How AI is reimagining travel beyond efficiency

Mood-aware systems are turning trip planning into a deeply personalized, creative process

By 2026, agentic AI will transform travel from a process of searching and booking into a fluid, predictive system that anticipates traveler intent, resolves disruptions proactively, and powers new loyalty models built on data and personalization.

Key takeaways

• From efficiency to imagination: AI is moving beyond automating tasks toward understanding mood, intent, and context to inspire and assemble personalized itineraries.
• Agentic assistants take action: Next-generation systems will monitor flights, weather, and events, and rebook proactively—often before travelers notice a disruption.
• Data becomes the competitive moat: The combination of first-, zero-, and third-party data enables predictive personalization that raises loyalty and creates higher switching costs.
• B2B as the quiet accelerator: Expedia’s B2B platform powers 70,000 businesses, helping new AI capabilities scale quickly across the industry and turning Expedia into an AI operating layer.
• Frictionless travel redefined: AI reduces delays, improves context continuity, and equips human agents with real-time insights to deliver faster, more empathetic service.
• Industry-wide urgency: With 30% of U.S. travelers already using AI for planning, companies are racing to build agentic capabilities and integrate with major assistants like OpenAI and Copilot.
• Human-led, tech-enabled future: AI handles routine tasks so staff can focus on high-touch service, aligning with traveler expectations for seamless, personalized experiences.
• Three arcs of transformation: 2025 brings conversational discovery, 2026 brings autonomous execution, and 2027+ unifies identity, inventory, and intent into a real-time travel graph.

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