Travelers use AI for trip planning but avoid automated bookings

A joint report by Skift Research and McKinsey & Company, titled ‘Winning Hearts in an Age of Infinite Travel Choices’, reveals a significant gap between AI usage for travel research and its use for financial transactions. While 71% of travelers are comfortable using AI to generate initial trip ideas and 67% allow it to narrow down options, trust declines sharply when it comes to final bookings.

Only 16% of respondents used an AI tool to complete a booking, compared to 43% who booked directly through airline or hotel websites and 42% who used online travel agencies. The report highlights that 74% of travelers prefer to finalize bookings personally, driven by emotional uncertainty and anxiety regarding incorrect decisions. Fifty-two percent of travelers reported feeling anxious about making wrong booking choices.

Pat Nestor of Hyatt suggested that consumer comfort with agentic-led transactions may increase over time, comparing the current apprehension to the early days of online credit card processing. Despite current reluctance, only 14% of travelers stated that nothing would ever convince them to allow automated bookings.