61% of travel business surveyed experimenting with or scaling agentic AI

All indications are that 2026 will be the year of agentic AI, succinctly defined as gen AI that can accomplish real-world tasks rather than simply outputting content. Agentic AI is already playing a key role in next-generation automation within companies, increasing productivity and reducing costs. According to Phocuswright’s latest research report Budgets, Barriers and the Race to Agentic AI, more than 60% of travel businesses surveyed are experimenting with or scaling agentic AI, with 6% already actively scaling and 22% beginning to scale.

Concurrently, agentic commerce, defined as AI agents finding, comparing and potentially making purchases online for customers, is gaining traction among consumers.

Many developments in 2025 set the stage for agentic AI to move to the forefront for both businesses and travelers in 2026, arguably the most impactful being the launch and extraordinarily rapid adoption of model context protocol (MCP), a universal, open standard for connecting AI applications to external systems. Over half of companies surveyed are already exploring or implementing emerging agentic AI interoperability standards like MCP and A2A.

2025 also witnessed the launch and maturation of a plethora of agentic business automation tools and the announcement of mainstream agentic consumer offerings from Google, OpenAI, Stripe, Visa and others.

After a year of hype, generative AI has moved firmly into execution mode for the travel industry, reshaping how companies think about technology investment, product development and competitive advantage.

Phocuswright brings its insights-driven expertise to Phocuswright Europe this 15-17 June 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. This event will attract executives and travel industry leaders to examine where gen AI and agentic AI are already delivering value, how budgets are shifting to support them, and what’s holding organizations back from scaling.
As agentic AI gains traction, it is important to network with and learn from the industry’s brightest executives at Phocuswright Europe. The program, speaker roster and attendee list represent the biggest names in travel. We expect nearly half to be C-level execs, presidents, or partners: The decision-makers who actually call the shots.
85% will be director level or above: The ones with the budgets, influence and vision. Deals take root. Strategies stir. The right conversation at the right moment can change everything. If you’re serious about staying ahead, you need to be in this room.

Register before 30 April to save €300 on your ticket.

Tags: Agentic AI  Phocuswright Europe