Technology and trust were key themes of this year’s Travellers Choice Member Meetings, with the group’s leadership team briefing agents on the forces now reshaping the travel industry and the current strategies – including an ambitious AI project – the network is pursuing to ensure its agents continue to thrive.
Travellers Choice Chair Trent Bartlett opened the 2026 Member Meetings – held last month in six state capitals – by highlighting many of the evolving social and technological developments expected to redefine the travel industry over the next 10 years.
With the pace of change only accelerating, Bartlett told members that the businesses that survive “will not be the strongest or the smartest of the species, they will be the ones that adapt.”
For independent agents, he said adaption was optimised by being part of a network that offered not just scale and strong supplier partnerships, but cutting-edge technology that improved efficiency, giving frontline consultants more time to focus on building trusted relationships with clients.
Managing Director Christian Hunter then outlined some of the ways Travellers Choice is doing just that, most notably through the award-winning group’s development of a unique AI-driven search engine and itinerary builder.
The pioneering AI project – details of which were first unveiled at the group's 2025 Conference in Melbourne – aims to use AI to quickly search live preferred product databases and curate customer itineraries, saving agents time and reducing leakage to non-preferred suppliers.
With Travellers Choice now having digitised its preferred product portfolio, Hunter told members the first element of the project, the AI-driven search engine, would be officially unveiled within weeks, enabling agents to instantly locate preferred products that meet a wide range of desired criteria.
Hunter also highlighted the success of the group’s new Member Performance Summary (MPS) dashboard, released late last month, which enables Travellers Choice agency owners to view and analyse in-depth sales data based on accurate and up-to-date figures from preferred partners. He said members were already using the MPS-generated insights to identify and seize growth opportunities, with the benefits flowing directly to their bottom lines.
Travellers Choice agents attending this year’s Member Meetings also received updates on the group’s performance for the 2025/26 and current financial years. In addition, members were briefed on the sustained growth of Travellers Choice’s national network and its professional development programs, including Pro-Advance, a course launched in early 2026 to nurture future agency leaders.