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AI can make travel planning faster by searching, sorting and summarizing options, but speed alone does not make a trip plan personal, trustworthy or well judged. John Baumgartner, founder and CEO of HipTraveler, argues that AI works best when it draws on human-informed knowledge and is paired with people who understand a traveler’s circumstances. That is a forecast and an argument—not proof that humans will always be essential to every travel system. Current survey findings nevertheless show that many travelers want human input alongside AI, or instead of it.
What does it mean to say the future of AI in travel is human?
It means using AI to handle information and adapt plans while preserving the human context that can make recommendations matter. In Baumgartner’s view, useful travel AI should do more than surface popular places or assemble a plausible itinerary: it should account for what a traveler values, what they can manage, and which advice they trust.
That distinction matters because a technically coherent itinerary can still be a poor fit. A list of highly rated attractions may not reflect a traveler’s pace, interests, mobility, budget or appetite for uncertainty. AI can help organize choices quickly, but the quality of its answer depends on the information and judgment behind the recommendation. A trusted advisor, local expert, creator or experienced traveler may contribute context that is hard to infer from generalized popularity signals.
Baumgartner makes this case in his March 25, 2026, opinion piece, “Why the Future of AI in Travel Is Human (and Always Will Be),” published by The AI Journal. His concise formulation is: “The future of AI in travel isn’t artificial at all. It’s deeply, stubbornly human.” Read that as the article’s thesis, not as an established prediction about every future travel product.
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How is AI changing travel planning?
AI is appearing in trip planning as a way to explore ideas, gather general information and turn a request into a draft itinerary. Survey findings indicate that some travelers already use it for these tasks, though the results depend on who was surveyed, when, and how questions were worded.
What travelers reported using it for
In its Summer 2025 Traveler Safety and Sentiment Survey, Global Rescue reported that 24% of surveyed travelers had used AI to help plan a trip. Among the AI users in that survey, 75% said they used it for itinerary planning and 71% for general research. Those figures describe the survey’s respondents; they are not a universal adoption rate, and the two uses are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
A separate set of findings, from Longwoods International and relayed by the Ohio Travel Association’s “Travel Trends & Research” page, measures both stated likelihood and recent use. The likelihood of using AI in trip planning was 34% in August 2024 and 40% in June 2025. Reported use in the previous six months was 19% in August 2024 and 25% in June 2025.
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| Measure | August 2024 | June 2025 | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Likely or very likely to use AI for trip planning | 34% | 40% | Stated likelihood, as reported by the Ohio Travel Association from Longwoods International findings |
| Used AI for trip planning in the previous six months | 19% | 25% | Reported recent use, as reported by the Ohio Travel Association from Longwoods International findings |
Likelihood and past use answer different questions: someone can be open to trying AI without having used it recently. The figures should not be combined into a single “AI adoption” number. The Ohio Travel Association relays Longwoods International’s findings; the association is not identified as the survey’s researcher. The available reporting does not establish enough about sampling and methodology to treat these results as a complete picture of all travelers.
Why the task matters as much as the tool
Planning a weekend itinerary is not the same as making a decision that affects safety, accessibility or a time-sensitive connection. An AI-generated answer can be useful as a starting point, but a polished response does not itself verify that a detail is current or suitable for a specific traveler. The Global Rescue release quotes CEO Dan Richards: “But adoption still depends on trust and reliability, especially in high-stakes situations.” That is a statement about the importance of trust, not a finding that a particular tool is accurate or inaccurate.
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Do travelers trust AI to plan trips?
Survey responses show interest in AI alongside continued preference for human recommendations. In Global Rescue’s Summer 2025 survey, 50% of respondents preferred a blend of AI and human travel recommendations, 45% preferred human recommendations, and 4% preferred AI alone.
Those reported categories add up to 99%, so they should be quoted as published rather than adjusted to total 100%. They capture stated preferences among that survey’s respondents, not proof of how every traveler behaves or of which approach produces better trips. Still, the pattern is consistent with a practical role for AI as an assistant rather than an unquestioned authority: people may welcome faster research while retaining a person’s judgment for decisions they care about.
What is the difference between AI-only, human-led and blended planning?
The main trade-off is not simply automation versus no automation. It is how a planning process balances information handling, personal context, specialist knowledge and confidence in decisions.
| Approach | Potential strength | Important limitation | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-only | Can search, summarize and assemble options quickly, according to Baumgartner’s account. | A fast, plausible answer may not reflect a traveler’s unstated preferences or the judgment needed when details are uncertain. | Early brainstorming or organizing questions to investigate, with consequential details checked separately. |
| Human-led | A trusted person can apply personal context, relationships, experience and judgment. | Access to relevant expertise can vary; human advice is not automatically correct or comprehensive. | Situations where specialist knowledge, a relationship or nuanced discussion is central to the decision. |
| Blended | AI can help gather and structure options while a person supplies context and evaluates what matters. | It still requires a clear handoff: someone must decide what to trust, verify or change. | Planning where efficiency is useful but fit, confidence or specialist judgment also matters. |
This is a decision framework, not a measured head-to-head test. The cited survey reports preferences, while Baumgartner and the Adventure Travel Trade Association offer industry perspectives; neither establishes that one approach consistently produces better outcomes.
What can a human travel expert add that AI may miss?
Human value is most apparent where a recommendation depends on context that is personal, local or operational. The Adventure Travel Trade Association’s commentary on AI, travel advisors and local expertise identifies destination knowledge, supplier relationships, operational experience and access to a reachable human counterpart as relevant strengths in specialist travel.
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Personal context
A traveler may need to explain priorities that do not fit neatly into a search query: how much walking is comfortable, whether a schedule feels too rushed, or which trade-offs are acceptable. A person who knows the traveler can ask follow-up questions and notice when a technically relevant suggestion does not feel right. AI may help turn stated preferences into options; whether it can infer the missing context well is a separate question.
Local and specialist knowledge
In specialist travel, knowing a destination involves more than naming attractions. Local knowledge, supplier relationships and operational experience can help an expert interpret what an option means in practice. The trade association describes these as sources of human value, but its commentary is industry perspective—not a controlled comparison proving that human-planned trips outperform AI-planned trips.
Judgment and accountability
A person can discuss uncertainty, explain why they recommend one option over another and remain available as plans change. That does not guarantee a correct answer; it does give the traveler someone to question and communicate with. This distinction is particularly relevant when a decision has consequences beyond choosing what to see next.
Will AI replace travel agents?
The evidence cited here does not show that AI will replace travel agents, nor does it establish that human advisors will remain necessary in every case. It shows current use and preferences in particular surveys, an industry argument for specialist human value, and one author’s forecast that travel AI will depend on human-informed knowledge.
Whether a traveler needs an advisor depends on the trip and on the traveler. Someone exploring a few destination ideas may value rapid suggestions more than tailored service. Someone arranging a complex or specialist trip may value access to expertise, relationships or a person who can talk through trade-offs. AI can contribute to either process, but the available sources do not quantify how often it can replace professional advice or compare the outcomes of doing so.
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A 2024 conceptual paper by Stephanie Q. Liu and coauthors in the Journal of Service Management examines what an AI concierge is and how it might add value across a customer journey. It offers a framework for thinking about possible service roles; it does not validate a particular commercial travel assistant or demonstrate measured traveler outcomes. That distinction helps keep discussions of AI’s potential separate from evidence about what specific tools actually deliver.
How should you decide whether to use AI or a human travel advisor?
Choose based on the work you need done and the cost of getting a detail wrong. AI can be a useful first pass for gathering ideas; a person is more valuable when the plan depends on nuanced preferences, specialist knowledge or a conversation you want to have with someone accountable to you.
- Define the task. Decide whether you need inspiration, a shortlist, a workable itinerary, specialist guidance or help weighing a consequential choice.
- Use AI to organize the low-risk work. Ask it to group options, draft a schedule or identify questions to investigate. Treat the result as a proposal rather than a confirmed plan.
- Bring in human context where it changes the answer. Consult a trusted advisor or specialist when personal circumstances, local expertise, supplier relationships or operational judgment matter to the decision.
- Check details before relying on them. For any important element, confirm the relevant information with an appropriate, authoritative source or directly with the responsible provider. A survey about traveler attitudes cannot verify a particular itinerary.
- Keep a person reachable when the situation calls for it. If you value having someone to discuss a change or uncertainty with, make that part of your planning choice rather than assuming a digital recommendation includes human support.
The point is not to use a person for every search or to delegate every decision to software. It is to match the method to the decision: use automation for speed where speed helps, and bring in human judgment where context and trust are part of the answer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the evidence say—and what does it not say?
The sources answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable. Keeping their limits visible makes the “human future” argument more useful rather than less persuasive.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches- Baumgartner’s March 2026 article: a thought-leadership argument by the founder and CEO of a travel technology company. Its claims about generic recommendations, commercial signals and the future role of human perspective should be attributed to him.
- Global Rescue’s July 2025 release: reports use and preference findings from its Summer 2025 Traveler Safety and Sentiment Survey. The results describe that survey’s respondents, not all travelers worldwide.
- Ohio Travel Association’s trend page: relays Longwoods International findings for August 2024 and June 2025. It reports separate measures of likelihood and recent use.
- Adventure Travel Trade Association commentary: identifies human strengths in specialist travel from an industry perspective; it is not a controlled outcome study.
- The 2024 conceptual paper: develops ideas about AI concierges and service roles across the customer journey; it does not test a particular travel product or establish traveler outcomes.
Together, these sources support a careful conclusion: AI-assisted trip planning is already being reported by some travelers, and the available survey findings show meaningful interest in human input or a blend. They do not prove that humans will always be necessary, that AI will replace all human advice, or that one planning model is universally better.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI book a trip for me, or does it only suggest an itinerary?
The sources discussed here cover AI use and potential service roles, not the booking capabilities of specific products. Before relying on any assistant to complete a reservation, check what it actually does and confirm the booking directly with the provider.
Is it safe to share my passport or payment details with a travel AI?
The cited surveys do not assess data handling or privacy practices. Avoid entering sensitive identity or payment information unless you have checked the service’s privacy terms and have a clear reason to share it.
Can AI help when a flight is canceled or a trip goes wrong?
AI may help you organize questions or understand options, but the evidence here does not establish how any tool performs during disruptions. For a live booking problem, contact the airline, accommodation provider or travel professional responsible for your reservation.
Do the survey percentages apply to travelers everywhere?
No. The reported figures belong to particular surveys and field dates, and the material available here does not establish the methodology needed to generalize them to every country or traveler group. Treat them as snapshots of those respondents’ reported behavior and preferences.
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