In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, Cook Islands Tourism is taking proactive steps to ensure local businesses thrive in this new landscape.

Last week, 30 tourism orientated businesses in Rarotonga gathered for the Cook Islands Tourism innovative workshop aimed at equipping them with practical strategies to incorporate AI-driven recommendations into their products and services.

As technology continues to evolve, the workshop held on Thursday served as a vital platform for entrepreneurs to learn how to enhance customer experiences, optimise operations and stay competitive in the fast-changing market.

Robin Gayraud, the operations manager and driving force behind the Cook Islands Pocket Guide, a user-friendly online travel guide, delivered the “Future of Tourism Marketing LLM Optimisation (LLMO) Large Language Model Optimisation for the South Pacific” workshop, assisted by the editor in chief, Laura Symonds.

“Businesses that learn to work with A1 and not against it, will thrive,” says Gayraud.

The Cook Islands Pocket Guide operations manager Robin Gayraud, and partner/editor in chief Laura Symonds, visit Aitutaki. SUPPLIED/25032710 or 2711

He said once you realise information technology will stick – “when you realise that AI will stick and it’s pretty obvious that it will, it is better to work with it than against it”.

“The great thing is that AI is currently extremely fragmented, therefore it means there is more chances for small businesses to have a go at it because it’s not currently a pay to play system,” Gayraud said.

“It may be that in the future, but right now as of March, 2025, it’s not a pay to play business.”

According to Gayraud, big players such as Booking.com and others who can easily outspend any business on this island do not yet have leverage when it comes to AI models.

“They may have in the future, but right now as of March, 2025, they don’t.”

Symonds added: “What you do now is still free so do it now while it’s still free.”

Akura Fishing Charters sales and finance manager, Tina King, was pleased to take up the opportunity to attend the informative session.

King said the workshop “simplified” how to use AI, gain more insight and stay ahead in the digital landscape.

“The first thing I’ll be doing is checking all the content on our website and tourism sites to make sure they are accurate and match up,” she said.

Akura Fishing Charters sales and finance manager, Tina King, participated in the Cook Islands Tourism “Future of Tourism Marketing” workshop. SUPPLIED/25032709

“It’s much simpler now and it’s also good to see that small businesses and anyone can use this platform to advertise their business whereas before it was the big businesses with big money who could afford it. Right now, AI levels the playing field for all of us to market our businesses.”

Gayraud explained how tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Perplexity are reshaping travel planning.

He also talked about the practical ways to adapt your tourism business for AI-driven recommendations and what the future holds for AI in tourism marketing.

“AI prioritises authoritative sources so what you can do is list on Wikis, ensure that local travel guides feature you accurately, highlight mentions in trusted sources, and be on Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor, AI reads them.”

His top five picks of what businesses should do are:

1. Check that all the authoritative sources have the correct information with them so getting listed with authoritative sources is extremely important like Cook Islands Tourism, Cook Islands Pocket Guide, Wiki data ...;
2. Avoid the fluff on your website and make sure you have precise specific information;
3. Reference those authoritative sources onto your own website – for example articles about your business;
4. Make sure the data sources are up to date like your google my business and online travel agency listings; and
5. Make sure that you try and gather reviews on many platforms as possible like TripAdvisor, Google Reviews and Facebook.

Gayraud and Symonds are both based in New Zealand with their team.

The Pocket Guide series include the New Zealand Pocket Guide, the country’s largest travel guide across the Pacific, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Tonga, and Samoa.

The Cook Islands Pocket Guide was launched in 2022 and has around 500 articles dedicated to our nation.

In the Oceania region, the Pocket Guide operates as a not for profit.

“We don’t charge businesses for advertising fees, we’ve been running with the support of Cook Islands Tourism who are doing exceptional online work,” he said.

Gayraud and Symonds have returned to Rarotonga from Aitutaki and Atiu, helping support tourism in the Pa Enua.

“There’s nothing like on the ground research, talking to real people which makes a world of difference and that’s what Cook Islands Tourism is able to facilitate.”

Tourism does the famil work with Gayraud and Symonds, supporting what they do and giving the right contacts.

“So, we can do that not for profit to benefit all the businesses in the Cook Islands who benefit from our work free of charge, thanks to Cook Islands Tourism,” said Gayraud.