Hosted by Alibaba Group and Fliggy, a three-day Europe-China executive dialogue brought together 75 senior leaders from 17 countries to explore how AI, digital commerce and connected consumer ecosystems are reshaping the traveller journey. The programme, held during the week of ITB China, featured 27 speakers and contributors spanning tourism, technology, government, investment and media.
What emerged was a clear message: the future traveller will increasingly move through a seamless ecosystem where discovery, commerce, payments, mobility, hospitality and destination experiences are interconnected through intelligent systems.
For decades, the travel industry has largely operated through individual sectors. Airlines focused on flights. Hotels concentrated on accommodation. Destinations marketed attractions. Retailers, banks and technology companies developed their own customer relationships independently.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to blur those boundaries.Participants explored how recommendation engines, intelligent personalisation, agentic AI and integrated digital platforms are creating experiences where consumers can move effortlessly from inspiration to booking, payment, transport and in-destination engagement without friction.
Sessions at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou provided delegates with direct exposure to one of the world’s most advanced digital ecosystems, where commerce, payments, travel, mobility and social engagement are already deeply integrated into everyday consumer behaviour.
Dr Ye (Alex) Chen, Chief Technology Officer of Fliggy, believes this evolution is only beginning.
“The future of travel will increasingly be shaped by intelligent systems that understand context, anticipate needs and support decision-making,” he said.
“Agentic AI has the potential to transform how people discover, plan and experience travel. Increasingly, the traveller journey will be connected across multiple services and touchpoints, creating more seamless, personalised and intelligent experiences.”
The concept of agentic AI, systems capable of acting on behalf of users rather than simply responding to requests, featured prominently throughout the discussions. Industry leaders examined how these technologies could fundamentally change how travel is researched, booked and experienced.
Rather than travellers navigating multiple websites, apps and service providers, future systems may increasingly coordinate complex travel arrangements automatically, taking into account preferences, budgets, schedules and real-time conditions.
Tong Teng, Vice President of Fliggy, argued that the greatest opportunities may lie not within individual sectors but in connecting them.
“As AI continues to evolve, the greatest opportunities may emerge not from optimising individual sectors, but from connecting ecosystems,” he said.
“Consumers do not think in silos. They move naturally between content, commerce, payments, mobility and travel. The organisations that can connect those experiences most effectively will be best positioned to create value, improve customer experiences and unlock new opportunities for growth.”
The timing of the discussions was particularly significant as China re-establishes itself as one of the world’s most influential outbound travel markets.
China’s international travel recovery continues to accelerate, with destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean competing for a share of a market expected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in travel expenditure over the coming decade.
Understanding how Chinese travellers discover, research and book travel has therefore become a strategic priority for tourism boards, airlines, hotels and attractions worldwide.
The dialogue highlighted how China’s digital landscape has evolved differently from many Western markets. Super-app ecosystems, integrated payment platforms and AI-powered recommendation systems have created highly connected consumer experiences that increasingly influence traveller expectations.
Participants examined how these developments are driving new forms of social commerce, travel discovery and personalised engagement that could influence global travel distribution models in the years ahead.
The event also reflected a growing recognition that travel no longer exists in isolation from wider digital behaviour.
Laurie Myers, Founder and Global Strategist of the Global Resilience Network, captured the challenge facing the industry.
“An airline sees a passenger. A hotel sees a guest. A destination sees a visitor. A retailer sees a shopper. A bank sees a customer. A technology platform sees a user. Yet they are all interacting with the same individual,” he observed.
“What became increasingly clear throughout this dialogue is that AI is helping connect those previously separate worlds into a more integrated ecosystem around the traveller. The future of travel may depend less on optimising individual sectors and more on understanding the broader ecosystem in which travellers already operate.”
Beyond technology, the discussions addressed broader questions around AI governance, cross-border regulation, luxury travel, experiential tourism and the evolving relationship between Europe and China.
Supported by Atout France, the European Travel Commission and the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, the programme was designed as a series of executive dialogues rather than a traditional conference. Participants engaged in working sessions and collaborative exchanges focused on practical applications rather than theoretical concepts.
That approach reflected a wider shift taking place across the industry. While AI has dominated headlines over the past two years, attention is increasingly turning towards implementation, governance and commercial outcomes.
For travel leaders, the challenge is no longer whether AI will transform the industry. The question is how quickly organisations can adapt to a world where travellers expect increasingly intelligent, personalised and connected experiences.
The dialogue concluded with a shared recognition that Europe and China each bring different strengths and perspectives to this transformation. Regulatory frameworks may differ, consumer expectations may vary and market structures may evolve along separate paths, but collaboration will be critical in shaping the next generation of travel experiences.
As international tourism approaches full recovery and AI capabilities continue to advance, the conversations taking place in Hangzhou and Shanghai offered a glimpse of an industry that may soon be defined less by individual sectors and more by connected ecosystems built around the traveller.
The next chapter in that discussion will take place in Paris on 29 October 2026, where industry leaders will reconvene to explore how AI, digital commerce and resilience continue to reshape the future of global travel.
Tags: global travel Alibaba Group Tong Teng Fliggy Laurie Myers, Global Resilience Network
