Winning In The Tech Era | 19 information Thus, all AI-generated travel offerings must be re-checked by a human travel advisor The fourth potential downside to technology is that there can be a loss of the incredible depth of knowledge that advisors have gained over years of travel and booking experience Travelers who rely exclusively on technology to research and book their travel are often receiving heavily curated content from suppliers developed by marketing companies working for those suppliers In this case, the independent expertise of travel advisors is lost, and with it comes the potentially diminishing extraordinary experiences of clients Fifth, and finally, purely technological interfaces remove the social aspect of advisor-client interactions Whether and when to use technology is all about balance Wiggins (who happily embraces technology) expresses so well what many people still feel: “I believe face- to-face, phone calls, and the traditional handwritten thank-you notes still carry value So as long as we keep that in the forefront of all we do, we can live harmoniously with all that is at hand” She elaborates further: “As the world and industry presses forward into technology that we can’t even imagine, I know there will be areas that will be favorable I only hope we never lose sight of the true heartbeat of everything we do to exist in this world  the human heartbeat and social interactions that are vital to keeping Planet Earth from being a scientific experiment” This section is not meant to scare travel advisors away from employing travel technology That would be a sure way to eventually find oneself out of business Rather, the purpose of this discussion is to bring to the forefront critical considerations to ponder and sort through, so that travel advisors and their clients continue to enjoy only meaningful and satisfying travel experiences, all with the helpful use of advanced technologies (continued from page 18)