How TourConnect AI Delivers Accuracy and Speed for DMCs: A Comparison with ChatGPT-5
In the world of AI, the release of ChatGPT-5 has sparked mixed reactions, with many praising its speed while noting concerns about consistency and reliability. While ChatGPT-5 focuses on broad consumer use, TourConnect AI is dedicated to providing accurate and dependable solutions tailored specifically for DMCs (Destination Management Companies), ensuring every itinerary is crafted with precision and consistency.
If you’re a travel business considering using Chat GPT within your operations flow - dependability matters. In this article we reflect on the benefits of Chat GPT and the future of AI in Travel.
What’s the difference between TourConnect AI and Open AI ChatGPT?
From a AI output perspective, the difference may be that we clearly emphasise accuracy first. Consider the release of Chat GPT-5 - there have been mixed reviews so far, with perhaps most commentators stating that GPT-5 is much faster but it has come at the cost of quality and control. It will improve in the next days and weeks, but for now it doesn’t seem as dependable for direct queries as GPT-4 and for many users there’s no ability to roll-back the model if they wanted to.
Obviously, we admire and appreciate Big AI as much as everyone else. It’s exciting to witness their evolution, both as consumers and occasionally as commercial users. We serve very different purposes and the scales of the companies are obviously chalk and cheese, two factors which help explain the difference in our approach. However, what GPT-5 seems to highlight is the it’s hard to keep all segments happy. Here’s what Open AI are saying:
“We’re just trying to keep up. We’re seeing AI being adopted everywhere all at once. Consumers, businesses, educators, developers” Oliver Jay, Open AI (CNBC, March 2025)
With consumers, small business and large enterprises all competing for priority within these general AI’s, it’s harder for them to improve the AI model and interface for everyone. There’s only so many ways that the interfaces can be structured, so some user groups may find ChatGPT taking backward steps for them with some releases.
TourConnect AI does not have that particular pressure, the challenge of solving for wildly competing segments. We focus on the highest unmet needs in B2B Travel. We are constantly speaking with DMCs, listening intently to needs that focused reliability and consistent quality with every itinerary.
How DMCs can use both ChatGPT and Itinerary Assist AI.
While ChatGPT is a powerful general-purpose AI, Itinerary Assist AI is purpose-built for DMCs and inbound tour operators. It integrates with your inbox and booking systems, understands how travel agents request quotes, and creates draft itineraries using live availability and product rules — not just text generation based off incomplete or public data. Although both are AI products with excellent feedback processes, that is essentially where the similarity ends.
ChatGPT is great as an engaging albeit basic assistant, Itinerary Assist AI is a powerful business tool. We prepared a detailed guide on the different types of AI’s available to DMCs earlier this year, you can find it here.
Here are just a few things that Itinerary Assist AI can do that ChatGPT does not:
Effectively interprets real email quote requests and any formatted attachments directly from your inbox
Builds accurate FIT and small group itineraries using your actual inventory and live pricing
Syncs directly to travel booking systems like Tourplan
Can be tailored per travel agent via Prompt Strategies
Your AI Copilot learns everyday based on how your staff modify draft itineraries
New features are designed solely for DMCs and ITO users, as compared to generalist AI models.
If you’re looking to scale quoting without sacrificing quality, Itinerary Assist AI is built specifically for that job.
Can DMCs rely on TourConnect AI?
Yes, and we’re committed to being more dependable across a broader mix of DMC Itinerary tasks and use cases. Our AI Copilots, while not perfect, have grown increasingly mature having processed 100,000 live itinerary service lines and $50 million dollars worth of itinerary value so far.
A stable AI model with regular but consistent uplifts in accuracy is the way to maximise dependability, even if speed improvements come on a little slower. We believe this is the best path to build a robust AI product that large DMCs can rely on.
Click here to learn more about the accuracy results and how we’re delivering dependable itineraries for DMCs
What is TourConnect AI’s approach to increasing response speed?
Improving the speed with which our AI Copilot can create draft itineraries is our second highest priority, second only to accuracy. In many cases the two come hand-in-hand with optimisations and improvements in our model. However when trade-offs need to be made, we prioritise accuracy and its association with dependability.
Many DMCs tell us that slow turnaround times are costing them business. A carefully crafted itinerary — complete with seamless transfers — can still go nowhere if it arrives too late, leaving the DMC out of pocket. The pressure to move faster next time can push teams toward rushed, less distinctive itineraries, and increase the risk of errors. The challenge is finding a way to speed up without sacrificing the quality that travel agent partners expect.
With Itinerary Assist AI, reservation agents are now creating, reviewing, and sending itineraries to Tourplan in just 3 minutes and 29 seconds on average (click here to read more). That’s a significant leap from the 45 minutes typically needed for a manual build, freeing up valuable time while maintaining — and often improving — the quality of the final quote.
Unlocking the Future of Itinerary Creation
If you’re a DMC, Itinerary Assist AI will remove manual bottlenecks, enabling your team to respond to travel agent quote requests accurately and quickly. Itinerary Assist AI can work with any Booking System including Tourplan.
Are you ready to transform your operations with Itinerary Assist AI? Contact us today for an Exploratory meeting.
