Artificial intelligence is good for travel, according to the discussion that concluded the Technology Summit at this year’s WTM London
Artificial intelligence seems to be gaining ground in global tourism, as at this year’s Technology Summit at WTM London the audience clearly supported the view that AI is a positive force for travel.
The relevant “showdown” took place through a lively debate between two groups of experts, on the topic “Is AI the enemy or the ally of travel?”.
The “skeptics” group was led by Stephen Joyce from the Protect Group, while the AI ??supporters were led by Christian Watts from Magpie Travel.
The reservations about artificial intelligence focused mainly on the accuracy and reliability of the systems. As Joyce noted, AI-driven travel “takes away the magical human messiness of being in a new place.”
On the other hand, proponents pointed out that travelers are already using AI tools, despite the mistakes they’ve made. AI, they said, frees up time and human resources from administrative tasks, suggests alternative destinations, and improves the traveler’s experience on the ground.
The final “show of hands” vote left no doubt: the audience saw AI clearly in a positive light. As Watts quipped, “it was a tough day for humans,” but he added that the vote likely reflects less the present than where technology is headed in the future.
AI in Action: From Trip.com to easyJet
Artificial intelligence was a recurring theme in nearly every session of the conference.
James Spalding from Trip.com said the platform has a global AI customer support strategy, tailored to each market. The system has the autonomy to answer simple questions, but also the “intelligence” to recognize when an issue is complex and requires human intervention.
Qais Amori from Almosafer presented the potential of AI in fraud detection, noting that “fraudsters themselves are now using AI.”
Melissa Skluzacek from easyJet said the company is leveraging AI across all commercial and operational functions, describing it as “an extra pair of hands.”
Sally Bunnell from NaviSavi spoke about using AI to curate and categorize user-generated content so that it can be commercially exploited by brands, while also integrating direct booking capabilities.
Positive messages for tourism growth
The Summit was opened by Dave Goodger from Tourism Economics, presenting data from the WTM Global Trends Report 2025. According to this, three in ten travelers believe that AI will increase their average spend.
As he noted, the overall growth profile of tourism remains positive, creating opportunities for artificial intelligence to have an even greater positive impact on travelers and businesses.
An example of this growth was given by Pablo G?mez Fernandez-Quintanilla, CEO of Holafly, an official Technology Partner of WTM London. Increasing international mobility, the need for constant connectivity and the rise of hybrid work are, as he said, leading to strong demand for solutions such as global eSIMs.
New challenges: “look-to-book ratios” and personalization
Filip Filipov from OAG highlighted a significant challenge for the future: look-to-book ratios in online bookings.
Today, OTAs receive one booking for every thousand impressions. With large language models (LLMs), this ratio could reach 60,000:1, and with the spread of agentic AI, it could even jump to 1,000,000:1.
At the same time, personalization was a central trend in the discussions, with many speakers emphasizing the difference between personalization and contextualization — that is, the importance of a company knowing not only who is traveling, but also why.
“Change is inevitable, the intention is positive”
Closing the conference, Timothy O’Neil Dunne, technology advisor at WTM London and head of T2Impact, noted that tourism faces both geopolitical and technological challenges.
“The industry has a lot on its plate – war, disease, political turmoil – while at the same time genetic AI is changing the way we search for, plan and experience travel,” he said.
The main takeaway, he said, is that while change is inevitable and often disruptive, the travel tech sector remains committed to making travel better for people.
