The conversation about how artificial intelligence (AI) will change entire industries has not escaped the travel sector. Whether it’s building bespoke itineraries or being embedded into hotel beds to monitor quality sleep, the technology is being rolled out faster than consumers can keep up. As of March 2025, there’s even a first-of-its-kind fully AI-powered hotel in Las Vegas.
The potential for generative AI—a subset of artificial intelligence that uses generative models to produce text, images, videos and other forms of data—in the travel sector is massive. It’s not uncommon for people nowadays to use tools like ChatGPT to design itineraries, suggest destinations, and find flights and accommodation. And this is only expected to increase.
According to a 2024 Statista global survey of the main ways in which travel companies used generative AI, 53 per cent said they employed it to provide digital assistance for travellers during the booking process, 48 per cent used it to provide recommendations for activities and venues, while 47 per cent used it in content generation. In another 2024 survey by Statista, 79 per cent of Chinese consumers used an AI-based tool for travel planning, followed by those in the United Arab Emirates (61 per cent) and Singapore (47 per cent).
Recently, Thomas Cook, a travel services company, launched Dhruv, an agentic AI platform for business travellers that will take care of bookings, cancellations, itinerary modifications and more—all through an intuitive, real-time interface. The platform’s voiceover service supports over 20 languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Spanish, German, Greek and Portuguese, and operates 24/7 to provide customer assistance.
So, how will AI transform the travel industry and how widespread is its use by travellers today? Shikhar Chadha, the founder and CEO of The Tarzan Way (TTW), a company that uses AI to create personalised experiential itineraries and travel programs for guests, weighed in.
For starters, Chadha says that within the next decade, AI will be employed in almost every aspect of the travel industry, from fare tracking and navigation to streamlining visa processes and emergency support. “It’s definitely going to save the kind of tourist anxiety that anyone would face while planning, booking or visiting a destination,” he says in an exclusive with Outlook Traveller.
TTW uses a multi-layered approach when soliciting trustworthy and accurate information that goes into their database, depending on verified sources like government departments, tourism boards, established platforms and genuine reviews. “We have a strong feedback mechanism in place along with verification procedures with locals across the world, who we work with on a regular basis to keep our data up-to-date and genuine,” Chadha says.
To prevent travellers from being misled by AI when making travel plans, he recommends that they should verify the data they receive, such as opening and closing times, recent reviews, and prices that may be higher than the current market value; leave space for spontaneity and surprises; and ensure that their personal data is safe and secure.
Do hardcore travellers tread the same AI-generated paths? Not all. Travel bloggers Jade D’sa (@thatgoangirl on Instagram) and Jyotsna Ramani (@wanderwithjo on Instagram) love doing their own research on the destinations they want to visit. Neither of them uses AI tools to plan their trips, preferring instead to read a blog, read traveller reviews, or ask for tips in travel-focused Facebook groups.
However, Ramani has noticed that a lot of her friends have started using ChatGPT to craft itineraries, activities to do at the destination and travel tips while supplementing the information they receive from travel websites, blogs and verified news sites.
One of the best things about travelling is going off-the-beaten track and finding hidden gems that you only hear about from the locals. Would AI be able to capture these serendipitous encounters, too? Chadha says yes, since “AI can analyse vast amounts of user-generated content, whether reviews, blogs, social media check-in and more to identify patterns in emerging destinations. We’ve hired over 500+ locals across the world and got them to curate data from over 90+ countries, which provided us with word-of-mouth activities, hidden gems and lots more in our database.”
In 2024, overtourism repeatedly made headlines around the world, whether it was Venice imposing a tax on day-trippers (read more here) entering its historic area or places like Wayanad and Shimla struggling with surging tourist arrivals. Would AI contribute to this scourge or help alleviate it?
According to Chadha, any kind of technology can contribute to overtourism. “To seriously overcome the challenge of overtourism, airlines need to first identify offbeat or emerging destinations where the price challenge needs to be addressed. This can be possible through using AI platforms for data analytics, further discovery platforms and social media to create FOMO for users to provide them with the right push to visit these destinations,” he says.
Contrary to some industry insiders, Chadha strongly believes that AI can replace a human agent entirely, if not at present then within the next decade. But he holds out hope that some things will still remain within the purview of human beings. “Travel planning has the scope of becoming completely AI-powered. Similar shifts have happened in the past, especially when flight bookings turned from agent-based to completely automated; the same happened for hotel bookings and eventually [something] similar is going to happen with the travel planning space as well,” he says.
“There are definitely loads of tasks that may require a human presence, like group tours, where there’s decent scope for negotiation, multiple iterations, offline pricing requests and more. Apart from that, with customer support, it provides convenience to the user for connecting with an agent; even though a lot of tasks will be automated, there may be a certain level of human presence that’ll be required.
“Furthermore, it’s always a pleasure to find someone greeting you at the front desk of the hotel, so consumer-facing roles will require human presence and interaction. Travellers are explore to meet individuals from different cultures, and finding a bot instead may not be the best approach. Activities and experiences will [also] continue to be led by individuals for a long period of time, especially adventure activities, which definitely raises a safety concern for travellers.”
D’sa agrees, noting a shift in the way people travel. “People want to experience more local offerings, talk to local residents and learn about things that have been passed verbally through generations, none of which is available readily online,” she says.
While Ramani firmly believes that AI can never replace a human travel agent, D’sa is more circumspect. “AI will replace all travel agents except those who curate personalised itineraries,” she says. “I haven’t used travel agents in a decade, but if I had to, I would personally prefer AI over an agent, simply because I feel that travel agents would recommend places and activities based on their knowledge which cannot compare with that of AI.
“All the service tasks would still require a human presence, as AI greatly lacks understanding of current events and cannot distinguish between fact and fiction. It cannot guide you on how to prepare for the unexpected. AI would be great in giving you a broad itinerary, but it is impersonal when it comes to who you are travelling with. Is it a honeymoon trip, are you solo travelling, or travelling with a child? Are you a digital nomad? Personalising an itinerary and offering suggestions that are catered to one’s preferences is not something AI can do well.”
Chadha says that the travel industry is missing out on conversations about AI’s role in responsible and sustainable travel. For one thing, the technology relies on huge data centres that require significant electricity consumption. This demand is projected to increase dramatically, potentially accounting for a substantial portion of global electricity use and contributing to higher carbon emissions.
For Chadha, recommendation bias, AI-driven over-commercialisation and privacy concerns are discussions that need to be had right now. “Moreover, another conversation could be around price manipulation, since a lot of fares are dynamic by the second, which raises a major concern for travellers since a lot of users may rely on price-tracking through AI-platforms in the near future,” he says.
“Having said that, there are concerns for any technology out there and it’s only a matter of time before there could be some layer of detailed policies and guidelines for the use of corporations to assure betterment in the industry.”
It's not just a concern for sustainability though. Both travellers are also concerned about the negative effect AI could have on their work as travel bloggers. “Biased recommendations based on algorithms and SEO optimisation is the main concern for me,” says D’sa. “Having to put hours into research, writing [and] experiencing things, only to have AI copy my information and feed it to someone else without attributing it to me or leading them to my blog, is very annoying. Data privacy is also a big concern.”
Ramani is hopeful about the future. “Sometimes people go to an agent just to have a human to talk to who will understand their needs and offer them valuable tips. The agent is also extremely useful if there are issues along the trip, which, for an AI tool, will be hard to fathom and troubleshoot on the spot,” she says.
