New research shows travelers are adopting AI faster than the travel industry is adapting to it. Here's what destination and hospitality leaders need to know.
More than half of U.S. travelers now use AI for travel. Three quarters plan to use it next time.
Phocuswright reports that 56% of U.S. travelers used AI for planning, booking or in-destination assistance during the previous 12 months, up from 43% in 2H25 and 33% in 1H25.
Read the Phocuswright research →AI isn't replacing the travel journey. It's becoming part of how travelers move through it.
Travelers are asking AI to help at every stage. Tap a card to see the kind of question they ask.
Travelers aren't asking AI one question. They're beginning to use it throughout the journey.
AI isn't just helping people plan where they're going. It's increasingly influencing where they go.
Why this matters for DMOs: it moves AI out of the customer service conversation and into the destination discovery conversation. If AI is choosing between destinations, the quality and reach of your information shapes whether you're in the answer.
See the Sojern research →The same study asked more than 1,000 U.S. leisure travelers and more than 100 destination marketing leaders where they stand on AI.
The traveler isn't waiting for the industry to catch up.
Source: 2026 AI Readiness study by Mindtrip, Sabre, Sojern and MMGY Travel Intelligence (fielded April 2026).
Pick a question. Watch it move from answer to action.
Illustrative example. Venues and prices are fictional.
AI ConciergeChoose a question on the left to start the conversation.
Phocuswright finds AI's value shifting toward real-time, contextual assistance, while AI answers still send travelers onward to source websites.
Five things to consider as you make your experience AI-ready.
Your destination information needs to be accurate, structured and accessible.
Connect the systems that hold what travelers want to know.
AI should help people do something, not simply answer questions.
The conversation should follow the traveler.
Make it easy to discover, navigate, reserve, purchase or continue.
One conversation. Every touchpoint.
An AI Concierge built for the real-world travel experience. TrueAI sits between what you already have and every screen a traveler touches, turning questions into discovery and discovery into action.
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The research behind this guide, and where to go next.
See how TrueAI turns every question into a next step, across web, mobile, kiosk, signage and in-room.
