Holiday Industry Builds AI Booking Tools and Loyalty Schemes as 38% of Travelers Eye AI Research
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 30
Holiday Industry Builds AI Booking Tools and Loyalty Schemes as 38% of Travelers Eye AI Research
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 30
Summary
Hotels, tour operators and travel agencies are rolling out proprietary AI booking tools and loyalty programs to keep customers from shifting to autonomous travel bots that could plan and book trips directly.
38% of roughly 22,000 respondents in a Skyscanner survey said they would use AI to research destinations, and 33% said they would use it to plan itineraries, signaling that booking behavior is already changing.
Accor is investing in apps that can handle bookings and payments inside large language models such as ChatGPT, while Skyscanner has launched a ChatGPT app and conversational search on its own site.
That shift threatens intermediaries most directly: Booking Holdings shares are down 15% year to date and Expedia is down 7%, even as some hotel groups hope AI could reduce dependence on OTA fees.
Travel companies argue trusted brands, loyalty ecosystems and deeper personalization will matter more if AI agents choose on customers’ behalf, while startups such as BookYolo aim to use AI to improve deal-finding and cut post-booking regret.
As AI plans our trips, will trusted hotel brands win back customers or simply become invisible?
AI travel promises perfect plans, but can it overcome its 'hallucination' problem for real-world bookings?
The AI Transformation of Travel 2026: Personalization, Trust, and the Rise of Agentic Systems
Overview
By mid-2026, AI has moved from an experimental idea to a core growth engine in the travel industry, reshaping every stage of the travel life cycle. This transformation is visible as AI becomes deeply integrated with the evolving consumer tech ecosystem, driving both operational efficiencies and content optimization. Industry leaders, such as those at the Skift Data and AI Summit, and companies like Expedia Group, highlight that AI is now a reality in all segments of the travel experience. The result is a smarter, more connected, and efficient travel industry that is fundamentally changing how travelers plan and experience their journeys.