AI in Travel
Booking.com unveils its Global AI Sentiment Report

Booking.com has unveiled The Global AI Sentiment Report, a major new study exploring how consumers across 33 markets perceive and interact with artificial intelligence in everyday life and travel.
Drawing on responses from over 37,000 people, the report paints a complex picture: while excitement around AI is high, concerns about trust, transparency, and human oversight remain key barriers to broader adoption.
High interest, low trust
Globally, 91% of respondents to booking.com survey said they are excited about Artificial Intelligence. 89% expressed interest in using AI tools for future travel planning. However, only 6% reported fully trusting AI. 42% declared to always fact-check AI outputs, while 29% do so sometimes. Just 12% feel comfortable with AI making decisions without human input, and 10% are strongly opposed to it. Most consumers appear to value AI more as a support tool than a replacement for human judgment.
Booking.com report categorizes consumers into distinct groups: 36% are “AI Enthusiasts” intrigued by the technology’s potential, 13% are “AI Advocates” who champion its responsible adoption.
However, this excitement coexists also with significant caution. While 25% are “AI Detractors,” showing active resistance. Another 13% are “AI Cautious,” expressing reservations about its growing influence.
While 91% acknowledge at least one benefit—such as time-saving (51%), improved productivity (40%), or learning support (48%)—an equal percentage also reported at least one concern.
Regional gaps in trust and AI recognition
Regional variation reshapes Artificial Intelligence perception from one continent to another. Latin America (LATAM) leads in AI positivity, with 98% of respondents excited about the technology and 89% saying they understand how it works. Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) follows closely with 95% in excitement feeling and 82% being familiar with IA. ASPAC users have a widespread daily integration of AI, especially in transport and education.
Globally, while 77% have at least some trust in AI, nearly a quarter (23%) rarely or never trust information generated by it. It is particularly high in North America (NORAM) and Europe & the Middle East (EME). The two regions show higher distrust with 32% and 29% of respondents respectively feeling cautious at AI-generated information. Consumers here are highlighting a broader demand for transparency and reassurance as adoption grows.
In the travel sector, AI is already widely used. Two-thirds of respondents have relied on AI for trip planning, booking, or in-destination assistance. Travelers primarily use AI to research destinations (38%), find cultural experiences (37%), and get restaurant tips (36%). Once on the ground, translation tools (45%) and navigation help (40%) are the most common applications. Photo editing tops AI usage post-trip.
The report also highlights growing demand for ethical AI. A majority of travelers (71%) value tools that help avoid crowds, and 60% want Artificial Intelligence to prioritize experiences that support local communities.
“Generative AI represents one of the most significant technological shifts of our era. It fundamentally reshapes how consumers engage with the world around them, ” says James Waters, Chief Business Officer at Booking.com. “But beyond innovation, our focus must be on transparency, trust, and responsibility as we move into the next chapter of travel technology.”
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AI in Travel
Vietnamese travelers lead in AI-powered tourism adoption

Vietnamese travelers are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their journeys, according to the newly released Global AI Sentiment Report from Booking.com. Based on a survey of over 37,000 consumers across 33 markets, including Vietnam, the report highlights how AI is reshaping travel experiences.
In Vietnam, 99% of users leverage AI-powered search tools, 92% use AI-generated content recommendations, and 95% interact with generative AI tools, underscoring AI’s growing role in daily travel planning and decision-making.
The report categorizes Vietnamese travelers based on their attitudes toward AI. Nearly 47% identify as AI enthusiasts, intrigued and excited about AI’s potential. Another 28% are AI advocates, who support responsible adoption of AI technologies. Together, these groups reflect strong openness and optimism about AI’s benefits in tourism.
Beyond improving convenience and efficiency, AI is also expected to bring positive social impact. A significant 80% of Vietnamese respondents acknowledge this aspect, while 79% appreciate AI’s ability to help them avoid overcrowded destinations and peak hours, enhancing the quality of their experiences.
Sustainability and local impact are also top of mind. Seventy-six percent of Vietnamese travelers want AI to prioritize recommendations that benefit local communities, highlighting a shift toward more responsible tourism.
Despite widespread enthusiasm, caution remains. Ninety-one percent of respondents expressed at least one concern about the long-term implications of AI. Specifically, 4% consider themselves AI cautious, worried about its development and application; 2% are AI skeptics, and 6% identify as AI detractors, signaling that a meaningful segment is still hesitant.
These findings underscore the need for balanced and responsible AI implementation, ensuring user trust while maximizing its potential. The evolving perspectives of Vietnamese travelers will shape not only the future of AI in tourism, but also its integration across other sectors in Vietnam.
PV
AI in Travel
AI use for holiday bookings surges among Australians & Boomers

New research shows a sharp increase in Australians utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to plan and book their holidays, with use particularly high among Boomers.
The findings, published in Adyen’s 2025 Hospitality and Travel Report, indicate that 28% of Australians now use AI to book holidays – an increase of 73% from the previous year. Notably, Boomer adoption of AI for travel planning has more than doubled, with usage up 106% year-on-year.
AI on the rise
The report suggests that AI is being embraced across multiple generations. Gen Z (49%) and Millennials (41%) remain the most active users for travel-related AI, while Boomers are catching up rapidly. Among Australians who use AI when booking travel, 71% said it delivers faster inspiration than any other method, and 60% of Boomers found it particularly helpful in navigating ad-heavy social media environments.
AI tools are now influencing each stage of the travel process, from suggesting destinations and planning itineraries to identifying last-minute deals. As consumer habits shift, hospitality and travel businesses must adapt to increasing expectations for speed, personalisation, and security in digital experiences.
Industry response
The hospitality sector is preparing for the impact of these changes. According to the report, 47% of hospitality businesses expect AI-powered search tools to reshape the industry in 2025 and beyond. The same percentage believe automation that personalises guest experiences will play a transformative role.
Hayley Fisher, Adyen’s Country Manager for Australia & New Zealand, commented on the trend, noting the expanding role of AI in the customer journey:
Across Australia, we’re seeing more hospitality businesses embedding AI across their digital platforms to personalise search, surface relevant experiences, and inspire faster bookings. But the real power of AI is unlocked when it enhances the checkout too – by tailoring payment options based on customer preferences, speeding up authentication, and spotting fraud before it impacts the guest. That’s what turns AI from a novelty into a competitive advantage.
This growing use of AI technology not only changes how trips are discovered and booked but also affects payment processes, from dynamic pricing and personalised offers to real-time fraud detection.
Security concerns
The increase in digital transactions has led to a marked rise in payment fraud attempts. The report states that 39% of accommodation providers globally have observed a significant increase in fraudulent activity over the past year.
Fisher emphasised the importance of balancing convenience with security:
With AI now central to travel planning, security can’t be an afterthought. Guests expect every interaction from discovery to payment to be effortless, but also secure. At Adyen, we help hospitality businesses strike that balance, using AI not just to personalise experiences but to prevent fraud in real time and protect what matters most – customer trust.
According to the report’s findings, 63% of merchants believe fragmented online and on-site payment systems are restricting their ability to deliver a connected guest experience, a challenge that grows as customer expectations for frictionless journeys increase.
Changing booking habits
Australians’ holiday-planning behaviour reflects a broader embrace of digital tools. AI’s ability to filter through vast amounts of content and adapt to user needs appears to be a key driver of its uptake among all age groups. For Boomers in particular, AI offers help in navigating a digital landscape often saturated with advertising and irrelevant options.
The shift towards AI-powered planning has led hospitality operators to focus increasingly on streamlining their digital operations, personalising interactions, and strengthening fraud protection.
The report is based on consumer and merchant research conducted by Censuswide across a range of international markets, with specific emphasis on Australian trends reflecting changing habits, expectations, and industry responses.
AI in Travel
CEO Brian Chesky Says Airbnb Is Becoming an AI-First App With Agents

Not only does Airbnb want to be the “everything app” — where users can book literally everything, from accommodations to experiences and services — it also wants to do the booking for you.
Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Airbnb, laid out his vision for the travel app’s AI-powered future during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Airbnb beat revenue expectations for quarter two and announced a $6 billion stock buyback, but said it expected slower growth in Q3. The stock was down more than 6% after-hours.
“Over the next couple of years, I think what you’re going to see is Airbnb becoming an AI-first application,” Chesky said on the call with analysts.
He added that currently “almost none” of the top 50 apps in the App Store are AI apps, with the notable exception of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But he predicted that soon every one of them will be AI apps, either AI startups or pre-generative AI apps that successfully transform into “native AI” apps. That’s the transformation that he says is underway at Airbnb.
Chesky said Airbnb’s approach to utilizing AI has differed from some other travel companies in that they have not focused on using AI to offer travel planning and inspiration. Instead, the company has rolled out AI in customer service, with a custom agent built on 13 different models and trained on tens of thousands of conversations.
As a result of the AI customer service chatbot, he said Airbnb has reduced the number of hosts and guests who need to contact a human agent by 15%.
Chesky said the AI agent is going to become more personalized throughout the next year and that it will be able to take more actions on behalf of the user.
“It will not only tell you how to cancel your reservation, it will know which reservation you want to cancel. It can cancel it for you and it can be agentic as in it can start to search and help you plan and book your next trip,” he added.
Airbnb declined to provide additional comment when reached by Business Insider.
In February, Chesky said on Airbnb’s quarter four earnings call that he thought it was still too early to use AI for trip planning, but that he believed AI would eventually have a “profound impact on travel.”
Chesky also said in February that he wants to make Airbnb the Amazon of travel, or a one-stop shop for “all of your traveling and living needs.”
Airbnb in May announced it was relaunching its Experiences business and launching Services, which allows users to book on-site professionals like photographers or massage therapists.
On the call Wednesday, Chesky said he was “very bullish” on Experiences and that the feedback so far has been positive.
Axel Springer, Insider Inc.’s parent company, is an investor in Airbnb.
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