{"id":218440,"date":"2026-09-01T17:59:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/?p=218433"},"modified":"2026-09-01T18:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T16:00:54","slug":"ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism","title":{"rendered":"AI is already deciding Europeans&#8217; travel plans: what changes for tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial intelligence in tourism has moved beyond the curiosity phase. It is no longer used only to ask \u201c<em>where could I go?<\/em>\u201d or to build an itinerary to show friends. It is entering the real travel decisions: where to go, which hotel to choose, what to do once arrived and, in some cases, even through which platform to book.<\/p>\n<p>The new data from the <em>Europe Consumer Travel Report 2026<\/em> by <em>Phocuswright<\/em> capture a very concrete change already happening in three major European markets: the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Among travelers using AI tools, from 88% to 92% state that AI has influenced at least one real travel-related decision. In France, it reaches 92%, while Germany is at 88%. So we are not just talking about inspiration or research: AI has already entered the consumer decision-making process.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Sommario<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6addef10b304f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6addef10b304f\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#From_research_to_decision_this_is_the_real_leap\" >From research to decision: this is the real leap<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#There_is_no_single_AI_channel\" >There is no single AI channel<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#Travelers_use_AI_even_after_arrival\" >Travelers use AI even after arrival<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#Those_not_mentioned_by_AI_risk_not_even_entering_the_choice\" >Those not mentioned by AI risk not even entering the choice<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#SEO_and_AI_are_not_two_separate_worlds\" >SEO and AI are not two separate worlds<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#Europe_is_not_a_single_market_even_in_AI_use\" >Europe is not a single market even in AI use<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#For_hotels_and_destinations_the_question_to_ask_changes\" >For hotels and destinations the question to ask changes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#OTAs_will_not_just_watch\" >OTAs will not just watch<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\/#Tourism_enters_the_era_of_algorithmic_recommendation\" >Tourism enters the era of algorithmic recommendation<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_research_to_decision_this_is_the_real_leap\"><\/span>From research to decision: this is the real leap<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Until recently, much of the debate around artificial intelligence applied to travel focused on planning. Travelers asked ChatGPT or other tools to suggest a destination, prepare an itinerary, or compare a few alternatives. For travel operators, it seemed almost a new level of online research, important but still relatively distant from booking.<\/p>\n<p>Phocuswright data instead show this boundary is shifting. AI is used throughout almost the entire travel journey, from the first idea to decisions made while the tourist is already at the destination. In the UK and Germany, for example, searching for hotels through AI tools reaches 39% of users. In France, activity searches are more prominent, used by 33%, while destination comparison reaches 29%. Flight searches also maintain significant presence in the three markets.<\/p>\n<p>This is an important step because the economic value of AI changes radically when it stops being just an informational tool and starts affecting choice. If an assistant suggests a hotel, a destination, or a booking platform and that recommendation is followed, that interface effectively enters the tourism distribution, even when it doesn\u2019t directly manage the transaction.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There_is_no_single_AI_channel\"><\/span>There is no single AI channel<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Another interesting element from the research concerns fragmentation. Speaking generically of \u201cpresence on artificial intelligence\u201d risks already being reductive. Travelers do not use a single environment, and differences between countries are considerable.<\/p>\n<p>Independent AI platforms remain the main access point: used by 51% of German users, 48% of French, and 44% of British. But in the UK, behavior is much more distributed: 33% use AI features integrated in OTAs and metasearch, and 29% also go through social networks. In Germany, AI answers offered by search engines reach 34%, compared to 29% in the UK and 25% in France.<\/p>\n<p>For travel marketing, this means something quite simple: there will probably not be a new Google to monitor and that\u2019s it. Visibility will be distributed among search engines, generative assistants, OTAs, social networks, and AI services integrated within the platforms that travelers already use. Being visible in one of these environments does not guarantee visibility in others.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Travelers_use_AI_even_after_arrival\"><\/span>Travelers use AI even after arrival<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Particularly significant is the use during the stay. Once the destination is reached, AI is mainly used to discover what to do. In the UK, real-time recommendations reach 53% of users, becoming the primary use case during the trip.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, more operational functions \u2013 managing a booking, handling disruptions, or modifying logistical aspects of the trip \u2013 remain far behind. Today, travelers seem to trust AI more as a discovery tool than as a real travel manager.<\/p>\n<p>This is an important distinction. For destinations, attractions, restaurants, local experiences, and activities, it means that the moment of choice no longer necessarily ends before departure. An increasing portion of decisions can be made on-site, simply asking by phone, \u201cwhat can I do this afternoon near me?\u201d or \u201cwhere can I eat something typical without going to a tourist area?\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Those_not_mentioned_by_AI_risk_not_even_entering_the_choice\"><\/span>Those not mentioned by AI risk not even entering the choice<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And this is where the topic becomes particularly relevant for tourism marketing. In the traditional digital journey, a hotel could compete through Google, Booking.com, its own website, advertising campaigns, and reviews. A destination could work on editorial content, social media, search campaigns, and activities with creators and media.<\/p>\n<p>These tools don\u2019t disappear, but now there is an additional level: that of synthetic response. The traveler does not necessarily view ten results and compare them. They may receive three suggestions, a proposed itinerary, or a recommendation already built by AI. At that moment, not being present in the answer means risking not even entering the evaluation phase.<\/p>\n<p>This is why the debate on GEO, AEO, and visibility in Large Language Models cannot be dismissed as just another digital marketing fad. The acronyms may change, but consumer behavior is already visible: a portion of travelers entrust AI tools with the preliminary selection of alternatives.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SEO_and_AI_are_not_two_separate_worlds\"><\/span>SEO and AI are not two separate worlds<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This does not mean, however, that tourism should abandon SEO to chase some miraculous technique to \u201cget into ChatGPT.\u201d That would probably be the opposite mistake. AI systems build their responses using an ecosystem of information that includes websites, search engines, platforms, authoritative sources, reviews, editorial content, and structured data.<\/p>\n<p>For a tourism business, therefore, very non-exotic elements remain fundamental: clear and updated information, consistent digital presence, truly useful content, properly structured data, reputation, citations on external sources, and recognizable identity. The difference is that this information must now be understandable not only to the search engine and the reader but also to the systems that reprocess it to produce a response.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Europe_is_not_a_single_market_even_in_AI_use\"><\/span>Europe is not a single market even in AI use<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Phocuswright research also highlights national differences that should not be ignored. The British tend to be more inclined to use AI in choosing the destination and brand, while in France the influence appears greater in choosing the platform through which to book. Germany, instead, shows stronger use of AI answers integrated into search engines.<\/p>\n<p>This is also a warning for those managing international campaigns. It is not enough to translate the same strategy into several languages imagining a uniform European behavior. The channels used and the decisions influenced by AI vary from market to market. An Italian destination wanting to reach a British audience may therefore face dynamics different from those needed to target a French or German traveler.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"For_hotels_and_destinations_the_question_to_ask_changes\"><\/span>For hotels and destinations the question to ask changes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Until yesterday the question was: \u201chow do I get to the first page of Google?\u201d. Then it also became: \u201chow can I reduce dependence on OTAs?\u201d. Today a third appears: \u201cwhat does artificial intelligence answer when someone asks about my destination, my hotel, or the type of experience I offer?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This does not mean that every operator has to start monitoring dozens of chatbots tomorrow. But it does mean that digital visibility must be observed more broadly. If AI systematically suggests certain competitors and never mentions a property, if it describes a destination using outdated information, or if it cannot clearly understand what a business offers, there is already a digital presence problem that sooner or later could become commercial.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"OTAs_will_not_just_watch\"><\/span>OTAs will not just watch<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The perhaps most interesting data for the industry is that independent AI assistants represent only part of the phenomenon. In the UK, a third of users already use AI features present in OTAs and metasearch. It is easy to imagine this component will continue to grow, because major travel platforms have a huge advantage: beyond information, they own inventory, prices, availability, user profiles, and the ability to complete the booking.<\/p>\n<p>When search, recommendation, and transaction coexist in the same environment, the boundary between AI assistant and intermediary becomes very thin. And this is probably one of the most important developments to observe in the coming years: not whether artificial intelligence will be used to plan trips \u2013 because this is already happening \u2013 but who will control the step from response to booking.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tourism_enters_the_era_of_algorithmic_recommendation\"><\/span>Tourism enters the era of algorithmic recommendation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Phocuswright\u2019s research does not say that Google, destination sites, or OTAs are going to disappear. It says something perhaps more interesting: traveler behavior is spreading across a greater number of environments, and AI is beginning to exert a concrete influence on decisions.<\/p>\n<p>For destinations, hotels, airlines, tour operators, and platforms, this means preparing for a new form of competition. It will not be enough to be found: one must be understood, considered reliable, and relevant enough to enter the recommendations generated by the systems that more and more travelers use to choose.<\/p>\n<p>The real change, then, is not that today we can ask an artificial intelligence to organize a vacation. We already know that. The change is that a significant portion of travelers are starting to take the answer seriously. And, above all, to turn it into a decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Almost nine out of ten European travelers using artificial intelligence say it has already influenced a real travel decision. For destinations, hotels, and operators, the digital competition landscape is changing.<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/en\/ai-is-already-deciding-europeans-travel-plans-what-changes-for-tourism\" title=\"AI is already deciding Europeans&#8217; travel plans: what changes for tourism\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":218390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-digital-travel-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218440"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218443,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218440\/revisions\/218443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fulltravel.it\/trade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}