Artificial intelligence has been discussed across the travel industry for several years. In 2026, however, the conversation is becoming more practical.
Tourism boards, airlines, hotels and technology companies are using AI alongside real-time data to understand travellers, manage operations and make trip planning easier. For consumers, this can mean fewer searches and a simpler way to put together a holiday. For travel companies and destinations, it means finding better ways to use the large amount of data they already collect.
Examples from Jackson Hole, New York City, the Isle of Man and Google show how this shift is taking shape.
Jackson Hole puts tourism data to work
Destination management depends heavily on good data, but collecting and understanding that information has traditionally required considerable manual work.
Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board is addressing this through its partnership with Datafy. The destination has developed a real-time dashboard that combines information from several sources, including lodging reports, flight tracking, national park visits and utilities.
Instead of teams pulling figures from different spreadsheets and reports, the dashboard brings the information into one system.
This gives tourism stakeholders a clearer picture of what is happening across the destination. Transportation, waste management and wildlife interactions are among the areas that can be monitored.
The value goes beyond reporting visitor numbers.
During periods of heavy demand, Jackson Hole can use the information to adjust its communication and encourage responsible visitor behaviour rather than simply pushing for additional arrivals.
For a destination that needs to balance tourism with community and environmental concerns, that distinction matters.
New York uses AI to support meeting planners
New York City Tourism has taken another route.
Working with GuideGeek, the organisation introduced an AI-powered tool for meeting and event planners. Users can search for venues, suppliers, restaurants, attractions and entertainment based on their requirements.
The early results reported by NYC Tourism were notable.
Traffic to its meeting planner website increased by 100%, while the first month generated more than 800 AI-driven queries. Newsletter sign-ups rose by 150%, and visitors spent 10% more time on the website.
There is another useful side to the technology. Questions submitted by planners can show the tourism organisation what information people are actually looking for. That can feed back into its content strategy.
The tool supports 45 languages, which is particularly relevant as New York prepares for international visitors around the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Isle of Man looks at AI for local tourism businesses
Visit Isle of Man is exploring AI through an innovation challenge aimed at developers.
The initiative concentrates on brand storytelling, visitor experience and booking.
For travellers, this could mean getting recommendations that match their interests, finding their way around the island more easily and avoiding overcrowded locations.
For local tourism operators, the booking element could be particularly useful.
Small attractions and experience providers do not always have the online reach or technology available to larger travel companies. Tools that improve discovery and direct booking could give these operators another route to customers without relying entirely on major distribution platforms.
Visit Isle of Man is also looking at how AI can help communicate the island’s history, culture and identity.
Travel companies move beyond AI experiments
The same change is happening at an industry level.
TCS notes that travel businesses are moving from individual AI experiments towards operating models where AI works across connected systems.
Airlines, hotels, logistics businesses, mobility providers, payment platforms and identity systems increasingly need to exchange information. AI can help interpret that data and support decisions while an operation is taking place.
For airlines, one important area is disruption management.
When a flight is cancelled or delayed, the passenger experience can involve rebooking, compensation and communication. AI can support these processes and help airlines respond more quickly.
It can also be used to create more relevant offers by connecting booking, loyalty, operational and partner information.
Hotels face a similar opportunity.
AI can assist with room allocation, housekeeping schedules, maintenance and demand forecasting. Automating some of this operational work can leave hotel employees with more time for guest-facing service.
Google brings conversational AI into travel planning
For travellers, some of the most visible changes are coming through Google.
The company is integrating travel planning into AI Mode and its Canvas workspace, bringing together information that people would normally collect through several searches.
Travellers can build editable itineraries using information about flights, hotels, Maps and reviews. Flight prices can also be tracked within an AI-assisted planning process.
Google’s tools can produce day-by-day travel guides for destinations, while Maps and Gemini can help identify locations from screenshots. Users can also create customised travel-focused Gems in Gemini.
The practical difference is straightforward.
A traveller can describe the type of trip they want, review a suggested itinerary and make changes conversationally instead of repeatedly starting new searches.
That does not mean every AI-generated itinerary should be accepted without checking.
Restaurant availability, attraction timings, local events and other details can change. Important information still needs to be verified, particularly as the travel date gets closer.
Travel search is changing as well
The rise of conversational planning creates another issue for travel companies: visibility.
For years, search engine optimisation has been central to online travel marketing. Businesses worked to appear prominently when somebody searched Google for a hotel, destination, attraction or travel guide.
AI-powered search changes part of that process.
TCS points to the growing role of answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO). The question is no longer limited to where a travel brand ranks in conventional search results. Companies also need to consider whether AI systems can understand their information and surface it when answering a traveller’s question.
That could affect travel publishers as well.
If a traveller receives a usable itinerary directly from an AI search experience, there may be less need to visit several travel blogs or guide websites.
Booking platforms, however, continue to have an important place in the journey. Research and transaction are still separate in many cases. Google’s AI tools can assist with planning and price tracking, but travellers may still need to complete a flight or hotel booking through an airline, travel agency or another provider.
What this means for the travel industry
AI’s role in travel is becoming easier to see because the technology is moving into everyday tasks.
For destinations, it can help make sense of visitor data and manage demand. Airlines and hotels can use it to improve operational decisions. Travellers are getting new ways to research and organise trips without moving through dozens of searches and browser tabs.
The next challenge is accuracy.
A polished AI recommendation has limited value if the underlying hotel information, flight data, attraction details or opening hours are wrong. Travel companies therefore need reliable, well-structured and regularly updated information.
They also need to think about where travellers will discover that information.
Traditional search will remain relevant, but conversational AI is becoming another gateway between a traveller and a destination, hotel, airline or experience provider.
For the travel sector, that makes data quality, discoverability and practical use of AI more important than simply adding an AI feature to a website.
