AI & Travel 2026: from efficiency to imagination

How Artificial Intelligence agents will redesign planning, booking, and loyalty

1) From automation to imagination: the agentic ecosystem is born 🌌

After years of digitizing bookings, the industry is entering the era of digitizing imagination: not just faster responses, but systems that anticipate intentions, connect context, and take action. It's the leap from pure efficiency use cases (call center deflection, faster rebookings) to an agent ecosystem capable of reading objectives and scenarios to generate tailored experiences. This is the trajectory highlighted by Forbes for Travel 2026.

2) Agentive assistants: what they really do (and why they matter) 🤖

Agentic assistants don't just respond: they decide and execute. They monitor flights and weather, propose rebookings before the guest perceives the problem, and orchestrate services and communications, reducing interruptions throughout the entire journey. The result: faster service and a new operational lever for hotels, airlines, and DMOs, with concrete benefits for both users and teams.

3) The new Travel Stack: data, context, and predictive personalization 🧩

The combination of first-party data and third-party sources (travel signals and context variables) fuels predictive personalization that recognizes whether the trip is for business or leisure and adapts every detail: hotel choices, rebooking thresholds, content, and timing. The more accurately AI anticipates, the greater the “emotional cost of change” for the user: switching is reduced and loyalty increases.

4) Impacts for hotels and destinations: strategy, not gadgets 🎯

By 2026, AI will redefine how travelers plan, book, and experience travel — and how brands build loyalty. To capitalize:

• Clear positioning and “AI-ready” content (services, policies, types) to be correctly interpreted by agents.
• Integrated and actionable data (CRM, preferences, history) to fuel predictive logic throughout the journey.
• Experience design that combines automation and human touch, shifting the team to high-value activities.
  
  

5) Roadmap 2026: the first practical steps (quick wins) 🚀

1. Map critical moments (delays, overbooking, repetitive requests) and entrust agents with the proactive management of alerts and solutions.
2. Orchestrate the context: connect internal data and external sources to enable dynamic suggestions and rebooking thresholds.
3. Standardize content (rooms, services, rules) and align tone and promises on your website/OTA to avoid misinterpretations.
4. Measure the impact on NPS, retention, and response time: loyalty comes from reduced friction and clear choices.
   
   

📣 Want to turn AI into a competitive advantage? Let's design stacks, content, and agent automations together to increase conversions and loyalty throughout the guest journey.