AI in Travel

Airlines are saying that AI is becoming an edge in running day-to-day operations — and a new source of risk that could quickly erode trust if it goes wrong.

IHG’s AI strategy isn’t about chatbots. It’s about making sure its hotels are structured, searchable, and integrated enough to survive the shift from links to answers.

Agentic AI will likely access APIs to compare pricing. But those queries would have severe limitations and will ultimately require more rigorous solutions to ensure a deal is really a deal.

Around a dozen states have introduced legislation that would upend the way hotels, airlines, and OTAs set prices.

In an era when speed to market is a given, Chesky is arguing that nice and easy does it will win the day. It would be better to say, "We are behind in our AI development, but we are confident that we will get to where we need to be."

Hotel groups are increasingly sharing AI risks openly. But Hyatt and others have no choice but to keep experimenting.

Google just got a run for its money: Sabre, PayPal, and Mindtrip join forces to let travelers plan and book trips inside AI chats. If it works, it’s another sign the next distribution shift may come from travel’s own stack, not just Big Tech.

Tripadvisor has borne the brunt of declining SEO traffic from Google for many years. Now AI Overviews are pinching Tripadvisor even harder.

Artificial intelligence isn’t charging hotels commissions yet. But lawyers at Marriott and Hilton are already preparing for a world where AI platforms could become the next powerful gatekeepers in travel distribution.

Marriott is the first major hotel to publicly discuss its work with Google on its upcoming agentic AI travel booking tool. But it raises more questions than answers — especially whether AI Mode offers in-chat checkout for partners and link-outs for everyone else.