New Report: Remapping Travel With Agentic AI

Agentic AI could upend the travel industry. Travel and hospitality organizations should explore how it can catalyze AI’s transformative potential.

The travel industry has repeatedly been reshaped by new technology, from global distribution systems to OTAs and mobile booking. Each wave has changed how people plan and experience journeys while forcing companies to rethink their business models. The latest advance, agentic AI, could prove just as disruptive.

Unlike generative AI, which mostly advises through recommendations, agentic AI can take action. It identifies problems, reasons through solutions, and executes fixes, often coordinating multiple AI agents to complete complex tasks. With memory, tool use, and autonomy, it promises to serve as the interface that helps travel companies finally harness AI’s full value.

Momentum is already visible. In 2022, only 4 percent of the largest public travel companies referenced AI in annual reports. By 2024, that rose to 35 percent. Venture capital is following suit: just 10 percent of travel start-up funding went to AI-enabled companies in 2023, compared with 45 percent by mid-2025. Executives report real benefits too. A McKinsey/Skift survey of 86 leaders found nearly 60 percent credit AI with boosting productivity, while others highlight faster decision-making, improved personalization, and measurable revenue and cost gains.

Adoption is in the early stages however. Most efforts focus on copilots and chatbots, which deliver diffuse or hard-to-measure results. Structural barriers play a role: fragmented data across countless small businesses limits feedback loops, while many travel companies still see themselves as service providers first, not tech firms, slowing investment and talent development.

Agentic AI raises the stakes. For travelers, it could make problem-solving seamless. While more than 90 percent of consumers trust AI-generated travel information, only 2 percent currently allow AI to book on their behalf. The ability of agentic AI to resolve issues autonomously, not just suggest solutions, could build confidence.

For companies, internal use cases may be the safest proving ground for agentic. Automating airline re-bookings, predicting hotel maintenance, managing housekeeping, or optimizing menus can boost efficiency while freeing staff to focus on empathetic service. Airlines could deploy agentic AI for personalized bundles, real-time fare adjustments, smarter overbooking, and tailored loyalty rewards, with each offering tangible return on investment and differentiation.

Scaling, however, requires more than scattered pilots. Companies need clean data, scalable cloud infrastructure, and clear digital roadmaps tied to outcomes. Crucially, employees must be trained to use new tools and corporate cultures must stay agile enough to pivot as the technology evolves. Workflows must be redesigned rather than patched, ensuring agentic AI becomes embedded in how organizations operate.

Agentic AI will not redefine why people travel, but it could transform how. By making personalization scalable, reducing friction, and freeing employees from repetitive tasks, it has the potential to improve experiences across the journey. The companies that succeed won’t simply adopt agentic AI quickly; they’ll integrate it in ways that align with their brand and customers. Technology can provide the catalyst, but the human touch will remain the heart of travel.

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