new york — AI was a major topic at the Travel Leaders Network (TLN) media event held at the headquarters of Internova Travel Group, the parent company of Travel Advisor Network. Executives also pointed to a “strong” 2025 and positive signs for the business in 2026.
Lindsay Perlman, who took over as president of TLN last year, said the outlook for travel is positive, as travel industry revenues are currently around $5 trillion and that number is expected to soar to $15 trillion by 2040. From a travel advisor perspective, “we’re in a great position to take advantage of that growth.”
According to him, TLN itself is focused on profitable growth, not just scale. The company wants to help its members generate more revenue with their existing customer base. He said the network has two main areas of focus: increasing fees and improving efficiency.
AI is “surprising a lot of people,” Perlman said, asserting that even though it can do a lot, “AI will never replace advisors.” “You won’t lose business to AI, but some people who use AI properly will lose business,” Perlman said. He said the technology does not remove agents from the process.
According to CIO Cory Voss, travelers are moving toward generative AI search, which allows them to be more descriptive about what they’re looking for. “And we are in a position to take advantage of that,” he said.
Voss said TLN is changing its search to help members get more than their share of leads. This network helps members improve the quality of Agent Profiler content and ensure success. Agent Profiler is TLN’s lead generation platform.
At TLN, Voss said many AI-related initiatives have been realized and are underway. Being a “leading player” in the industry and partnering with Internova, “this network has a wealth of resources to provide marketing technology solutions,” he said.
Internova CEO JD O’Hara said the company sees AI not as a threat, but as a way to enhance human capital. You can do more with the same number of people. “
According to executives, TLN will add 300 new members in 2025, bringing the total membership to about 1,000 over the past three years. The network currently includes more than 6,000 agencies representing 100,000 advisors, ranging from megahost agencies to privately owned operations.
Mr O’Hara said the cruise tour market remained “very hot” and prices were strong. However, reservation periods tend to be shorter. He said TLN needs to increase exposure and hire career changers because many people think advisors are outdated. “It’s definitely a career,” he added, noting that many advisors can earn more than $1 million a year.
O’Hara said one common trend is that travelers are going to places they’ve never been before and more remote places. Italy is and will probably continue to be number one, but less traveled destinations are coming to the fore. He said he might take his four children to London or Paris, but it might be more interesting for them to “camp under the stars in Greenland.” O’Hara said they will probably reach London and Paris on their own someday.
In other news from the event, executives said:
- Adoption of SNAP, TLN’s reservation platform, increased 83% year-over-year. Larger host networks are starting to use this platform.
- Private island destinations are “reshaping the Caribbean,” said Pam Young, senior vice president of industry relations. Cruises in general are doing very well in all categories, she said.
- Executives expressed satisfaction with Norwegian Cruise Line’s decision to eliminate no-commission fares (NCF) and said they hope other airlines do the same. Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer, said NCF can make a $400 to $500 difference in booking fees.
- TLN has already seen success with recently announced enhancements to its Super Agent program. This incentivizes advisors to create high-quality content on the Agent Profiler site. The person who closes the most productive leads will now be designated a Gold or Diamond Super Agent depending on their productivity. This will generate more leads. Agent Profiler currently has 21,500 profiles. Of these, 2,500 are Super Agents, 440 have achieved Gold status, and 171 have achieved Diamond status. The average revenue for bookings from Agent Profiler is $11,017.
- TLN is expanding its CRM reach by partnering with more CRM companies. McGillivray said there has been an “explosion” of CRM providers in recent years, vying for travel advisors. Advisors need them as well, he said. Vos said, “It’s not sexy to talk about CRM, but the rewards are huge.”
- The Leaders Edge website program has been relaunched to provide turnkey website solutions to our members. The website will be continuously updated and maintained.
- Booking engine Cruise Complete saw a 23% increase in bookings last year and will be adding seven more suppliers this year.
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