Experts debate GenAI’s impact on the in-destination experience
- Published:
- April 2025
- Analyst:
- Phocuswright Research
As generative AI technologies continue their rapid advancement, the travel industry stands at the edge of a transformation—one that challenges not only the tools we use, but the very meaning of travel itself. Recent capabilities of GenAI models have significant implications for the in-destination experience, and specifically advanced computer vision capabilities that allow travelers to understand surroundings and context, along with advanced real-time voice capabilities that enable very natural conversations. Together these stand to revolutionize how travelers, tour neighborhoods, and sites of interest, get recommendations and interact with locals.
In the second installment of Phocuswright’s New Agents Trend Series, moderator Mike Coletta, senior manager, research and innovation at Phocuswright, guided a provocative discussion on how AI and autonomous agents are poised to reshape the in-destination experience. Watch it below or on Phocuswright’s YouTube Channel. The session brought together a dynamic panel:
- Janette Roush, SVP Innovation and Chief AI Officer at Brand USA
- Alex Bainbridge, CEO of Autoura
- Mitch Bach, Partner at Tourpreneur and CEO of TripSchool
Their distinct views painted a complex picture of what’s coming next—for travelers, tour operators, and the soul of the journey itself.
In a Phocuswright research study called Travelers and Tech 2024: GenAI, VR and More, we asked U.S. travelers about some futuristic travel concepts. And we asked specifically about the concept of an AI Tour guide that can recognize your location and your surroundings through the camera and use audio to tell you about what you're seeing and answer your questions and talk to you like a human tour guide might. There's not a lot of high interest yet with 33% of travelers being either extremely or very interested.
But there's also not much total disinterest, with only 19% being not at all interested.
For the many travelers embracing AI tools, how will the in-destination experience be transformed in the next few years?
Speakers:
Mike Coletta, Senior Manager, Research & Innovation, Phocuswright
“To me the main question is, just how compelling will it actually be to use AI in destination as a guide… and on what timeline?”
– Mike Coletta, setting the stage for exploring adoption and relevance of AI in travel
Janette Roush, SVP, Innovation and Chief AI Officer, Brand USA
“I see the future very much going towards… I have a personal AI assistant on my phone… and then it’s going to provide the same nudging that I get now through Google Maps… it’s going to be more intuitive and easier to do.”
– Janette Roush, on the seamless integration of AI into existing traveler behaviors
Alex Bainbridge, CEO, Autoura
“The only way we can really go forward is to augment human tour guides with some AI, so that the human tour guide becomes a stronger tour guide.”
– Alex Bainbridge, on collaboration over replacement
Mitch Bach, Partner, Tourpreneur Travel Community and Co-Founder & CEO, TripSchool
“What is the point of travel? Are we trying to make it easy and frictionless? Or are we trying to make ourselves better humans… There needs to be friction.”
– Mitch Bach, challenging the philosophical implications of AI in leisure
Because GenAI advancements are moving so fast, this year we’ve decided to double down on something else we do well – bringing together the industry’s brightest minds for in-depth, timely discussions on the most important trends.
So, rather than publishing reports on our trend topics, we’re hosting this series of public online deep dives. The events will be long-form, in-depth, candid discussions and debates that aim to bring definitive perspective and surface must-know information for each topic. The most important takeaways from each event will be carefully curated and shared afterward.
Registration to the online event series gives you access to all of the online events. Dates are subject to change.
The New Age(nts) Trend Series Part 3: Impact on Travel Distribution
May 22, 2025 - 11 AM ET
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