Travel’s AI dilemma at Skift Global Forum

Travel industry leaders at the Skift Global Forum described AI as both a threat to established travel discovery and booking channels and a tool for improving personalization, service, productivity, and revenue. Companies such as Airbnb and Expedia are moving away from single end-to-end travel agents toward specialized tools for tasks such as research, booking changes, and trip add-ons, while balancing partnerships with external AI platforms against control of their customer relationships. The growth of agents that can book on travelers’ behalf is also forcing businesses to adapt fraud prevention, bot controls, payment authorization, and checkout systems so legitimate automated purchases are not blocked. Although many travelers use AI to research options, relatively few are comfortable booking through it, leaving brands to differentiate through trust, loyalty programs, hospitality, and services that AI cannot easily replicate. Companies are increasingly using AI after checkout to reduce cancellations and buyer’s remorse, support changes and rebookings, and connect flights, lodging, cars, and activities into a more integrated trip, while Stripe promotes payment, fraud-management, and business-discovery tools designed for agentic commerce.

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