Skift Take
True, as the head of ASTA says, some people will always prefer to use a travel advisor over an online travel website. But in the big picture, how will AI skew the trend?
There has been a resurgence in the use of travel agents since the pandemic – and even before – especially for luxury trips.
One survey of U.S. travelers in 2023 found that 38% of millennials and Gen Zers said they prefer traditional travel agents to sort out their trips. There are reports of High Street travel agents in the UK opening new physical storefronts, as are several travel agencies in Singapore, for example.
But Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel thinks that growth will fade fast and that AI will accelerate a decline in traditional travel agents.
“But the truth is the human travel agent has been a declining population for a very long time," Fogel said on the Decoder podcast that came out Monday. "And, I’ll tell you, the things we are working on right now in AI and things of that nature, I suspect it’s going to continue to decline."
Fogel, of course, has skin in the game. His company competes with offline travel agents, and several Booking Holdings brands, including, Priceline, Booking.com, and Kayak have launched a variety of generative AI products, including trip-planners.
All of these virtual agents, regardless of the company, have significant flaws, but these are early days.
Fogel said the position of traditional travel agents will continue to be reduced "as we create the virtual travel ag