Orlando’s tourism board has trained an AI on its own locals. The result, launched Wednesday, is OPAL — Orlando Planning Assistance by Locals. It lives on Visit Orlando’s website, works around the clock, and tries to answer a question many travelers have: What should I actually do here?
The tool runs on technology from Mindtrip, a travel tech firm. But the knowledge inside it comes from people.
Visit Orlando says OPAL was trained by local specialists. That means the AI pulls from human-curated expertise, not just scraped web data. It also draws on aggregated global travel information from more than 40 sources, including Google Places and TripAdvisor.
The blend is meant to give recommendations that feel Orlando-specific, not generic. This matters because Orlando is not a simple place to plan.
It’s a city with theme parks, sure. But it also has Michelin-recognized restaurants, local neighborhoods, entertainment options for families, and a constant stream of new attractions. “This is a natural evolution of how Visit Orlando helps travelers plan their trip,” said Casandra Matej, the organization’s president and CEO, in a statement.
She said the destination is “continuously expanding ways we connect people to experiences they value most — from Michelin-recognised dining in local neighbourhoods to the newest attractions or entertainment options for the whole family.” The AI generates custom itineraries based on individual needs. It highlights local businesses. The pitch is personalization at speed, delivered in conversation.
That is the gap OPAL is meant to fill. Travelers today want instant answers, tailored to them, without scrolling through pages of search results.
Matej called Orlando a “complex” destination. OPAL is the response to that complexity. Visit Orlando already offers other planning resources.
Those remain available. They include one-on-one consultations with destination experts and a moderated Facebook group called “Plan Your Orlando Vacation.” The AI does not replace those.
It adds a new layer — one that never sleeps and never takes a day off. The broader context is a travel industry reshaped by artificial intelligence. Airlines, hotels, and booking platforms have all pushed into AI tools over the past two years.
Most are chatbots that answer basic questions. OPAL is designed to function more like a human vacation planner. It draws on local knowledge and global data simultaneously.
Whether it delivers on that promise will depend on how well the training holds up under real use. For now, the tool is live.
No app download required. No appointment needed. Just a browser and a question.
The tourism board is betting that visitors will trade a human expert for an AI one — as long as the AI sounds like it knows the difference between a theme park queue and a neighborhood taco stand.
