Everything AI in Travel

Welcome to 2026 and the first episode of the year on Everything AI in Travel.
As tradition now, I’m joined by returning guest Christian Watts to do something most people avoid: we revisit our predictions from last year and grade them.
Christian ran our 2025 predictions through an AI scoring system (he swears he didn’t rig it), and we go point-by-point on what actually happened:
Search changed, but Google didn’t die

LLMs reshaped how people plan (even if they still “Google” quick stuff)

“Agentic AI” became the buzzword, but real-world booking is still messy

OTAs didn’t collapse, but the “dumb pipes” conversation got loud

Authenticity vs AI-generated content became a cultural fault line

And yes, we argue about whether AI is already mainstream… or just mainstream in our bubbles

We also get into the uncomfortable part: which predictions were genuinely wrong, and what that tells us about forecasting in a year where the platform shifts don’t slow down.
If you want the written predictions, watch on YouTube where they’re on-screen.

Welcome to the final episode in the series on using AI to attract high value visitors and boost your career.
In this wrap-up, we cover the Image-to-LinkedIn Post Creator, a tool designed for one simple job:
upload any image (chart, infographic, screenshot, photo, even a napkin sketch) and instantly generate a structured, high-engagement LinkedIn post you can copy and paste.
We stay consistent with the series’ running use case: Germany as the source market, Ecuador as the destination, and the goal of attracting German travel professionals for partnership and distribution conversations.
You’ll see how the AI:
Extracts meaning from the visual

Asks for quick tone guidance (professional vs storytelling)

Writes a post that fits LinkedIn’s “hook → value → credibility → CTA” format

Optionally converts the post into a LinkedIn carousel script for higher engagement

By the end of this episode, you’ve seen the full four-stage framework in action:
Strategy → Intelligence → Content → Outreach, powered by the nine tools.

Find all the tools at www.santiagor.com/free-ai-tools

You now have the full set.

In Episode 9 of the “9 AI Tools to Attract High-Value Visitors” series, we review a powerful outreach tool designed for professional growth and B2B partnerships: the LinkedIn Top Voice Post Creator AI.
This AI is trained on the structure and quality patterns used by LinkedIn Top Voices — creators whose posts consistently perform at a high level and are recognised by LinkedIn as trusted, influential experts. The goal is simple: help you publish authority-building LinkedIn content that attracts partners, opportunities, and distribution relationships.
Unlike the previous tool (Social Media Expert AI), which turns destination content into posts for travelers, this tool transforms your existing content into posts aimed at professional audiences — travel agencies, tour operators, DMOs, hotels, distributors, and other stakeholders you want to work with.
In this walkthrough, we use a real case:
You want to position yourself on LinkedIn as an Ecuador specialist

Your target is German travel agencies and German tour operators

You already have a consumer-facing blog post (a 7-day itinerary)

You want the AI to convert it into a 5-day LinkedIn post series designed to attract partnerships

You’ll see the AI guide you step-by-step to:
 Choose your starting point (text, image, topic, or “find trending tourism topics”)
 Define your audience (B2B partners, not travelers)
 Choose language style (English, German, or a mix for cultural relevance)
 Set the post style (storytelling, business-focused, or hybrid)
 Build either a progressive series (day-by-day narrative) or standalone posts
 Generate 5 LinkedIn posts formatted for “see more” hooks, clear value, and partner-focused calls-to-action
 Create image prompts for scroll-stopping, professional visuals that match each post theme
By the end, you’ll have a complete LinkedIn mini-campaign you can post immediately to:
Grow your network

Show expertise and credibility

Spark inbound partnership conversations

Position your destination offering in a professional context

Build momentum without starting from scratch every day

 Access all 9 free AI tools here:
 santiagoR.com/freeAITools
 Want help applying these tools to your destination or tourism business?
I offer coaching and staff training to help you build a repeatable system for strategy, content, and outreach.
If you found this useful:
 Like
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In this episode of the “9 Free AI Tools to Attract High-Value Visitors” series, we enter the Outreach phase of the framework and review one of the most practical tools for organic growth: the Social Media Expert AI.
This AI is designed to transform long-form destination content (blog posts, itineraries, guides, articles) into ready-to-post social content — single viral posts or full multi-day campaigns — tailored to the platform you choose.
In this walkthrough, we use the ongoing case study (Ecuador as the destination, Germany as the source market) and take an existing long-form blog article created earlier in the series: “From Cobblestone to Volcanoes: A 7-Day Andean Journey from Cuenca to Quito”
Then we use the Social Media Expert AI to turn that single article into a 10-day Facebook campaign, with posts that are:
Short, emotional, and highly readable on mobile
Built with a consistent format (hook → story → CTA → hashtags)
Optimized for engagement (questions, prompts, lightweight emojis, clean spacing)
Easy to copy/paste directly into Facebook
Capable of generating image prompts so you can create original visuals to match each post
You’ll see the AI guide you step-by-step:  Choose your starting point (text, image, idea, or “find trending topics for me”)  Confirm the post angle (story-focused, responsible travel, photogenic route, etc.)  Build a day-by-day campaign plan before writing anything  Apply platform best practices (format, timing, CTA style, hashtag strategy)  Generate the final posts in clean, publish-ready form  Create one-by-one image prompts and refine visuals without adding unwanted text overlays
The key idea: long-form content becomes dozens of outreach assets, and you finally get consistency without burning hours every day.
 Access all 9 free AI tools here:  santiagoR.com/freeAITools
 Want help implementing these tools into a real content system for your destination or tourism business? I offer coaching + staff training to help you use AI faster, better, and with a repeatable workflow.
If this episode helped you:  Like  Subscribe  Comment with the platform you want to grow (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn) and I’ll share the best post formats to start with.

In Episode 7 of the “9 AI Tools to Attract High-Value Visitors” series, we introduce a different kind of AI: the How-To Articles Writer (Educational AI) — a tool designed specifically to help DMO teams, tour operators, and tourism stakeholders understand and overcome real, everyday professional challenges.
Unlike the previous tools in this series, this AI is not about external promotion. It’s about internal alignment, training, and capacity-building — because attracting high-value visitors also requires knowledgeable staff, confident partners, and shared ways of working.
In this walkthrough, you’ll see how the How-To Articles AI:
Helps you explain complex tourism challenges in a clear, step-by-step way
Creates short, practical educational articles your teams can actually read (and apply)
Covers themes like AI adoption, marketing, distribution, sustainability, technology, and productivity
Includes built-in research, structure, and editing guidance, like working with a professional editor
Automatically generates a cover image so the content is ready for blogs, internal newsletters, Slack, or training portals
Using a real example, we build an article on: “How tourism professionals can use AI in simple, practical ways every day — without tech overwhelm.”
The AI walks through:
Common mistakes teams make when approaching AI
Why “spectacular” automations often fail in real workplaces
6 realistic daily AI habits for DMO staff and tour operators
Clear calls to action that encourage small, immediate wins
This tool is ideal if you want to:  Train staff and partners consistently  Share your professional point of view publicly  Align stakeholders around new tools and practices  Build internal confidence with AI before scaling it externally
 Access all 9 free AI tools here:  santiagoR.com/freeAITools
 Need help applying these tools inside your organisation? I also offer 1:1 coaching and staff training to help tourism teams accelerate their AI learning curve and use these tools effectively in real workflows.
If this episode is useful, like, subscribe, and share it with someone in tourism who’s responsible for training, stakeholder engagement, or internal transformation.