AI in Travel: A Travel Advisor's Honest Take
I'll be the first to admit it — AI is impressive. You can ask it to build you a 10-day Portugal itinerary, and it'll spit one out in about 30 seconds. It can compare hotel prices, suggest restaurants, and even help you figure out train routes.
And I think you should use it. Seriously. If AI helps you dream up your next trip or do some early research, that's great! I'm not here to compete with a tool that can process an itinerary faster than I can drink a cup of coffee.
But I've been in the travel industry for a long time, 25 years to be exact, and I need to be honest about something… AI is a fantastic research assistant. But it’s NOT a travel advisor.
I'm not the only one who feels this way. A recent Global Rescue survey found that only about 1 in 5 experienced travelers say they'd actually trust AI to handle an international trip, and 80% say they'd be uncomfortable with AI making booking decisions without their approval.
There's a good reason for that. The difference between booking travel with AI and working with a real travel advisor isn't obvious when everything goes right. It shows up when everything goes wrong. Let me explain.
When Things Go Sideways
For example, imagine you're standing in an airport at 11 pm, and your flight just got canceled. The line at the counter is 200 people deep. You're exhausted, your kids are melting down, and you need to be somewhere tomorrow.
What does AI do in that moment? It gives you a list of options. Maybe it tells you to call the airline or suggests you check for alternative flights. All perfectly logical, none of it actually solves your problem.
What do I do? I pick up the phone. I already know your itinerary, your preferences, your connecting flights, your hotel check-in times. I'm calling the airline, rebooking you, adjusting the rest of your trip, and texting you the new confirmation before you've made it to the front of that line.
Or maybe it's not a canceled flight. Maybe your private driver didn't show up in a city where you don't speak the language and it's late at night. AI can translate a phrase for you, but I can get someone there. That’s a very real problem that I’ve fixed for clients.
That's not a technology gap. It’s a relationship gap.
And this isn't hypothetical. When the conflict in the Middle East escalated earlier this year and airspace across the region shut down, travelers were stranded with little warning. Flights were grounded, connections fell apart, and entire itineraries had to be rebuilt on the fly. That's definitely not a moment where I would want to be typing into a chatbot. I would want a real person who's already on the phone with the airline, who knows my trip inside and out, and who's working on a solution before I’ve even figured out what happened. That’s what I do for my clients.
The Hallucination Problem With AI in Travel
Here's something more people should realize about generative AI: it doesn't always tell the truth. It's not doing it on purpose, it's just how the technology works. AI generates responses based on patterns, not facts. When it doesn't have the right information, it fills in the gaps with something that sounds plausible. In the AI world, they call this "hallucination."
In most situations, that's just an annoyance. In travel, it can ruin your trip… or worse.
Two tourists in Peru nearly hiked into the Andes to find a place called the "Sacred Canyon of Humantay,” a landmark that AI completely made up. A local guide overheard their plans and stopped them, warning that following those directions at high altitude with no phone signal could have been life-threatening.
A well-known guidebook ended up listing a fake restaurant that was generated by AI right alongside real ones. Microsoft's AI-powered travel guide for Ottawa recommended the Ottawa Food Bank as a "tourist hotspot" and suggested visitors arrive "on an empty stomach." And a pizza restaurant in Missouri had to deal with angry customers after Google's AI told people the restaurant was running discounts that never existed.
These aren't hypothetical scenarios. They're real, documented cases and they're happening more often as people lean on AI for travel planning.
When I recommend a hotel, a tour, or a restaurant, it's because I've either been there myself, worked with the company directly, or heard about it from someone I trust. I'm not predicting what sounds right. I know it's right because my reputation is on the line every time I make a recommendation.
AI doesn't have a reputation. It doesn't feel bad when you show up and the rooftop bar it promised you doesn't actually exist or it's so far away from you that it no longer makes sense to go there. Something you were looking forward to now ruined.
AI Recommends the Obvious
There's another limitation that doesn't get talked about enough. AI tends to recommend what's popular, not what's right for you.
Because AI pulls from the most widely available data — reviews, articles, booking sites — it naturally steers you toward the places that already have the most visibility. Makes sense, I mean that’s hopefully how you’re even seeing this blog post right now. It will show you the big-name hotels. The restaurants that show up on every "Top 10" list. The destinations that already feel crowded because everyone's reading the same algorithm-driven recommendations.
Some of my favorite trips to plan are the ones that go off the beaten path. A cooking class in a small Tuscan town. A wine festival in a piazza that isn't in any guidebook. A neighborhood restaurant that a local friend told me about. Even some of the scenic river cruises in Europe aren't the ones that show up first in a search — they're the ones someone like me knows to recommend. Those kinds of experiences don't rank well in an algorithm, but they're often the moments that make a trip unforgettable. You’d never know that they’re there unless you work with people who have the experience of being there.
A good travel advisor isn't just finding you a place to stay and a flight to get there. They're curating an experience, one that's built around who you are, not what's trending.
What AI Can't Do With What It Knows
Sure, you can tell AI your preferences and it'll feed you options in seconds. Your travel history, your budget, your dietary restrictions, it'll remember all of it. But knowing and doing are two different things.
AI can know you hate layovers, and sure, there are AI agents that can try to call the airline for you, but they're not exactly reliable… yet. It can store your mom's accessibility needs, but it doesn't have a relationship with the tour company rep who will personally make sure everything is set up right. AI can remember your last trip, but it can't read between the lines when you say "I want something different" and know what you actually mean.
Travel experiences are not a data problem. They’re a human one.
Why It Matters Even More Right Now
I think this conversation is especially important right now. With fuel prices surging, airlines cutting flights, and global events creating uncertainty, travel has gotten more complicated in 2026 than it's been in a long time. Schedules are shifting. Routes are disappearing. Budget carriers are shutting down. The margin for error is thinner than it used to be.
If you've ever wondered whether a tour package is actually worth it, or if that group trip you've been talking about for years is finally doable, this is the kind of moment that answers those questions. Because when flights are getting cut, and prices are shifting, having someone who can navigate all of that for you isn't just convenient — it's the whole point.
And that's exactly where AI falls short. AI can tell you a flight exists, maybe… It can't tell you that the route is likely to get cut next month, or that the airline has been unreliable on that connection lately, or that there's a better option you haven't considered because it doesn't show up on the first page of results.
When the landscape is stable and predictable, maybe you can get away with planning everything yourself. But right now? Having someone in your corner who's watching the industry, who knows the suppliers, and who can react when things change — that's not a luxury. It’s just smart planning.
Use AI For Travel Planning. But Know Where It Ends.
I'm not anti-AI. I use it myself — for research, for inspiration, for keeping up with how the industry is evolving. It's a tool, and it's a good one.
But when it comes to actually booking your trip, protecting your investment, and being there when things don't go as planned — that's where a real person still makes all the difference. AI in travel is here to stay. It can help you plan a trip, but a travel advisor helps you take one.
If you've been going back and forth between booking it yourself and working with someone who does this every day, I'd love to chat.
