Hays Travel boss insists AI not a threat to high street agents

Artificial intelligence will not replace high street travel agents any time soon, according to Hays Travel owner Irene Hays.

Speaking at Abta’s Travel Matters conference, she said travel companies could “marry” the human touch with AI to use both effectively and played down the threat of the technology to agents.

“I have not seen that AI has an opportunity to replace ‘Mary’ on the high street,” she insisted.

But she said holidaymakers were more inclined to use agents to book instead of booking online for bigger purchases or where they had a relationship with the person they booked through.

“Is AI a threat to the high street? I think people are more likely to use a travel agent for a purchase that is high value or where there is an emotional connection (with the agent),” she said.

She added: “If they are looking for a straightforward holiday they will go online. I don’t think it [the high street agent] will go away in my lifetime.”

She stressed the vital role agents played in the pandemic and their bounce-back after Covid as testament to the continued importance of the human touch.

“We were the ones that bounced back best, we were the ones that had human beings looked after human beings,” she said.