NEW YORK — According to a new Amadeus global study that included 2,000 travelers from the U.S., American travelers are increasingly turning to Generative AI and social media to plan travel.
Representatives of Amadeus and other participating companies shared insights on the findings during a press briefing in New York City earlier this week. “Technology works in cycles,” Decius Valmorbida, president of travel, Amadeus, told the attendees, noting that change is “everywhere” in the industry.
The report found that social media is now the primary source of travel inspiration, having replaced “recommendations from family and friends” to become the most influential channel, with 34 percent of U.S. travelers now using social media to find ideas and inspiration for trips, flights and hotels. “The U.S. actually stood out as the one country [where social media] has overtaken friends and family or websites or magazines in getting inspiration for travel,” Neil Rogan, head of corporate external communications & digital marketing, Amadeus, told the attendees. According to the research, the number of Americans turning to social media for travel inspiration increased 21 percent during the previous twelve months, with usage by Generation X (44-59 year-olds) growing more quickly than any other cohort (30 percent).
Generative AI is seeing the fastest growth (30 percent) with 17 percent of U.S. travelers now consulting AI tools like Chat GPT and Perplexity to source travel ideas. Travelers of all ages are turning to AI but use by baby boomers (60-78) increased most dramatically (60 percent) during the past year. This rapid growth means AI is already used by more travelers than traditional sources of inspiration, such as newspapers (12 percent) and travel agents with a physical presence (16 percent), which both saw modest year-over-year declines.
AI, Hope and Friction
Hope and friction are “two sides of the same coin” in travel, Valmorbida continued. While hope is the motivating factor for travel, the frictions make that travel frustrating. And while technology like social media has supported the “hope” side of the equation for years, it can also help ease the frictions.
Valmorbida noted digital identification options and biometrics as new normals that can facilitate the travel process. “This has been there already and is being deployed,” he said. AI, in turn, can help quickly rebook passengers on delayed flights and translate conversations in real time for international travelers. “Everyone is looking at their own way of dealing with the customer, and the customer is expecting that.” Instead, he advocated for a “one-stop shop” in which all “players in the ecosystem” share information. “That's where we're heading to.” Rogan agreed, noting how current AI platforms can help him determine his travel agenda “to a minute,” from transportation to recommending restaurants for dinner and finding a gym that permits day use.
A full 90 percent survey respondents said they “feel a sense of stress or anxiety” at some point when traveling, Rogan said. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, only 26 percent of travelers expressed interest in apps that integrate flight details, accommodation information, local recommendations and real-time travel updates, which could help ease these stressors.
Opportunities for Growth
Travelers highlighted AI’s ability to help them discover hidden gems like restaurants or hotels (37 percent) and said AI tools helped them plan more creative and unexpected trips (36 percent). However, only a third of respondents said AI saved them time compared to traditional trip planning and 27 percent said AI had returned inaccurate information, which led to a similar number of travelers feeling the need to double check AI responses by visiting other sources of information. A quarter of respondents reported frustration with AI recommendations, pointing to issues such as outdated information or difficulty customizing suggestions to suit personal needs.
This highlights an opportunity for the travel, hospitality, and tech industries to work to overcome these issues as well as the need for continuous improvement in AI systems to ensure they meet expectations for both convenience and accuracy. “You need to build loyalty with those travelers, so they go to you for information,” Rogan said.
The study found that U.S. travelers are seeking reassurance using AI when traveling. 68 percent of travelers are willing to pay a one-off fee for an “AI-travel assistant offering in-trip information and bookings,” stating they were open to an average charge of 5.8 percent of the cost of an entire trip. The figure was highest among younger travelers, with 76 percent of those aged 18-34 willing to pay for an AI assistant, along with 78 percent of 35–54-year-olds.
Francisco Pérez-Lozao Rüter, president, hospitality, Amadeus, said that the new capabilities are more than a transformation of existing norms. “This is evolution,” he said. “All the systems need to evolve.” In a statement released with the report, he argued that Generative AI is not yet “ready for trip planning prime time,” and that the travel and hospitality industries have “a lot of work to do” to harness AI. “We need to work together to apply these new models specifically to travel, ensuring they are trained on reliable and accurate information with better integration to the existing travel ecosystem and new interfaces that better harness the potential for personalization.”