TravelWits, an AI-powered search and booking platform designed with travel advisors’ workflows in mind, joined Virtuoso last month — a partnership that aims to boost advisor efficiency, increase sales and enhance the client experience.
But how does it work, and how did the creators of TravelWits know what advisors needed in an AI tool? We spoke with Arman Bimatov, CEO of TravelWits, to find out.
How did your extensive background in tech lead to the creation of TravelWits?
We started the company 12 years ago — me, and co-founders Maxim Likhachev and Alla Safonova — when we saw a huge opportunity to apply our expertise in AI search algorithms to the travel space. There is so much data in travel, and we wanted to optimize the whole combination of flight, hotel, car [rentals], cruise and activities.
We went after the consumer first, then pivoted into corporate. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, we looked more closely at the travel agency space and realized that the state of tech was really lacking there — they were using technology from the 1970s, so there was a huge opportunity for improvement.
And, coincidentally, [at that time] there was also an influx of new, fresh talent into the travel industry — and these new independent travel advisors were not willing to accept the state of things, in terms of technology. That helped create a lot of momentum for us.
What did TravelWits’ initial rollout look like?
We launched the first version of our product around 2022, and we worked closely with some agencies to refine it. Then, we really hit the market in the summer of 2023. In one year, we saw revenue growth multiply 16 times, and nearly all of that came from host agencies.
Is that what caught the attention of the Virtuoso team?
In 2022, I had my first call with Barbara Joseph, [senior product manager] at Virtuoso. We talked on a monthly basis, so she has seen us grow, and she saw the reactions of travel advisors, agency owners and managers we've worked with. We’ve been to quite a number of different Virtuoso events and been on panels there. That all led to this moment of becoming a Virtuoso preferred tech partner.
Arman Bimatov, CEO of TravelWits
Credit: 2025 TravelWitsHow do advisors gain access to TravelWits technology?
The way that we work is that we sit on top of a GDS, such as Sabre. We plug into that, because a lot of agencies have their content in there. We typically work with host agencies’ management and tech teams, and then they roll it out to their advisors. That’s been our most successful route. Host agencies we work with already are Gifted Travel Network, Departure Lounge, Cadence, Travel Experts and Travelink.
What feedback have you received from advisor users?
Advisors understand that if they want to grow their team they can't be training everyone on Sabre every time someone comes through the door. So, we have had really good conversations with advisors who are growth-focused.
[The product] has quite a lot to offer any type of advisor. We have an extensive client proposal functionality, for example — that is not something that you can do in Sabre very easily. It allows you to put together bookable proposals that the client can self-book — kind of on the fly, as they shop — with real-time pricing. And it uses AI features to improve the descriptions and sprinkle in some additional information.
Even if an agency is full of GDS experts, they still love the ability to set up a client-facing portal; when clients can self-book, there's less strain on the agent team. It also means they can keep developing and nurturing that client relationship, and not lose the booking to a platform like Expedia.
Another story: One agency came to us wanting a booking tool for employees of Fortune 100 companies to book leisure travel. So, they've set up an employee vacations portal, where their employees go and book amazing content that only agencies have access to, while being serviced by world-class travel advisors.
So, it allows for a blend of DIY booking and booking with a travel advisor. Is that right?
I love to say we're bridging the gap between self-service and high touch. And I think this potentially opens a new market for travel agencies and travel advisors.
Now, all of a sudden, clients who have never used a travel advisor will go and book with one. That becomes a gateway, right? They may start with a simple hotel booking, but the next thing you know, they will need their destination wedding planned, and they're going to go to the travel advisor who is top of mind.
What data can you share around TravelWits bookings at this point in time?
We gathered statistics around the usage of client portals, and we noticed a really interesting pattern in one agency for hotel bookings — client self-bookings were 11% higher in commission than advisor bookings. One hypothesis I have is that maybe clients are a bit more frivolous when they shop on their own. Travel advisors have a different objective in mind — they are a referee; they may [try to help the client] save money or get the most for the client.
Fascinating. How many advisors are using TravelWits now, and what is your projected growth in the next year or so?
We have about 25 agencies now, and we're signing up new agencies almost weekly. Growth wise, we are hoping to double that this year.
We really see ourselves as a one-stop shop booking platform for travel agencies. We started with air, car, hotels and cruise. This year, we’re focusing on integrations with other content sources, as well as other pieces of travel, such as insurance, tours and transfers. We want to bring as much content into one place so that the advisors don't have to have so many tabs open and so many different bookmarks to manage. [The goal is for things to] seamlessly flow, and to bring our AI capabilities and embed them into the core workflows of advisors.
What do you say to advisors who are wary of AI in general?
Our philosophy is, essentially, to pair humans with AI [so that advisors can] focus on what they're good at. That's what is most important. I think that travel advisors will adopt AI and spend a lot more time developing client relationships and elevating the level of service they provide. Everything else will be as optimized as possible using AI and tech.
