Converged.AI × BrandInsightAI
BrandInsightAI Insights
Travel · refreshed weekly

How AI wants package holidays, cruises & tours

Package Holidays, Cruises & Tours is decided on affinity: Viking indexes 121 there against Loveholidays at 80, a 41-point spread. Viking holds the strongest overall profile, indexing 116 against the category average: ahead on all three. But the brand assistants name most often is Booking.com, not the category's market leader: being desired and being named are not the same measurement. Across these 26 brands, attraction tracks being named most closely (rank correlation 0.26).

26 brands · 60 AI answers · 399 dimension scores · measured, never estimated

Attraction Standing out in the answer: named first, described as superior, magnetic and influential.
Affinity Belonging in the answer: tied to identity, values and legitimacy, not just specifications.
Attachment Staying in the answer: recommended again, dependable, easy, part of the routine.
AttractionAffinityAttachment Each whorl lights one ring per index threshold cleared (90 / 96 / 102 / 108 / 115)

100 = the average brand in the same category.100 = the average brand across every category in the index.

Travel

Package Holidays, Cruises & Toursupset

#Brand AttractionAffinityAttachment SummaryNamed in
1 Viking: Attraction 117, Affinity 121, Attachment 106Viking: Attraction 106, Affinity 110, Attachment 99Viking 117106 121110 10699 Ahead on all threeCredible, not first choice 2%
2 Kuoni: Attraction 110, Affinity 118, Attachment 113Kuoni: Attraction 100, Affinity 108, Attachment 106Kuoni 110100 118108 113106 Ahead on all threeCredible, not first choice 0%
3 Virgin Holidays: Attraction 113, Affinity 110, Attachment 100Virgin Holidays: Attraction 103, Affinity 101, Attachment 93Virgin Holidays 113103 110101 10093 Noticed, not returned toNoticed, not returned to 2%
4 Audley Travel: Attraction 109, Affinity 113, Attachment 110Audley Travel: Attraction 99, Affinity 103, Attachment 103Audley Travel 10999 113103 110103 Ahead on all threeAverage on all three 0%
5 Scenic: Attraction 109, Affinity 110, Attachment 103Scenic: Attraction 99, Affinity 101, Attachment 96Scenic 10999 110101 10396 Credible, not first choiceLiked, not chosen 18%
6 British Airways Holidays: Attraction 107, Affinity 107, Attachment 103British Airways Holidays: Attraction 98, Affinity 98, Attachment 96British Airways Holidays 10798 10798 10396 Noticed, not returned toNoticed, not returned to 0%
7 Saga: Attraction 103, Affinity 110, Attachment 106Saga: Attraction 93, Affinity 101, Attachment 99Saga 10393 110101 10699 Credible, not first choiceCredible, not first choice 0%
8 PO Cruises: Attraction 107, Affinity 106, Attachment 103PO Cruises: Attraction 98, Affinity 97, Attachment 96P&O Cruises 10798 10697 10396 Noticed, not returned toNoticed, not returned to 5%
9 Trailfinders: Attraction 101, Affinity 103, Attachment 113Trailfinders: Attraction 92, Affinity 94, Attachment 106Trailfinders 10192 10394 113106 Relied on, not excitingRelied on, not exciting 0%
10 Titan Travel: Attraction 99, Affinity 107, Attachment 106Titan Travel: Attraction 91, Affinity 98, Attachment 99Titan Travel 9991 10798 10699 Credible, not first choiceRelied on, not exciting 0%
11 TUI: Attraction 101, Affinity 97, Attachment 102TUI: Attraction 92, Affinity 88, Attachment 95TUI 10192 9788 10295 Average on all threeBehind on all three 5%
12 Jet2holidays: Attraction 99, Affinity 103, Attachment 103Jet2holidays: Attraction 91, Affinity 94, Attachment 96Jet2holidays 9991 10394 10396 Average on all threeBehind on all three 3%
13 Riviera Travel: Attraction 98, Affinity 107, Attachment 100Riviera Travel: Attraction 89, Affinity 98, Attachment 93Riviera Travel 9889 10798 10093 Credible, not first choiceLiked, not chosen 2%
14 Booking.com: Attraction 106, Affinity 91, Attachment 102Booking.com: Attraction 96, Affinity 83, Attachment 95Booking.com 10696 9183 10295 Noticed, not returned toBehind on all three 47%
15 Secret Escapes: Attraction 107, Affinity 98, Attachment 88Secret Escapes: Attraction 98, Affinity 90, Attachment 82Secret Escapes 10798 9890 8882 Noticed, not returned toNoticed, not returned to 0%
16 Marella Cruises: Attraction 99, Affinity 100, Attachment 103Marella Cruises: Attraction 91, Affinity 91, Attachment 96Marella Cruises 9991 10091 10396 Average on all threeBehind on all three 8%
17 easyJet holidays: Attraction 98, Affinity 98, Attachment 97easyJet holidays: Attraction 89, Affinity 90, Attachment 91easyJet holidays 9889 9890 9791 Average on all threeBehind on all three 2%
18 First Choice: Attraction 99, Affinity 97, Attachment 96First Choice: Attraction 91, Affinity 88, Attachment 89First Choice 9991 9788 9689 Noticed, not returned toBehind on all three 0%
19 Expedia: Attraction 99, Affinity 91, Attachment 100Expedia: Attraction 91, Affinity 83, Attachment 93Expedia 9991 9183 10093 Relied on, not excitingBehind on all three 0%
20 Inghams: Attraction 93, Affinity 98, Attachment 91Inghams: Attraction 85, Affinity 90, Attachment 85Inghams 9385 9890 9185 Liked, not chosenBehind on all three 0%
21 Barrhead Travel: Attraction 87, Affinity 91, Attachment 100Barrhead Travel: Attraction 79, Affinity 83, Attachment 93Barrhead Travel 8779 9183 10093 Relied on, not excitingBehind on all three 0%
22 Hays Travel: Attraction 87, Affinity 91, Attachment 100Hays Travel: Attraction 79, Affinity 83, Attachment 93Hays Travel 8779 9183 10093 Relied on, not excitingBehind on all three 0%
23 On the Beach: Attraction 92, Affinity 85, Attachment 88On the Beach: Attraction 83, Affinity 77, Attachment 82On the Beach 9283 8577 8882 Behind on all threeBehind on all three 5%
24 Cosmos: Attraction 90, Affinity 85, Attachment 93Cosmos: Attraction 82, Affinity 77, Attachment 87Cosmos 9082 8577 9387 Behind on all threeBehind on all three 0%
25 Travel Republic: Attraction 84, Affinity 82, Attachment 85Travel Republic: Attraction 76, Affinity 74, Attachment 80Travel Republic 8476 8274 8580 Behind on all threeBehind on all three 0%
26 Loveholidays: Attraction 84, Affinity 80, Attachment 85Loveholidays: Attraction 76, Affinity 73, Attachment 80Loveholidays 8476 8073 8580 Behind on all threeBehind on all three 0%

Indexed against the average of the 26 indexed package holidays, cruises & tours brands, so 100 is the category average and a brand is read against the rivals it actually competes with.Indexed against the average of every indexed brand in the whole index — 1,605 brands across 61 categories — so 100 is the average brand anywhere here and a number reads the same on every board. 26 package holidays, cruises & tours brands, measured across 60 AI answers in the latest weekly run.

Driver by driver

Where the category actually separates. A wide spread means assistants describe these brands very differently on that driver; a narrow one means it is table stakes.

Affinity

41-point spread · tracks being named 0.11
Viking121
Loveholidays80

The widest field of the three: this is where the category separates.

Attraction

33-point spread · tracks being named 0.26
Viking117
Loveholidays84

Real separation, but not the category’s defining contest.

Attachment

28-point spread · tracks being named 0.11
Kuoni113
Loveholidays85

The tightest of the three: most brands land close together here.

Where each brand stands

Each brand's three indices, summed up in a line: which drivers it is ahead on, which it is behind on, and the one to build next. A brand that is noticed but not returned to has a different problem from one that is relied on but not exciting.

Viking: Attraction 117, Affinity 121, Attachment 106
Ahead on all three
Above average on attraction, affinity and attachment.
Viking · Kuoni · Audley Travel
No driver is behind; protect the lead.
Virgin Holidays: Attraction 113, Affinity 110, Attachment 100
Noticed, not returned to
Attraction is its strongest driver; attachment trails behind it.
Virgin Holidays · British Airways Holidays · P&O Cruises · Booking.com · Secret Escapes · First Choice
Build next: attachment
Trailfinders: Attraction 101, Affinity 103, Attachment 113
Relied on, not exciting
Attachment is its strongest driver; attraction trails behind it.
Trailfinders · Expedia · Barrhead Travel · Hays Travel
Build next: attraction
Scenic: Attraction 109, Affinity 110, Attachment 103
Credible, not first choice
Affinity (identity, values, legitimacy) is its strongest driver.
Scenic · Saga · Titan Travel · Riviera Travel
Build next: attraction
Inghams: Attraction 93, Affinity 98, Attachment 91
Liked, not chosen
Affinity is its strongest driver; attachment is below average.
Inghams
Build next: attachment
TUI: Attraction 101, Affinity 97, Attachment 102
Average on all three
Close to average on every driver.
TUI · Jet2holidays · Marella Cruises · easyJet holidays
Build next: attraction
On the Beach: Attraction 92, Affinity 85, Attachment 88
Behind on all three
Below average on attraction, affinity and attachment.
On the Beach · Cosmos · Travel Republic · Loveholidays
Build next: attraction
Virgin Holidays: Attraction 103, Affinity 101, Attachment 93
Noticed, not returned to
Attraction is its strongest driver; attachment trails behind it.
Virgin Holidays · British Airways Holidays · P&O Cruises · Secret Escapes
Build next: attachment
Trailfinders: Attraction 92, Affinity 94, Attachment 106
Relied on, not exciting
Attachment is its strongest driver; attraction trails behind it.
Trailfinders · Titan Travel
Build next: attraction
Viking: Attraction 106, Affinity 110, Attachment 99
Credible, not first choice
Affinity (identity, values, legitimacy) is its strongest driver.
Viking · Kuoni · Saga
Build next: attraction
Scenic: Attraction 99, Affinity 101, Attachment 96
Liked, not chosen
Affinity is its strongest driver; attachment is below average.
Scenic · Riviera Travel
Build next: attachment
Audley Travel: Attraction 99, Affinity 103, Attachment 103
Average on all three
Close to average on every driver.
Audley Travel
Build next: attraction
TUI: Attraction 92, Affinity 88, Attachment 95
Behind on all three
Below average on attraction, affinity and attachment.
TUI · Jet2holidays · Booking.com · Marella Cruises · easyJet holidays · First Choice · Expedia · Inghams · Barrhead Travel · Hays Travel · On the Beach · Cosmos · Travel Republic · Loveholidays
Build next: attraction

What assistants actually talk about

The sixteen dimensions underneath the drivers, scored 0–10 on how the answers describe each brand. Spread is the distance between the strongest and weakest brand: the widest are where a brand can still separate itself, the narrowest are the price of entry.

Where brands separate

DimensionDriverCategory avgStrongestSpread
Customer Service & Support Attachment 6.7 Kuoni 8.5 3.5
Quality & Performance Attraction 6.9 Kuoni 8.5 3.0
Innovation & Technology Attraction 5.9 Booking.com 8.0 3.0
Style & Aesthetic Attraction 6.2 Virgin Holidays 8.0 3.0
Boldness & Creativity Attraction 5.7 Virgin Holidays 8.0 3.0

Where everyone reads alike

DimensionDriverCategory avgStrongestSpread
Delivery & Fulfilment Attachment 5.5 TUI 6.0 1.0
Ease of Use & Onboarding Attachment 6.9 Booking.com 8.0 2.0
Sustainability & Ethics Affinity 5.7 Viking 7.0 2.0
Reliability & Consistency Affinity 7.1 Viking 8.5 3.0
Range & Availability Attachment 7.2 Expedia 9.0 3.0

Does desire track being recommended?

Rank correlation between a brand's driver index and the share of answers naming it, across the 26 indexed brands in this category. A relationship inside one run's answers — descriptive, never causal, and easily moved by a single brand at this sample size.

Attraction0.26
Affinity0.11
Attachment0.11

Method & limitations

Every week, each category runs a fixed set of unbranded consumer prompts against ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. A separate model reads the answers and scores every brand named in them across 16 perception dimensions, 0–10. Those dimensions are grouped into the three Drivers of Desire from the Havas Science of Desire framework, and each brand's driver score is indexed against the average brand in its own category — 100 is the category average, 115 is fifteen per cent above it. The Vs all categories switch re-indexes the same scores against the average of every indexed brand across every category, so boards can be read against each other; the ranking inside a category is the same either way. Each category's own average, indexed against the whole index, is its place in the category table. The summary beside each brand describes where it stands on the three drivers against whichever benchmark is showing: above 104 counts as ahead, below 96 as behind.

This measures how AI assistants describe brands in their answers. It is not a survey of people, and it is not an endorsement: the scores are a reading of machine-generated text at the time of the run, and relationships between drivers and how often a brand is named are correlational. A brand needs at least six scored dimensions in a run to be indexed, and a category needs at least four such brands to get a board. See the full methodology.