How I Helped Maya Travel AI Open New B2B Leads in 30 Days

In travel tech, most founders do not need more noise. They need warm conversations with the right brands.

In late 2025, I ran a 30-plus-day pilot with Maya Travel AI, a human-style AI assistant for tour operators and travel brands.

Instead of chasing reach, we focused on:

• Small, relevant audience

• Value first outreach

• One clear message pulled through multiple channels

Here is what happened and what other travel tech companies can learn from it.

1. Starting point and context

Maya Travel AI helps tour operators, DMCs, and travel brands:

• Answer guests 24/7 in multiple languages

• Capture more enquiries from existing website traffic

• Route qualified leads to human teams

The challenge was not whether the product could deliver. The challenge was:

• Many generic AI travel tools are on the market

• Not clear enough, outcome-driven messaging

• Limited warm access to the right operators and decision makers

My role was to act as a bridge between Maya and travel brands.

• Use my tourism network for direct outreach

• Build a value first, content and promo flow around a LinkedIn Live with co-founder Benjamin Manzi

• Keep lead attribution clear via a simple referral setup

2. The 30-day pilot goals

We set three simple goals.

Outreach

• Use my LinkedIn network of tourism businesses and travel brands

• Open conversations with a small, handpicked group

• Move good fits into calls or warm email introductions to the Maya team

Promo and positioning

• Position Maya as a practical way to turn traffic into bookings with 24/7 multilingual AI

• Use a LinkedIn Live, newsletters, and short-form content to make that message stick

Proof, not hype

• Measure real replies, calls, and leads

• Build assets Maya can keep using after the pilot

3. Outreach from cold to warm

All outreach went to existing contacts in my tourism network, and I only reached out where the solution felt clearly relevant. No mass spam.

Channels

• Direct LinkedIn outreach

• Follow-up conversations in the inbox

Audience

• A small group of existing first-degree LinkedIn contacts in tourism and travel

• Mix of tour operators, agencies, DMCs, and niche experience providers

Message flow

I followed a short, value-first sequence built around three moves

1. Offer a practical AI resource that could help with enquiries and conversion

2. Follow up with one focused question about their current situation

3. Share a simple example of how a human-like AI assistant could help, and ask if they wanted to continue the conversation

All interest came through me first, so I could protect Maya’s time and only pass on real fits.

Performance in roughly 30 days

• A compact group of under one hundred contacts approached

• Several replies and ongoing conversations

• 7 warm leads identified

• 2 discovery calls booked

• 1 lead directly asked for Maya’s details

The numbers are not huge by design. The point was to create real opportunities with people who actually fit.

4. Promo package built around one Live

The second pillar of the pilot was a promo flow built around a LinkedIn Live with Benjamin.

The Live

How Travel Brands Turn Traffic into Bookings with 24/7 Multilingual AI

• Host Ivan Ivanovic, AI Tourism Innovator

• Guest Benjamin Manzi, Co-Founder and COO, Maya Travel AI

• Format about 30 minutes plus questions

We focused on

• Why do many travel brands already have enough traffic but weak conversion

• How AI can reply within seconds in multiple languages and still feel personal

• A few conversion plays that most operators can test in a short time

During the Live I’ve:

• Explained where travel brands typically lose bookings

• Showed how a human-style assistant can help recover some of that value

• Invited viewers to connect with me if they wanted to dig deeper

Supporting content

Around the Live we created

• Pre-event hook posts that framed the problem

• Direct promo posts with a clear invite and outcome

• An event day post

• Post-event recap and follow-up thought leadership posts

These kept Maya’s message in front of thousands of people in my tourism network and generated extra interest and direct messages.

We backed this up with

• LinkedIn articles about what travel brands really want from AI tools

• LinkedIn newsletters to announce and recap the Live and share the replay

• Beehiiv newsletter issues bring the topic into inboxes

• YouTube replay of the Live

• Short clips from the Live are repurposed across channels

• Blog article on my own site for long-term positioning

5. Results in 30 days

Across outreach and promo, here is what the pilot produced.

Outreach

• Compact group of under one hundred relevant contacts

• Replies and ongoing conversations

• 7 warm leads

• 2 discovery calls

• 1 direct request for Maya’s details

Promo and visibility

• LinkedIn Live with strong registration and engagement

• Consistent post engagement from travel founders, DMCs, and marketers

• LinkedIn and Beehiiv newsletters carrying Maya’s story to a focused audience of people in tourism and travel tech

• YouTube replay and short clips that Maya can reuse in future outreach

• Blog content that positions Maya as a practical, human-centred AI solution

The goal was warm conversations with the right people. That is what the pilot delivered.

6. What the client said

“Working with Ivan over these 30-plus days has been productive and well-structured. Beyond the LinkedIn Live and content support, what stood out was his outreach effort: he activated his network, created warm introductions, and opened conversations in markets that matter for us, especially the UAE and Europe.

The visibility across his channels (LinkedIn, newsletter, and YouTube) gave Maya a broader reach, and the workflow was always transparent and easy to follow.

Overall, it was a focused collaboration, and we appreciated the consistency throughout the pilot.”

Benjamin Manzi, Co-Founder and COO, Maya Travel AI

7. Three takeaways for travel tech founders

1. Focus beats volume

You do not need a giant list to move the needle. A small group of well-chosen contacts can be enough to generate real replies and leads if the message and timing are right.

2. Outcomes and proof beat feature lists

Clear outcomes and simple, concrete examples travel further than long feature descriptions. When operators understand what changes for them in practice, they are more willing to talk.

3. One partner, many channels

When outreach, live sessions, newsletters, short clips, and blog content all pull in the same direction, you get compounding visibility and clearer attribution. One collaboration can feed many assets if you plan it that way.

8. Want similar results for your travel tech company?

If you run a travel tech company and want a focused 30 to 90-day outreach and promo pilot like this, built around your product:

You can read the full case study here:

👉 https://ai-tourism-innovator.com/portfolio-project-maya-travel-ai-case-study/

Or we can talk directly and see if there is a fit:

👉 https://ai-tourism-innovator.com/book-a-call/

Let’s design an outreach and content stack that opens warm doors for your product in 2026, without chasing vanity metrics.

Why You’re Receiving This

You’re receiving this because you are part of my network. If you prefer not to receive these updates, you can always unsubscribe.

That said, I see this as a great opportunity for all of us to connect, share ideas, and make the most of these exciting changes in tourism.

After all, more minds are better than one! 🙌

Kind regards,
Ivan Ivanovic
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-ivanovic-marketing/