NEW YORK -- AI-powered search engines are increasingly sending leads to Travel Leaders Network advisors, a phenomenon that began in the past year. The network is responding by ensuring its website and lead-generation pages are able to support changing consumer search habits.
During a media briefing held Jan. 13 at parent company Internova Travel Group's New York headquarters, Stephen McGillivray, Internova's chief partner marketing officer, said AI leads sat at almost zero last year at this time.
But AI leads have escalated in the last year, said TLN chief information officer Cory Voss.
Voss said TLN has always done well with traditional organic search results, often showing in the top results when a consumer searches for a travel agent, a destination or type of travel experience.
"But the reality is that consumer behavior is changing and is more centered around generative AI-type searches in ChatGPT or in Google's Gemini," he said. "Instead of just searching for travel agents, they're using a longer-tail search -- being more descriptive in what they're looking for -- because that's what the AI search capabilities allow you do to."
TLN's history of solid search results is based in its Agent Profiler program, which enables advisors to create detailed profiles about themselves and their specialties that appear high in searches. Now, Voss said, the network is well-positioned for AI searches thanks to that same content.
Right now, there are about 21,500 profiles on TravelLeaders.com. The average sale for leads that come in via Agent Profiler is $11,017. Annually, the channel is responsible for about $750 million in sales.
In the past year, Voss said TLN has spent time modifying its website infrastructure to ensure generative search engines can consume the information found there via bots that crawl and index website content.
"The numbers are proving to be indicative that we're doing a good job there as consumers continue to go in that direction," he said.
Additionally, TLN is talking to advisors about optimizing their profiles for AI searches. At least one class is being planned for Edge, the network's annual meeting, to delve into the topic of generative engine optimization.
Like with traditional searches, Voss said, authentic, unique content from an authoritative voice will do well with AI searches.
"It's got to be unique to the advisor's experience, and you have to illustrate in as much detail as you can why you are saying you're an expert," he said.
The future's bright
TLN president Lindsay Pearlman is bullish on the future of leisure travel and TLN's positioning in the marketplace.
"We're a great industry to be in right now," Pearlman said.
He cited Boston Consulting Group research that indicates the leisure travel market will grow from $5 trillion in 2024 to $15 trillion in 2040, or around 8-10% growth year over year in that timeframe.
Pam Young, senior vice president of industry relations, offered insight into trends by segment. In 2025, TLN grew cruise and land revenue by 11% (cruise was up 14% and land was up 7%).
So far in 2026, revenue for both segments is up by 11% again (cruise is up 11% and land is up 12%).
Pearlman pointed to those numbers compared to Boston Consulting's forecast of leisure travel growth of 8-10% annually.
"We continue to outpace the market, I think we're all pretty happy about that," he said.
In 2025, Pearlman said, TLN onboarded more than 300 new members, consistent with its growth in the past few years. It has added around 1,000 new agencies in the past three years.
In total, TLN has around 6,000 agency members representing about 100,000 travel advisors.