Recently Chat GPT has planned a family vacation in Costa Rica. Considering the new technological trend it is interesting to see in which ways to use it. And only a few have considered asking Chat GPT to plan a vacation to enjoy Spinia Casino. So when Yenyi Fu asked popular AI chatbot ChatGPT to plan a ten-day vacation to Costa Rica for her family, she was initially overwhelmed by the results.
Fu, head of product at KimKim, an online travel agency, is no stranger to travel planning. But after showing the chatbot’s itinerary to a local travel consultant, she found it contained several logistical errors and didn’t have the level of personalization that a family of four would normally need.
The software suggested spending two days in five different locations in Costa Rica: San Jose, Arenal Volcano National Park, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Manuel Antonio National Park and the province of Guanacaste.
While there was nothing wrong with the locations themselves, travel consultant Brittany McNamara immediately found three problems with the plan.
It was too much for a family with young children to visit five places in ten days.
Also, some people would advise against spending more than a day in the city of San Jose with young children, especially if you want a more nature-based vacation.
The biggest problem McNamara noted, however, was that ending the trip in Guanacaste may not make logistical sense due to the distance to Manuel Antonio and the airport.
With McNamara’s recommendations in mind, Fu Chat asked GPT to remove Guanacaste from the itinerary and return with a revised plan. In response, the chatbot suggested heading north to Arenal, then south to Manuel Antonio and ending the trip back north in Monteverde.
While McNamara said this was a slight improvement over the original itinerary, she noted that she usually recommends starting in Arenal, then going to Monteverde and ending in Manuel Antonio to minimize travel time. Most families prefer to fill their trips with activities and end them at the beach to relax.
Once the itinerary was set, Fu Chat asked GPT to recommend some hotels for her family. The chatbot provided a list of high-end hotels that McNamara said were “not geared toward families or kids.” In two cases, Chat GPT recommended hotels for adults only.
Artificial intelligence won’t replace travel experts anytime soon.
The danger, Fu said, is that someone unfamiliar with Costa Rica would have happily followed the advice and might not have noticed the chatbot’s mistakes until it was too late.
But despite the pitfalls, Fu said she really enjoyed using Chat GPT and it was “super easy to use,” especially when it came to asking clarifying questions.
She also pointed out that the chatbot does not have access to real-time hotel prices or flights and will not be able to book a vacation for you as a travel advisor would.
THE CONCLUSION
The chatbot alone will not replace the work of travel advisors. There’s no way to help with the logistics of what a travel advisor is really helpful for – not just the advice, but the execution.
Chat GPT seems to agree. When the chatbot was asked if it thought it was better than a travel advisor at planning vacations, its answer was surprisingly candid.
I have no personal travel experience, so I can’t make first-hand recommendations or personal opinions,” the chatbot wrote. “While I can be a useful tool to gather information and provide ideas for a trip, the expertise and personal experience of a travel advisor is invaluable in planning a truly personalized and memorable vacation.
