According to a new report from PhocusWire (which shares a parent company with TravelAge West), 51% of U.S. travelers say they would utilize an AI platform or assistant to book air and hotel stays.
Yet, of those travelers, 52% believe that AI cannot provide specific enough information to influence trip plans, while 31% say AI influences which supplier or brand they book. Travelers who have not adopted AI assistance report a general sense of distrust in the tool.
Our Analysis: The ‘Trust Gap’ Is a Void Travel Advisors Can Fill
Travel advisors already know that building rapport and trust with a new client lays the foundation for a lifelong business relationship; even among travelers who use agentic AI, trust is a missing piece in the booking process.
The gap between what AI can do –– generate ideas, cull reviews, build itineraries –– and the doubts travelers have about its accuracy creates a unique space, and one that advisors are primed to fill with their expertise and ability to connect, human to human. Travelers may go to AI looking for answers, but when it comes time to verifying, discussing, deciding and handing over their credit card, advisors reign.
Fast Facts: Younger Travelers Are More Comfortable Using AI Tools
- According to the study, travelers who use agentic AI are about 10 years younger than other travelers, with an average age ranging from 38-42.
- Travelers ages 25-44 show the strongest interest in AI-enabled travel booking tools.
- American travelers who use agentic AI are spending an average of $6,655 per year on leisure travel.
- Seventy-three percent of U.S. travelers who use agentic AI expect to use it more in the coming year.
- Sixty percent of those travelers say they “completely/mostly trust” AI results in travel sites/apps.
- Travelers not using agentic AI report distrust of the tool, regardless of what channel the tool is in.
- In the U.S., 72% of travelers who use agentic AI are extremely/somewhat comfortable with travel companies that store their credit card information, compared to 32% of those who do not use agentic AI.
What They Are Saying: Payment Is Often a Roadblock
“Every platform shift in travel has been decided in the same place: the payment moment,” said Jamie Buxton, international CMO of global financial payment company Wex, which sponsored the study. “Search moved, mobile moved and now AI is moving. The winners will be companies whose infrastructure lets a recommendation become a transaction without friction.”
