Industry Leaders Debate AI Agents’ Disruption in Travel

Agentic artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimental curiosity to strategic priority, and travel suppliers and intermediaries are scrambling to understand how autonomous agents will reshape distribution. In a recent Phocuswright New Age(nts) panel, senior executives from Accor, Kayak, Bonafide and Phocuswright agreed that the wave of generative AI will force every brand to refine content, upgrade tech stacks and, above all, build trust.

Julie White of Accor said early adopters will embrace agent-driven booking flows, but many guests will still prefer traditional channels, so hotels must support both. The core challenge, she argued, is convincing travelers that agent recommendations are unbiased and genuinely in their best interests. Without that confidence, adoption will stall. Accor’s broader AI ambition, outlined by chief commercial, digital and tech officer Alix Boulnois, is to accelerate the group’s personalization program, tailoring offers and messaging at scale.

Bonafide COO Tom Underwood predicted “dramatic disruption” as agents shift search from property-by-property price comparisons to attribute-based matchmaking. He believes AI will surface the true best value, not simply the lowest rate, by analyzing thousands of variables—including noise levels and room orientation—that humans rarely review. For suppliers, that means granular, machine-readable content is becoming as important as glossy photos.

Kayak CPO Matthias Keller sees personalization as AI’s biggest win. Today’s metasearch experience offers little context if a user has no purchase history, but an agent familiar with a traveler’s preferences could recommend hotels and flights that feel tailor-made. Keller warned that the industry must also learn “marketing to AI,” optimizing descriptions and rates for algorithms as well as human eyes. Kayak’s own ChatGPT-powered Kayak.ai is an early move to keep pace with evolving user habits.

Panelists expect Big Tech to test deeper waters. Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s Operator might eventually book travel end-to-end, yet Keller likened the landscape to department stores versus specialty shops: Kayak’s brand equity and deep supply connectivity provide a defensive moat. Underwood doubted Google will act as merchant of record, a view echoed by White, who noted the search giant has historically avoided post-booking duty of care.

Preparing technically starts with richer data. Hotel web pages designed for humans list amenities such as pools but lack the structured detail large language models crave. Underwood recommended embedding thousands of micro-attributes behind the scenes so AI can deliver nuanced answers without cluttering the consumer interface. Keeping that data fresh is a pain point, especially for franchised hotels, but LLMs could help by pre-populating facts for owners to verify.

Look-to-book ratios may spike as compute costs fall and agents sample more itineraries, putting pressure on caching and pricing accuracy. Verified digital identity will be critical to filter fake reviews, which LLMs draw on heavily. Still, the panel struck an optimistic tone: smarter matching will lift average rates and guest satisfaction, benefiting the entire ecosystem.

Within five to ten years, Keller envisions travelers spending far less time grinding through endless searches, while Underwood foresees guests booking “quiet rooms” specified by measurable decibel thresholds. White urged brands to partner with trustworthy connectors now, because first impressions in the agentic era will determine long-term loyalty. The consensus: AI agents will rewrite distribution, and those who master data quality and consumer confidence will thrive.

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Industry Leaders Debate AI Agents’ Disruption in Travel

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