Ixigo urges travellers to ‘Don’t follow the herd’ with AI assistant TARA

GURUGRAM: ixigo has unveiled a new video campaign urging travellers to break away from crowded holiday trends and plan trips around their own preferences, with its AI travel assistant TARA at the centre of the message.

Titled around the simple message “Don’t follow the herd”, the campaign uses a playful visual metaphor to highlight how travellers can end up choosing destinations simply because everyone else is going there.

Set on a bustling beach, the film features holidaymakers with sheep heads, all flocking to the same destination and navigating packed shorelines and crowded beachside cafés. The imagery plays on the familiar idea of “following the herd” while showing how a holiday can lose its personal touch when choices are driven by the crowd.

The narrative shifts when one traveller opens the ixigo app and interacts with TARA. He moves away from the crowded setting towards a quieter seaside escape, with his sheep-like appearance transforming back into a human one. The film ends with him relaxing by the sea alongside the message, “Don’t follow the herd.”

The campaign positions TARA as an AI-powered travel companion that helps users plan and manage their journeys through conversational interactions.

ixigo said its AI-powered planning capabilities can help travellers discover destinations, attractions, stays and experiences based on their individual preferences. The company said the combination is designed to make travel planning more personalised and seamless, while helping users explore options beyond conventional holiday hotspots.

ixigo group SVP marketing & PR Ameya Velankar said the campaign was designed to capture the tendency to choose destinations based on what is popular with the crowd.

“We have all had moments when we have picked a holiday destination simply because everyone else seems to be going there,” said Velankar. “With this film, we wanted to bring that behaviour to life in a playful, instantly recognisable way.”

He added that TARA allows travellers to begin with what they actually want from a trip, whether that means finding a quieter getaway or discovering a destination they had not previously considered.

Rather than presenting AI simply as a planning tool, the campaign focuses on how technology can help travellers articulate their preferences and discover experiences that better match them.

With its “Don’t follow the herd” message, ixigo is also using the campaign to underline its AI-native positioning, encouraging travellers to let their own interests shape where they go rather than simply following popular choices.