Travellers Choice has used its 2026 Member Meetings to flag the imminent launch of an AI-driven search engine, as the network’s leadership addressed the technology and trust challenges reshaping the travel industry.
The meetings, held last month across six state capitals, saw chair Trent Bartlett brief agents on the social and technological shifts expected to redefine travel over the next 10 years.
Bartlett told members that businesses that survive change “will not be the strongest or the smartest of the species, they will be the ones that adapt,” adding that independent agents were best placed to adapt as part of a network offering scale, supplier partnerships and technology that freed up consultants’ time.
Technology and trust were the two themes running through this year’s meetings, with Bartlett arguing that networks able to combine both would give independent agents the best chance of long-term survival.
Managing director Christian Hunter outlined progress on the group’s AI-driven search engine and itinerary builder, first revealed at Travellers Choice’s 2025 conference in Melbourne. The tool is designed to search live preferred product databases and curate customer itineraries, with the aim of saving agents time and reducing leakage to non-preferred suppliers.
Hunter said Travellers Choice had now digitised its preferred product portfolio, and the search engine element of the project would be officially launched within weeks, allowing agents to instantly locate preferred products against a range of criteria.
Hunter also updated members on the group’s Member Performance Summary (MPS) dashboard, released late last month, which allows agency owners to analyse sales data drawn from preferred partners. He said members were already using MPS insights to identify growth opportunities, with benefits flowing directly to their bottom lines.
Agents at this year’s meetings also received updates on Travellers Choice’s performance for the 2025/26 and current financial years, along with updates on the network’s growth and its professional development programs, including Pro-Advance, a course launched in early 2026 to develop future agency leaders. Travellers Choice did not release specific figures on network growth or financial year performance at the meetings.
