Recent survey shows sizable jump in travel tools’ adoption
Generative artificial intelligence has only had a real presence in the leisure travel market for a little over a year, but already it is starting to change the way consumers plan, book, and dream about vacations. Even before extensive personalization and seamless booking have been made available through generative AI tools, travelers are not only liking their experiences on them and following through on booking their AI-generated plans but seem willing to increase their usage.
Based on two consumer surveys, North Americans considering travel are increasingly willing to not only use generative AI to develop an itinerary for a trip but also to ask the technology which destinations they should even consider. Of the close to 2,100 consumers in the United States and Canada responding to our March survey, 41% had recently used generative AI for either trip inspiration or plan an itinerary. That’s up from 34% that had used it in August 2023, Below report is the full research report from OliverWyman.
The five key takeaways from the report are:
Leisure travelers are increasingly using generative AI tools for trip inspiration and itinerary planning.
The most enthusiastic adopters tend to be younger, elite loyalty members, and people who like to take cruises.
Generative AI has the capabilities to address existing trip inspiration and travel planning pain points for consumers, and users are recognizing that.
When choosing a generative AI tool, consumers have more confidence in those being offered by brands they frequently use or with which they have a loyalty program membership. The connection between brand loyalty and generative AI is likely to drive more direct bookings and ancillary revenue for brands that develop robust generative AI tools.
Generative AI makes it more likely that consumers will book a complete trip based on recommendations from the tool, increasing the average trip value for brands through sales of ancillary services and products and packaged travel offerings. That prospect should grow dramatically once travelers can book directly through generative AI tools.