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Travel companies will increasingly need to focus on building continuity across the customer journey, strengthening trust and making it easier for travellers to return to an existing plan as artificial intelligence reshapes how trips are discovered and booked, according to a joint report by Skift Research and McKinsey & Company.
The report, based on a survey of more than 1,000 US travellers and diaries from travellers researching and booking actual trips, said the traditional linear path from inspiration to booking has evolved into a series of orbits. It found that the number of travel touchpoints has risen to 65 in 2026, from about 45 in 2018. Always-on inspiration creates more entry points, but trust determines which ideas gain momentum, the report said, noting that 60 per cent of travellers ranked social media among their top three sources for initial trip ideas. It also found that 71 per cent of travellers are comfortable using AI for inspiration, while 86 per cent said they would consider AI bookings in the future. The report said travellers are increasingly moving between social media, search engines, AI tools, reviews, online travel agencies and supplier websites, with each transition potentially forcing them to repeat parts of their research. The friction lives in the seams, it said, highlighting the need for travel companies to preserve information across sessions and devices. AI is also expected to change how travel companies compete for visibility. The report found that when identical travel prompts were submitted to multiple AI portals and OTA tools, no single hotel appeared in all five responses, suggesting that brands may need to improve how their offerings are represented across the information sources used by AI systems. AI is becoming kind of a new front door to travel planning and discovery, said Heather Balsley, chief commercial officer at IHG, according to the report. It noted that travellers could increasingly see only a handful of options in AI-generated recommendations, making visibility upstream of the booking process more important. The report also said booking confirmation should no longer be treated as the end of the customer relationship. Half of travellers surveyed had changed booked accommodation after finding a more attractive option, creating opportunities for travel players to maintain engagement after a transaction and continue providing relevant information and reassurance. (ANI)
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