In 2026, the use of AI to plan trips has risen sharply, but trust remains limited and travelers are requesting human verification.
Usage and growth
According to the article published on lechotouristique.com, 40% of travelers in France used AI in 2026 to prepare their trips, compared with 19% in 2025 and 9% in 2024. The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 is cited as an inflection point.
The surveys cited were conducted in February in the United States and in April in Europe in the study titled “The Rise of AI: the fastest behavior change in the travel sector in ten years.”
Trust and expectations
The report notes a lower level of trust for AI-generated results compared with human recommendations. Ranking of trusted sources:
- Friends and family: 42%–53%.
- Travel agents: 33%–42%.
- Traveler reviews: 25%–35%.
- AI results: 17%–23%.
74% of French people feel the need to verify the accuracy of AI-generated results.
An Evaneos/YouGov survey (1,689 respondents, 17–25 March 2026) also indicates that 40% of potential users want human oversight before any booking. In the United States, Phocuswright highlights priorities: better context understanding (39%), more accurate information (29%), simplified booking (28%) and a single assistant for the entire trip (27%).
These figures underline the need for factual, verified, up-to-date and consistent information to integrate AI into the traveler journey, as well as interest in decision-support tools and simpler, directly useful features.
Source : lechotouristique.com