Phocuswright’s new research has shown that more than half of US leisure travellers now use AI to plan, book, or navigate their trips, signaling the fastest behavioral shift the travel in industry has seen in ten years.
Phocuswright’s new report – The AI Surge: Travel’s Fastest Behavioral Shift in a Decade – shows that 56 per cent of travelers used AI for at least one trip in the past 12 months, up sharply from 43 per cent in late 2025 and more than double the share in 2024. Overall AI use among travelers – not limited to travel tasks – has also climbed to 59 per cent.
“AI has crossed the threshold from curiosity to utility,” Phocuswright managing director Pete Comeau said. “Travelers are past the point of experimenting now – they’re integrating AI into the core of how they research and shape their trips. This is a structural shift, and it’s happening faster than anything we’ve tracked in the past decade.”
The report finds that generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini have surged to 33 per cent usage for trip research, quintupling since 2024 and closing in on general search engines, which hold 35 per cent. Yet travelers still verify what they see: only 8 per cent said AI answers alone were sufficient, and 51 per cent typically clicked through to source websites after receiving AI‑generated results.
“Half of travelers who used AI in search engines told us they still clicked through to source websites after seeing AI answers in search,” Phocuswright senior manager of research and innovation Mike Coletta said.
“This violates the common narrative of a zero click world. AI is definitely reducing clickthrough in search overall, but travel is much more resilient because it’s higher stakes and verification-heavy, especially in the transaction phase. Which helps explain why Google and the OTAs continue to report solid financial results.”
Standalone AI platforms remain the most widely used and most valued: 64 per cent of AI travelers used them, and 81% said they were the most useful environment for AI‑powered trip planning.
Cross-generational acceleration
While millennials lead in adoption (74 per cent), the growth is broad‑based. Usage among Gen Z reached 72 per cent, Gen X hit 50 per cent, and baby boomers more than doubled their adoption in six months, rising from 13 per cent to 27 per cent.
AI’s expanding role
Travelers increasingly rely on AI once they arrive in their destinations. More than half (51 per cent) used AI for real‑time recommendations on what to do, and 95 per cent rated it helpful for in‑destination tasks such as navigation, learning about neighborhoods and managing reservations.
The release of this research comes as Phocuswright prepares for its Phocuswright Europe conference, taking place this June. The conference brings together leaders from across travel, technology and investment to examine how AI is reshaping traveler expectations, supplier strategies and the competitive landscape.
“This is the fastest behavioral shift we have measured in well over a decade of tracking consumer travel behavior,” Comeau added. “At Phocuswright Europe, we’ll explore AI’s strongest role in travel today, which is reducing friction at the moments when travelers need context, comparison and confidence.”
