New Research: The Mystery of the Disappearing Destination: How AI Is Transforming Travel Discovery

 

Artificial intelligence is changing how travelers discover and evaluate travel options. Tasks once handled by search engines, online travel agencies and travel agents, such as finding destinations, comparing hotels and building itineraries, are increasingly handled by AI tools. Where AI Sits in the Booking Journey The traditional travel-planning funnel suggests a fairly linear path from intent to booking. But traveler behavior is now more complicated. AI has become another channel within this journey, and its role varies according to stage. The Booking Journey Is not Linear No single channel dominates any stage of the travel booking journey, and the path travelers actually take is less linear than a standard funnel suggests.

According to our diary data, one-third of all stage-to-stage transitions moved backward rather than forward, and 52% of respondents went back to an earlier stage at least once. The most common move, accounting for 63% of all backward transitions, was from booking back to research. This indicates that booking is not always the end of the decision process. For many travelers, it can prompt another round of research.

AI Is Used More to Inspire and Support Decisions Than to Book Across the diary study, AI's share of touchpoints is highest at the inspiration (21% of channel touchpoints) and post-booking (29%) stages, and falls sharply at the booking stage. At research, that drops to 16% and at booking, its share is only 6%. Travelers use AI to generate initial ideas and plan details after a booking is made. They are more likely to use search, online travel agencies and supplier-direct channels for the transaction itself.

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