, using Google Earth VR elevated my experience by giving me 360° previews of iconic sites, such as Sultan Qaboos Mosque, and activities like snorkeling - Pallabi Dey Purkayastha, a freelance writer who recently returned from her solo trip to Muscat-Oman Tech-based travel 90% of Indians are willing to use technology for informed decisions and authentic experiences 83% to find less crowded areas 40% for real-time assistance (According to Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at VR travel at a glance Market Value (2023): $8.9 billion Projected Growth: CAGR of 21% Estimated Value by 2033: $59.9 billion (Data shared by Hotelogix)
Euronews
22-03-2025
- Euronews
How good is ChatGPT at planning holidays? I put it to the test on a weekend trip to Tallinn
ADVERTISEMENT Could your next holiday be planned by artificial intelligence (AI)? More and more people are choosing to use tools like ChatGPT, Vacay and GuideGeek to cut down booking time and cost when deciding the details of their next trip. AI trip planners can be quick, convenient and easy to use with itineraries often generated in seconds. These can then be customised as much as you like, depending on what details you feed into the planner. Omio's 2024 NowNext travel report highlighted that 44 per cent of European and US travellers revealed that they would use AI to book and plan travel this year, which was up from 27 per cent last year. According to Gen Z and millennial travellers surveyed by American Express , some of the most useful travel features of generative AI were budgeting and expense management, activity recommendations, personalised trip recommendations and translation help. Related Airport theory, seat squatters and check-in chickens: Why these viral travel trends are a disaster With all of this in mind, my growing curiosity got the better of me. I decided to let AI plan my early March trip to Tallinn, Estonia with my husband. AI can make your trip planning lightning-fast Given ChatGPT's overwhelming popularity, I used it to plan the bulk of my trip. However, I also tried out Vacay and GuideGeek, just to have something to compare ChatGPT's recommendations to. We'd already booked the hotel, so I asked the tools to plan a three-day, two-night budget trip. All three platforms suggested very similar itineraries, with only slight differences in restaurants, activities and timing. This was done in seconds, cutting down on weeks of time-consuming, confusing and contradictory research. Viru Gate, the entrance to Tallinn's Old Town. Indrabati Lahiri ChatGPT's version was the most comprehensive and interesting to me. It included classic attractions such as Tallinn's Old Town, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Kiek in de Kök and Bastion Passages Museum, Kadriorg Park and Palace, the Balti Jaam market and more. Related Want to escape the crowds in Barcelona? These car-free day trips offer the best of Catalonia We used many of the recommendations while actually in Tallinn. I especially enjoyed Kiek in de Kök, which is a fascinating defensive tower, part of a larger museum complex, as well as Kadriorg Park, where we could make the best of the crisp early March weather. Balti Jaam market had some great food options and a vast collection of historical and quirky handicrafts. I also liked that all the tools mostly captured the essence of Tallinn , suggesting attractions and activities most representative of the city. Estonia's oldest cafe, Cafe Maiasmokk turned out to be a desert heaven with beautiful decor. Another popular chain, Cafe Reval, also had a vast menu and a sleek, modern vibe, perfect for lingering over a cup of matcha. AI travel tools can be outdated and glitchy One of the biggest issues we had on this trip was food . While I eat mostly everything but don't particularly like beef or other red meat, my husband does not eat fish or red meat. Neither of us is very fond of pancakes either, and although we're foodies, we're not very adventurous eaters. This left us in a bit of a pickle, as most of the initial ChatGPT recommendations for restaurants leaned heavily towards traditional Estonian foods, such as a variety of pancakes and elk meat. Vacay and GuideGeek did the same too. Related What my Interrail trip across Europe taught me about the past, present and future of train travel I had to narrow down our criteria several times, such as asking for restaurants with more chicken options, or certain types of cuisine specifically, until ChatGPT provided more suitable options. However, each time I repeated the process, the overall itinerary seemed to become worse and worse, with a drastic drop in the number of activities or places to visit. ADVERTISEMENT Cafe Rost, one of our AI recommendations. Indrabti Lahiri The information was often outdated too. Much to our dismay, some restaurants were permanently closed like Restaurant Vanaema and Juures and Kohvic Komeet. Something which we only found out when we were starving and looking for a place to eat. Other suggestions, like Cafe Nop, was more like a health food store, with hardly any breakfast choices. This was also a problem with Cafe Rost, which had a very famous cinnamon bun, but very little else. Is booking a trip using AI worth it? For me, the amount of input details, like fitness levels and type of holiday required to get a good AI plan was a slight drawback. Especially given one of the benefits of using tools like these is supposed to be less time spent on planning. I am not the only one to have experienced problems with outdated data either. ADVERTISEMENT 'I had clients who nearly booked a sakura-themed trip to Kyoto based on AI suggestions, completely unaware that cherry blossom seasons have shifted due to climate change and that many temples now require advance reservations due to overtourism policies put in place just last year,' says travel advisor and writer Coco Tran. She highlights that AI can't replace real, on the ground experience either. Related Walk Japan's ancient travellers' highway for historic post towns, teahouses and mountain shrines 'AI simply can't provide real-time insights about travel's constantly changing conditions. It processes data, but can't tell you which Japanese ryokan genuinely welcomes foreign guests versus those that merely tolerate them – nuances I've learned through years of relationship building.' My final thoughts? You should definitely use AI trip planners to give you a rough itinerary, but nothing beats your own research. ADVERTISEMENT If you are going to give it a try, double-check the details, cross reference the AI suggestions and customise the initial plans you are given.
