Trip Planner V3: Drive Destination Engagement and Revenue

Created by Evan Kenepp, Modified on Wed, 22 Jan at 9:46 AM by Aline Gill

We’re excited to introduce Trip Planner Version 3.0, the latest advancement in ITI Digital’s Trip Planner module! Launching in early February, this update is designed to enhance travelers' journey planning. Powered by advanced AI and user-friendly features, Trip Planner V3 offers an effortless, intuitive, and visually engaging experience for creating travel plans.

What’s New in Trip Planner V3

Streamlined Trip Planner View

Bigger, Interactive Maps: Enjoy a full-screen map experience with clear, detailed views of your destinations.
Clustered Map Pins: Easily explore nearby points of interest with decluttered, grouped pins.
Sidebar Command Center: Access your itinerary, trip notes, and travel plans quickly with intuitive subtabs.

AI-Generated Travel Plans

Generate personalized itineraries in seconds, tailored to your preferences and interests.
Spend less time planning and more time exploring!

Multi-Day Trip Support

Plan trips across multiple days with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.
Effortlessly rearrange activities and switch between days for maximum flexibility.

Trip Notes

Keep track of essential details and reminders for your journey in one convenient location.

Enhanced User Experience

Clean, modern design for faster navigation and smoother interactions.
Intuitive tools that make trip planning simple and enjoyable for everyone.

Why These Features Matter

For the Organization:

Enhanced User Engagement: Full-screen interactive maps and clustered pins make it easier for users to explore destinations, encouraging longer engagement on the platform and increasing the likelihood of completed trip plans.
Revenue Generation: Simplified itinerary access and decluttered visuals streamline the planning process, driving users to book activities, accommodations, and experiences.
Market Differentiation: These intuitive features position ITI Digital as a leader in digital travel solutions, attracting new clients and retaining existing ones.

For the End-user:

Ease of Navigation: Bigger maps and decluttered pins reduce frustration, making trip planning effortless.
Streamlined Experience: Centralized tools for managing itineraries and notes ensure users can efficiently handle all aspects of their trips.
Return Visits: A seamless, satisfying experience encourages users to return to the platform for future travel planning needs.

Tailored Benefits for Your Organization

DMOs: Enhance visitor engagement with AI-powered itineraries and interactive maps tailored to your destination
EDOs: Support economic growth by highlighting regional attractions with multi-day planning capabilities.
Chambers of Commerce: Simplify planning for local events and tours, driving business participation and community involvement.

What Current Users Can Expect

We’ve made sure that upgrading to Trip Planner V3 is effortless for you:

No Code Updates Required: Your website integration will continue to work seamlessly with the new version—no changes are needed.
Data Migration Not Needed: Your existing place categories and data will remain intact and ready to use.
Seamless Transition: All your current features will continue functioning alongside the new enhancements.

Why This Matters: These points are critical for ensuring a smooth adoption process for both technical teams and end-users. By eliminating the need for code updates or data migration, organizations save time, reduce costs, and minimize disruption. The seamless transition guarantees that users can immediately benefit from new features without losing existing functionality, fostering confidence in the platform and encouraging engagement.

Trial Period: Explore the New Features Before Public Release

Starting now, your team can access the updated Trip Planner features in the DXP Dashboard through a dedicated preview link. These updates won’t be visible to the public until February, giving you time to:

Explore the new trip notes and AI planning tools.
Test out multi-day trip planning and drag-and-drop functionality.
Familiarize yourselves with the streamlined interface and customization options.

To access your preview link, type in your browser and update the URL with your DXP Username where highlighted. Note that the URL is case-sensitive. https://devnext.imgoingcalendar.com/EnterYourDXPUsername/trip-planner

If you encounter any issues accessing the preview, please get in touch with our support team for assistance.

Public Release: February 15

The updated Trip Planner V3 will officially go live on your website to the public by February 15. All your active travel planning tools will automatically update to the new version—no action is required. Use the trial period to familiarize yourself with the latest features to hit the ground running!

A Call to Action: Marketing Makes the Difference

While the Trip Planner V3 offers cutting-edge features and automatic content delivery, it’s important to emphasize that marketing is not automatic. Simply having the tool is not enough—its success hinges on how well it is promoted.

The adage, “If you build it, they will come,” is only true in the movies. To drive engagement and maximize results, DMOs must actively market and showcase the platform’s value to their audiences. Without marketing, the results will be limited.

Ensure your team invests in promoting the Trip Planner V3 to capture user attention and unlock its full revenue-generating potential. If you need ideas or support, our team is here to help!

Trip Planner V3 is a transformative update designed to meet the evolving needs of our clients. By focusing on audience-specific benefits, accessible features, and seamless transitions, ITI Digital continues to deliver innovative solutions that redefine digital tourism planning. Use the trial period to explore the possibilities and see how V3 can elevate your travel planning experience.

Feature Comparison: V2 vs. V3

Features	V2	V3
Places, Events, Itineraries & My Trips subtabs	✅	✅
Places subtab
Filter Places by Category	✅	✅
Search Places	✅	✅
Submit a Place (for Industry Partners)	✅	✅
Locate Place on map	✅	✅
See Place’s details (linked to Places widget)	✅	✅
Add Place to a trip (existing or new)	✅	✅
Remove Place from a trip	✅	✅
Events subtab
Filter Events by date	✅	✅
Filter Events by categories	❌	✅
Search Events	✅	✅
Submit an Event (for Industry Partners)	✅	✅
Locate Event on map	✅	✅
See Event’s details (linked to Events widget)	✅	✅
Add Event to a trip (existing or new)	✅	✅
Remove Event from a trip	✅	✅
Itineraries subtab
Incorporated Suggested Itineraries widget	✅ (V2)	✅ (V3)
My Trips subtab
Create new trips, manually	✅	✅
AI-generated trips	❌	✅
Edit existing trips	✅	✅
Search Places and Events	❌	✅
Add places/events without switching subtabs	❌	✅
Multi-day trips	❌	✅
GPS Directions	✅	✅
Adjust Travel Mode	✅	✅
Export trip as PDF	✅	✅
Share trip	✅	✅
Delete trip	✅	✅
See Places/Events' details	✅	✅
Add notes to a trip	❌	✅
Add plans to a trip	❌	✅
Dashboard configuration
Create three AI prompt questions by choice	❌	✅
Configure the mobile landing page view page	❌	✅

In-Depth Look at New Features | Step-by-Step Tutorial

Let's dive in by creating and editing a trip in the new Trip Planner! There are two ways to create a trip:

Create a Trip manually
Generate a Trip with AI assistance

Manually create a Trip:

To create a trip manually, click on the CREATE A TRIP button.

Edit the trip’s name:

Start building the itinerary by adding the first day:

Use the newly implemented search bar to search and add Places or Events to your trip (search for Places or Events and select the one you want to add to your trip):

Note: Attractions can be added to the trip also from the Events/Places tab (see details below).

Add plans and notes to each trip:

You can add a note at the beginning of each day of the trip:

You can also add plans before and after each stop:

This is an example of how the plans will look:

Multi-day trips

You can create multi-day trips by adding multiple days to your trip:

Select the current day view by choosing the date you want to view:

Easily switch attractions between days - first, click on the Move button, then select the date you want to move the attraction to:

There is also the possibility to re-arrange the days - you can move an entire day to the left or to the right:

You can also change the dates by using the edit button from the bottom of the screen:

Remove attractions:

You can easily remove attractions from the list, one by one, using the Delete button from each trip [1], or you can remove an entire day, using the Delete button from the bottom of the screen [2]:

Don’t forget to save any trip creation/edit using the Save button!

The Cancel button from the top of the screen will cancel all the unsaved edits.

To edit an existing trip, you need to open the trip and click on the Edit button:

Export trips & Share Trips

If you need to have your trip exported as PDF or if you want to share your trip, you can do so by opening the trip and clicking on the bottom-right button (hamburger menu icon), then select the correct action (PDF Export or Share):

Generate a Trip using AI:

To use AI for trip creation, click on the AI suggested itineraries hyperlink, then select one of the prompt questions:

Once the suggested trip is generated, you can save the suggestion for your trip by clicking on the Add this to my trip button:

Places and Events subtabs:

Use the Places and Events subtabs to browse between all the attractions - you can see their position on the map, open to see more details using the Details button or directly add to your trip by using the + MY TRIP button. The attraction can be added to an existing trip, or you can create a new trip from the current pop-up view:

Dashboard settings:

Open the Client Dashboard → Content Management → Trip Planner → V3 tab ---- You will find here several adjustments you can set up for your Trip Planner:

Update the AI Suggested Itineraries Prompt Questions:

AI suggested itineraries prompt questions. Change the default suggestions as you wish, then Save the change. The change is visible in the Trip Planner widget after one refresh.

Customize the Trip Planner Desktop POIs layout:

For Desktop view, choose between two, three, or four columns of POIs, as well as applying a border/margin or not:

Customize the Mobile View Landing Page:

The mobile landing page is customizable. Customize the images and text visible to your visitors on Mobile Devices:

Possible edits:

Banner text 1 (first text row from the banner)
Banner text 2 (second row text from the banner)
Banner image (via image URL or image upload)
Event image (via image URL or image upload)
Place image (via image URL or image upload)
Itinerary image (via image URL or image upload)
My Trips image (via image URL or image upload)

Preview the changes you have made in real-time on the right side of the screen, and then click Save to apply to your website.

This release aims to not only simplify your workflow but also elevate the experience for your website visitors, offering them a more engaging and dynamic way to explore itineraries and attractions. Do not hesitate to reach out to the ITI Digital Support team if you have any questions or need assistance with these new features!