According to Inc, the travel industry is rapidly moving from conversational AI, where we ask for suggestions, to agentic AI, where systems can autonomously take actions like booking trips. The article highlights that by the end of 2026, agentic AI is expected to flawlessly handle end-to-end trip execution, a capability that has eluded earlier AI experiments. Companies like Matador Network are already using agents to monitor 150 travel creators’ social accounts, automating workflow into weekly digest emails. While integrations like ChatGPT with Expedia and Booking.com aim to enable booking within chat, the author admits the feature isn’t reliably functional yet. The core shift is from a linear marketing funnel to a personalized “flywheel,” powered by AI avatars that can make real-time decisions on pricing and offers based on user data.
The hype vs the reality
Look, the vision is incredibly seductive. Who wouldn’t want to just tell an AI, “Book me a week in Greece for under $3k in May,” and have it handle the entire tedious process? The article itself points out how pre-LLM online travel planning was a nightmare of fragmented tabs and inconsistent data. Agentic AI promises to be the ultimate concierge, compressing the lag from idea to booked ticket. But here’s the thing: we’ve heard this before. Remember all those journalists using AI to plan trips a couple years back? The results were famously mixed. The tech was powerful but couldn’t flawlessly execute. So, what makes us think 2026 is the magic date? I’m skeptical. Booking a complex trip involves navigating insane layers of legacy systems, dynamic pricing, change policies, and human unpredictability. An AI can suggest, but can it truly *understand* the consequence of booking a non-refundable fare versus a flexible one for a family with young kids? That’s not just data processing; it’s judgment.
The creepy marketing flywheel
Now, the marketing applications the article describes are where this gets really interesting, and maybe a bit unsettling. AI avatars that can adjust pricing and offers in real-time on a video call? That’s a massive leap from a static chatbot. It creates what Inc calls a “flywheel,” where your every interaction fuels a more personalized (and persuasive) sales process. Basically, the AI isn’t just answering you; it’s actively selling to you, making micro-decisions to close the deal. This is a huge disruption to the traditional marketing funnel. But it also raises massive questions about transparency. If an AI avatar offers you a “special discount,” how do you know it’s not just a dynamic price based on your perceived budget or urgency? The brand has empowered it to decide, but the logic behind those decisions could be a black box. You’re not negotiating with a human who might show their cards; you’re negotiating with an algorithm designed to maximize conversion.
Fragmentation and trust
The article rightly identifies fragmented data as a core travel industry problem that agentic AI could solve. And it’s true. Pulling consistent info from airlines, hotels, OTAs, and loyalty programs is a mess. An agent that can wade through that for you is a godsend. But this introduces a new, massive problem: trust and liability. If your AI agent books you a flight on a sketchy third-party site that collapses, who’s responsible? The AI platform? The travel brand that deployed the agent? You, for trusting it? The current growing pains of AI travel planning show how easy it is for these systems to hallucinate details or pull from outdated sources. Giving them the power to *spend your money* based on that same imperfect data is a huge leap. We’re not just talking about a bad restaurant recommendation anymore; we’re talking about financial loss and ruined vacations.
The human element isn’t going anywhere
So, is agentic AI the future of travel? Probably. The efficiency gains are too compelling for the industry to ignore. We will see more semi-automated workflows and more attempts at direct booking integrations, like the ones being demoed. But I think the fully autonomous, “set it and forget it” AI travel agent is much further out than 2026 for mainstream use. The final mile of travel involves too many edge cases, emotions, and unforeseen events. The real sweet spot for the next decade will likely be a powerful hybrid: an AI that does 95% of the grunt work—researching, comparing, drafting itineraries, even holding options—but requires a human-in-the-loop for final approval on major commitments and payments. We might be ready to let the AI drive, but we’re going to keep our hands hovering near the wheel for a long time to come.
