AI agents will control travel bookings by 2046, shifting power away from traditional brands
Senior travel industry leaders gathered at ITB Berlin on March 3, 2026, to map how artificial intelligence will redistribute control over global travel over the next two decades. An executive brief from the Leadership Exchange identified four critical tensions: who owns trust, where value concentrates in an AI-driven market, whether travel remains accessible to all, and whether the industry consolidates or fragments.
The consensus was clear: AI will reduce friction in travel bookings, but in doing so, it will fundamentally shift power away from current players.
Discovery disappears, personal agents take over
AI agents will handle search and booking for most travelers by 2029, making traditional discovery mechanisms obsolete. This shift means travel brands lose their primary touchpoint with customers.
Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, principal at T2Impact, said: "By 2029, discovery as we know it today will almost disappear. The real value will sit with personal agents that act on our behalf."
Personalization becomes the industry's main competitive advantage. Travel experiences tailored in real time to individual preferences will replace one-size-fits-all offerings. But this requires access to deep data insights-a resource concentrated among AI companies and large platforms.
Trust fragments across multiple touchpoints
In an AI-mediated world, trust no longer anchors to a single company. Instead, it builds through countless small interactions: user-generated content, reviews, and human signals across multiple channels.
Multiple AI-driven booking systems blur accountability. Mieke De Schepper, CEO of Sunweb Group, said: "Trust is not an algorithm. There's no single recipe, and in the future, not only companies, but also consumers will be assessed on whether they can be trusted."
This fragmentation increases the risk of major trust failures in the near term, even as the industry moves toward more distributed systems.
Travel becomes a privilege, not a right
Technology could make travel more seamless, but structural barriers will determine who actually travels. Economic inequality, geopolitics, and regulation will increasingly restrict access.
Countries facing overtourism and immigration pressures will use visas and pricing to control visitor flows. Stephen Joyce, global strategy lead at Protect Group, said: "To control immigration and overtourism, travel is becoming more of a privilege. Countries will either visa their way out of tourism or simply price people out."
Easier mobility may foster more connected societies, but it will also intensify strain on infrastructure and local communities in popular destinations.
Consolidation or fragmentation remains unsettled
AI could empower smaller travel providers by enabling hyper-personalization and niche targeting. At the same time, control over customer data could create powerful monopolies.
The next three years will determine the outcome. Decisions made now on data ownership, trust frameworks, and how technology integrates into booking systems will shape the industry for decades.
Industry leaders agreed the future is not predetermined. It will be actively shaped by the choices businesses and governments make today.
For professionals in hospitality and events, understanding these shifts is essential. AI for Hospitality & Events and Generative AI and LLM resources provide practical frameworks for navigating the transition ahead.
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