**For years, travel professionals stood out because of their expertise. The ones who knew the best hotels, designed the smartest routes, or recommended hidden gems had a clear advantage. But that reality is changing.**

Today, clients often arrive already prepared with:\
✓ AI-generated itineraries\
✓ Hotel comparisons\
✓ Dozens of browser tabs\
✓ Inspiration from YouTube, TikTok and travel blogs

Because information is everywhere. And that changes the value of the travel professional. The question is no longer: **“Who knows the most?”** But rather: **“Who communicates their expertise best?”**

## The new reality of travel sales

Today, clients rarely buy based on information alone. They buy:\
→ confidence\
→ clarity\
→ simplicity\
→ a good feeling about their decision

Which means the role of the travel professional is evolving too. Not just advising, explaining or sharing knowledge. But guiding, convincing and creating trust.

Today, clients rarely buy based on information alone.

## Why presentation increasingly makes the difference

A great example from real life.

One travel company prepared an incentive proposal for a client and later discovered they were competing against two other agencies. All three proposals were strong. But there was one difference. The competing agencies delivered traditional PDF proposals. Only the winning proposal was presented as an interactive travel experience.

The client's feedback?

> “Our CEO immediately dismissed the other proposals because they felt outdated.”

It wasn’t the destination, the price, or even the content. It was about the experience of receiving the proposal.

## Modern clients expect more than a document

Think about other industries: we order food through apps, we manage banking on our phones, we track deliveries in real time… But travel proposals? They’re often still delivered as static documents. Even though travel is all about experience.

A journey doesn’t begin on departure day. It starts the moment someone can imagine what that experience will feel like, and eventually decides to book.

## How modern travel companies are adapting

The strongest travel companies today don’t only invest in knowledge. They invest in presentation. They make sure their proposals:\
✓ feel professional\
✓ are easy to share\
✓ create clarity\
✓ trigger emotion\
✓ build trust

Because a premium journey deserves a premium proposal.

## One final thought

AI will continue to evolve. Information will only become more accessible. But one thing remains difficult to replace: human expertise; presented in a way that people connect with.

So the question is no longer: **“How do I provide more information?”** But: **“How do I make clients choose me?”**

[See for yourself how modern travel companies create that difference with a free Lato trial.](https://portal.latotravelapp.com/register)

Destination knowledge alone no longer wins clients

**Last week, Lato was present at ITB Berlin, one of the largest travel trade fairs in the world. Every year, thousands of professionals from the travel industry gather here to exchange ideas and look ahead to the future of travel. For the fourth year in a row, Lato was selected as an *ITB Innovator*: a recognition for companies that are at the forefront of technology in the travel sector.**

From AI to social media: during various talks and panels, it became clear where the sector is heading. Here are some of the most notable insights:

### AI is changing the travel industry, but it's not replacing humans

An important theme at ITB Berlin this year was the role of artificial intelligence in the travel industry. During the panel discussion *“Check-in 2026 and Beyond: Technology Trends and Developments Shaping Hospitality,”* it became clear that AI will not replace employees, but will play a crucial role in supporting them.

By automating administrative tasks and repetitive work, travel professionals will have more time for what really matters: personal contact with their customers.

In the future, AI will also help to better match travelers with, for example, the right hotel based on preferences, travel behavior, and previous experiences. However, this technology is not yet fully developed. For example, ChatGPT cannot yet book hotels directly. You still have to do this through a travel agency or booking platform.

### Gen Z and Gen Alpha are shaping where we travel

Did you see the viral giant croissant from Paris on social media? No? Then ask a Gen Z colleague. Another striking theme at the trade fair was the impact of social media on travel behavior.

Younger generations seek travel inspiration in a completely different way. Whereas travelers used to flock to Paris to tick off classic sights such as the Louvre, young people now choose Paris as a destination based on—yes—a viral croissant. Inspiration increasingly comes from short videos and influencers, rather than traditional travel brochures. Authenticity plays an important role in this. Content that is spontaneous and filmed by travelers themselves is often perceived as more credible than classic marketing images.

This is also clearly reflected in the figures. TikTok is now the number one source of inspiration for travel, ahead of recommendations from family and friends. No less than 70% of users have already booked a trip after seeing the destination appear on the platform. Even more striking is that 22% of travelers book within 24 hours of being inspired by a video.

### YouTube remains strong for travel storytelling

Although short videos dominate social media, longer video content remains important. According to insights shared by YouTube, many people watch travel videos not only on their smartphones, but also on a large screen at home. This makes the platform particularly suitable for in-depth travel stories and extensive destination videos. At the same time, YouTube Shorts is also growing in popularity, now reaching billions of daily views.

We are also responding to this trend at Lato. Videos can be integrated directly into travel proposals, allowing travelers to view inspiring visuals of their destination while reviewing their proposal. This not only makes travel proposals more inspiring, but also increases the likelihood that the proposal will turn into a booking.

### Innovation at the trade fair: how AI speeds up travel proposals

Lato's AI-driven proposal tool once again attracted a lot of interest. Thanks to AI-driven PDF import, existing documents can be automatically converted into an interactive travel app that can be edited directly by the travel agent.

Texts are translated and hotel information is flexibly added via the company's own database, the integrated bed bank, or based on the information from the original document. This means that a job that used to take hours can often be completed in just a few minutes with Lato. Travel professionals can respond faster, work more consistently, and create visually stronger proposals.

In addition to all the technological insights, ITB Berlin remained above all a valuable opportunity to meet travel professionals from all over the world and exchange ideas.

The common thread was clear: technology will continue to transform the travel world, but the human factor remains essential. With many new insights gained, the Lato team is already looking forward to the next edition.

Some notable insights from ITB Berlin 2026

**Travel professionals, tired of spending hours on proposals? Lato is here to help, and ITB Berlin thinks so too! For the second year in a row, we’ve been nominated for the Innovation Radar.**

## ITB Innovation Radar?

ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade fair, organizes nominations for the innovative products and services that have a technical, social or economic impact. Lato is proud to be on this radar for the second time, with our next-generation travel software!

👉 [Read the full article on ITB](https://www.itb.com/en/itb-360°/innovation-radar/itb-innovators-submissions/2026/lato.html)

## AI-Based PDF Import as a Core Innovation

Our **AI-powered PDF Import** turns any travel proposal into an interactive, beautifully structured travel app in minutes. But that’s not all, our **Flexible Control Over Content and Media** lets you tweak text, enhance images, and integrate hotel data from your own database, Lato’s bed bank, or from the uploaded file.

The result? Hours of manual work saved, faster responses to clients, and proposals that look polished, consistent, and professional every time.

👋 Come see it in action at **ITB Berlin | Hall 6.1, Booth 276**.

Meet founder Wout and the team, and discover how Lato helps you work smarter, not harder.

Lato nominated AGAIN at the ITB Innovation Radar

**Farewell to Umapped: What’s Next for Travel Advisors?** 
With the recent news of Umapped shutting down, many travel advisors are left wondering what comes next. When the tools you’re using disappear, it’s more than just an inconvenience—it’s a disruption to your business. 
For years, Umapped helped modernise the travel industry, and at Lato, we respect the role it played.

**Built by Travel Professionals, for Travel Professionals 🤝** 
Lato isn’t just a tech startup—we’re travel professionals first. We’ve walked in your shoes. We’ve rebooked clients mid-trip, we’ve dealt with the chaos that comes with making travel exceptional. 
We built Lato because we needed something better. An intuitive platform that could keep pace with real travel work. 
We don’t answer to investors or acquisition plans. Our only priority is building the tool we wish we had ten years ago—and making it even better for you today.

**Supporting Umapped Users Through the Transition 🔄** 
If you're coming from Umapped, we want the switch to be simple. We can help you migrate your data into Lato quickly and smoothly. 
Whether you need technical help or just a conversation about how Lato compares to your old workflow, we’re here for you. We put together a quick [comparison page](https://www.latotravelapp.com/compare/lato-vs-umapped) to help you see how Lato stacks up against Umapped.

**Looking Ahead, Together 🚀** 
To the Umapped team: thank you for helping raise the bar in travel tech. 
To the advisors now looking for what’s next: Lato was built with you in mind, and it’s ready today. We’re independent, here for the long run, and backed by experience that only comes from being in the travel trenches ourselves.

We know what you need, because we’ve needed it too. We’re building Lato for exactly that reason. And most importantly, we’re not going anywhere.

Farewell to Umapped: What’s Next for Travel Advisors?

With Lato, you can create a beautiful, clear travel proposal in just a few clicks — it looks just like a real app. Perfect for sharing **and** attracting new clients.

### Here’s how it works:

**1️⃣ Record your screen** 
Open your trip in the Lato app on your phone and record your screen as you scroll through the itinerary.

**2️⃣ Share in your Instagram Story** 
Post the video in your Story and add a **link sticker**. With one click, your client can open the full trip on their phone.

**3️⃣ Clients can respond immediately** 
In the app, your client can instantly leave their contact info if they’re interested. You’ll get a notification right away.

### Why it’s smart:

- It looks professional and engaging
- Clients can view it easily and quickly
- You instantly know who’s genuinely interested

💡 **Side note:** Since Lato gives you a shareable link for every trip, you can post it **anywhere** — not just Instagram, but also on your website, in an email, WhatsApp, or even on your business card. Convenient **and** strategic!

---

🎯 **Want to try it yourself?** 
Start a free trial today via our website [latotravelapp.com](https://latotravelapp.com/) 
📱 Or check out examples on our Instagram: [@latotravelapp](https://instagram.com/latotravelapp)

How to Easily Attract New Clients

**Why Travel Experts Worldwide Are Choosing Lato**

In April, over 10 new travel companies joined Lato – the platform where travel professionals manage their entire workflow, from trip ideas to sales, all in one place. The new users come from all over the world: from Vietnam and South Africa to Australia, Nepal, and India. 🌍

**Some of the newest users include:**

Zuiderhuis (Belgium), Grey Travel (South Africa), Parallele23 (Australia), Reisstudio (Netherlands), Rural Heritage Journeys (Nepal), Voyages Flamming (Luxembourg), Go Indochine (Vietnam), Siva Travel (Greece), and Sijbrands Reizen (Netherlands).

**Stefanie Orlans from Zuiderhuis:**

“We chose Lato for its local roots but global ambition. It’s a user-friendly tool powered by the latest technology that allows us to work more efficiently and present our trips in a visually appealing way to our clients. We're looking forward to a sustainable partnership.”

**Why Lato?**

Because you can create stunning trips in just a few clicks, book hotels directly, manage tasks, and wow your clients with stylish digital travel apps – all in one streamlined platform.

**Coming Soon: Add Destination Info? Easy! 🌎**

Travel planning just got even easier. With Lato’s new feature, you can quickly add destination information – with one click from our extensive database. Descriptions and photos from the Lato content library are instantly available and easily customizable. Add extra tips and local highlights to make your trip even more personal.

**No hassle – just fast and efficient!**

Why Travel Experts Worldwide Are Choosing Lato

Working productively does not always mean working harder and more. Often it's a matter of working smarter 😉 By performing tasks better and choosing the right software, you'll get more done in less time. And let that also be a win-win: you improve efficiency and boost productivity at the same time!

On June 20, we celebrate World Productivity Day 🎉 This day not only reflects on employee and employer productivity, but also promotes innovation and the sharing of success stories. Smarter work strategies improve performance and overall wellbeing. And let Lato be one of those smart work strategies.

Lato is an easy-to-use all-in-one solution that bets on efficiency and performance-based work. We can assure you: once you get used to Lato, you won't want to go back to your old way of working 😁

📚 Library: store all accommodations, excursions, photos and videos in your own Lato library and easily reuse them when creating new travel proposals.

💻 AI tools: need that one quote out the door today? Are you lacking inspiration? Ask AI to write a nice text for you.

📑 Documents: add documents such as vouchers, podcasts and videos to make the travel proposal more appealing. By the way, did you know you can also add default documents based on country?

🌍 Translate: do you want your travel proposal in another language? Click the desired language and let DeepL translate your travel proposal in a couple of seconds.

💪 Collaborate: send the travel proposal via a professional link instead of a PDF document and easily collaborate with other travel professionals.

These and many other Lato features make you do twice as much work in the same amount of time. So take action: look at your current work habits and choose continuous improvement!

Work smarter, not harder!

Do you still work with Word or PDF to send travel proposals? 🧐 Well, then it's time to digitize and deliver proposals in an innovative way! 😉

Our platform Lato offers the perfect solution to send out travel proposals in an innovative way.

📸 Videos en photos make the travel proposal more interactive and appealing.

📑 Travelers immediately have all documents at hand.

🎙️ Travelers can prepare for their trip through fun podcasts, music, videos or e-books.

📱 The entire itinerary, day by day, is fully laid out with info on transportation, activities and accommodations.

🌍 Multilingual clients? No problem, travelers can read the proposal in different languages.

❓ Is there a question? Travelers can easily contact you via chat.

Just admit it: an app like Lato is way more appealing than a Word or PDF document, right? 😊

☞ Don't hesitate any longer: start your free trial in Lato today and watch your conversion rates soar! Soon you will discover what you were missing all along! 🤩

Try out Lato for free

**Trips are planned, everything is booked and everyone is already eagerly looking forward to a satisfying vacation!**

## Prepare your travelers

Podcasts, music, videos … let your travelers prepare themselves for their unforgettable trip! Or add documents such as vouchers to their travel proposal. But how can you do that?

- Would you like to add the same document to each trip for a particular destination? Then add default documents at Settings. You can have these documents automatically added to all your new travel offers or linked to a specific country. This could be important travel information, e-books, e-sims or fun podcasts about the destination country.
- You can also add general documents (such as vouchers, travel information or beautiful videos) when creating a specific travel proposal.

Finally, determine in your Settings when you want the documents to be visible. So with Lato, you don't have the extra work of sending everything through again separately ;)

Ready for vacation!

**We are proud to say that Belgian tour operator Imagine has been happily using the Lato tool since December 2023. We asked some employees and CEO, Paul Ryckaseys, how Lato promotes their work. And the enthusiasm is great!**

Features like the PDF import reader and other AI tools save a lot of time. Not only do they make the tool more user-friendly, they also allow you to complete travel proposals in no time. According to Paul, the totality of the tool mainly adds great value. After all, Lato is not only a travel app, but also an offer tool to which management software is linked. The combination of everything creates an attractive and personalized end-to-end solution (videos, maps, podcasts ...) that every travel professional wants for his business.

"Once all accommodations, excursions, photos and videos are in the library, you save an enormous amount of time when preparing travel offers," employees Demi and Tine continue. In addition, Lato continues to evolve and a variety of innovative features will be added in the future to speed up that process even more.

When asked if Imagine would recommend Lato to other travel companies, a resounding “yes” sounded. According to Demi and Tine, Lato would only facilitate cooperation between travel professionals. After all, the more people who use the system, the faster the traveler receives a travel proposal and the more satisfied the customer is. "The attractive travel proposals are a huge added value to the image of our company. Unfortunately, Lato is not exclusive to Imagine," Paul joked at the end.

Tested and approved by Imagine!

Lato uses cookies

<ul class="list"><li>Save time with reusable
content</li><li>Get inspired & collaborate
with colleagues</li><li>Generate content
automatically</li></ul>

Itinerary builder

<ul class="list"><li>Follow up on your customers</li><li>Analyse your reports</li><li>Create and assign tasks</li></ul>

Management software

<ul class="list"><li>Sell more & convince more easily</li><li>Share interactive proposals</li><li>Enhance the travel experience</li></ul>

Travel app

Get free access to the Lato travel management software. If you'd like an explanation first, feel free to email us.

Lato gebruikt cookies

Krijg gratis toegang tot Lato. Als je graag eerst wat uitleg krijgt, neem dan gerust contact op met ons via e-mail.

Lato utilise des cookies

14 jours d'accès gratuit, pas de CC nécessaire

Obtenez votre compte d'essai gratuit. Si vous souhaitez obtenir d'abord plus d’informations, n'hésitez pas à nous contacter par mail.

Itinerary builder

Management software

Travel app

Sell to travel professionals

Sell to travellers

Help Centre

Updates

Blog

Webinars

Videos

Affiliate & Referrals