The most important innovations and what they mean for Incoming Agencies, Tour Operators, DMCs and DMOs
2025 is the year when artificial intelligence stops being a promise and becomes a core part of the journey.
Not just because ChatGPT integrates Booking.com and Expedia, or because Google is redesigning search with its AI Overviews.
But above all because AI enters the daily processes of incoming agencies, tour operators and DMOs: from itinerary creation to handling requests, from pricing to customer service.
In this article we’ve gathered the most relevant releases of 2025, explaining in simple terms what they do and how they are changing the market.
1. Travel apps inside ChatGPT: a new distribution channel is born
OpenAI introduces native apps in ChatGPT and among the first partners we see Booking.com and Expedia.
This means that millions of users can:
- Search for destinations in natural language
- Check prices and availability
- Book … without ever leaving the chat
What used to be “running a search” is now a conversation.
What changes for operators
Visibility is increasingly shifting from the SERP to AI models.
For incoming and TOs this doesn’t mean chasing OTAs, but making their content AI-ready: clear, structured, integrable.
2. The new AI travel agents: Romie, Booking AI Trip Planner and much more
In 2025 “travel assistants” explode:
- Romie from Expedia, present even on WhatsApp, enters travellers’ chats with notifications, rebooking options, suggestions.
- Booking’s AI Trip Planner turns every conversation into a list of personalised destinations, hotels and activities.
- Trip.com, Navan, Hopper and dozens of startups follow suit.
The user doesn’t “search” anymore: they converse. The agent doesn’t just “reply” anymore: they interpret.
What this means for Incoming Agencies and Tour Operators
Standard requests are absorbed by AI.
Human value goes back to being about selection, local knowledge, relationships.
3. Google AI Overviews: the era of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) arrives
Google introduces AI Overviews, an automatically generated answer that often appears before the organic results.
Consequences:
- Fewer clicks to traditional websites
- More answers directly in the SERP
- Content that needs to be in-depth, trustworthy and well-structured in order to be cited by the machine
What changes for DMOs
A simple “What to see in…” article is no longer enough.
What works much better is:
- Themed, seasonal, vertical guides
- Content with data, FAQs, real-world context
- Information that’s easy for an LLM to interpret
This is the real SEO 2.0.
4. AI enters operational processes: from quotes to pricing
The strongest disruption is not the one being talked about on social media: it’s the one happening in the back offices.
Today AI helps to:
- Create itineraries in just a few minutes
- Reply quickly in multiple languages
- Handle up to 70% of customer-care requests
- Automate documents, vouchers, quotes
- Monitor prices and suggest when to book (Hopper shows the way)
- Do revenue management even for tours and experiences
For a small incoming agency this is the chance to work with big-player efficiency, without changing its operating model.
5. The concrete effects on B2B travel
For Incoming Agencies:
- Automate what’s predictable (quotes, follow-ups, documents)
- Invest only where humans make the difference
- Make products clear, unique, well described
For Tour Operators:
- More personalised CRM and communications
For DMOs
- New content strategy with a GEO mindset
- More structured, easier-to-ingest data for LLMs
- AI chatbots and itinerary builders for destinations
6. The role of Hubcore.ai in this scenario
Our vision has always been: “Automate the predictable to humanise the exceptional.”
And today this sentence is more relevant than ever.
In a world where:
- Standard requests are absorbed by AI agents
- Search becomes conversational
- Models decide which content and products to put in front of travellers
Hubcore.ai enables Incoming Agencies, Tour Operators, DMCs and DMOs to:
- Create complete, digital tourism products
- Manage content, suppliers, prices and margins
- Distribute them across traditional B2B/B2C channels and, increasingly, AI-driven ones
- Keep control of their data
- Free up human time for high-value activities
7. Summary table of 2025 AI innovations
Do you want to make your offer AI-ready?
2025 is not a year like any other: it’s the moment when travel truly becomes conversational.
If you want to find out how Hubcore.ai can help you:
- Distribute across multiple channels
- Speed up quotes and itineraries
- Free up time for what really matters