- Millennials and Gen Z are at the forefront of AI-powered travel, with a +183% growth in usage in just one year.
- Survey reveals a clear desire from UK consumers for AI to anticipate travel needs, streamline booking, and eliminate frustrations like generic suggestions and wasted time.
- Responding to this demand, Europe's largest AI-powered platform, eDreams ODIGEO, applies its proprietary AI with 6 billion daily predictions and 3.8 billion itineraries, delivering hyper-personalised travel.
UK holidaymakers are rapidly embracing Artificial Intelligence for travel, with a +61%1 increase in usage of AI-powered platforms compared to last year, according to new market research. This surge, identified in a study by eDreams ODIGEO, the world's leading travel subscription company and a pioneer in AI-powered travel solutions, points to a profound shift in consumer behavior and expectations towards hyper-personalised experiences.
The findings come from a study of 9,000 global consumers aged over 18, including 2,000 respondents from the UK, and coincide with the UK government's recent announcement of significant investments in AI skills development. This timely context highlights the nation's broader drive to embed AI across sectors, providing further validation for the rapid rise in AI adoption among everyday consumers.
Generational Shifts: Younger consumers lead AI adoption
The data indicates that younger generations (aged 18-34) are leading the rapid adoption of AI in travel. This leadership is underscored by a +183% growth in AI usage for travel within this younger demographic in just one year, significantly outpacing the overall UK growth rate.
While younger generations lead, this rapid adoption is also extending across all age groups. The research reveals significant emerging interest among older demographics, with 48% of UK consumers aged over 55 reporting they have used AI for travel for the first time over the past 12 months. This widespread embrace by consumers of all ages underscores AI's swiftly growing role as an indispensable tool for travellers.
How UK consumers look to AI to help streamline their travel experience
The research reveals a significant consumer appetite for smart personalisation, where AI-powered platforms anticipate travel needs by making billions of daily predictions, effectively understanding each user's preferred choices. This reduction in effort and time investment for consumers is driving a significant demand for AI-powered booking processes.
In fact, UK consumers reported their biggest frustrations with traditional or less-advanced booking methods as a lack of personalisation (44% overall; 52% of 25-34 year olds), such as repeatedly entering preferences. This was closely followed by wasting time filtering irrelevant travel options (37% overall; 43% of 25-34 year olds) and receiving generic suggestions that don't match their needs (32% overall; 37% of 25-34 year olds).
These reported consumer frustrations have created a clear mandate for the travel industry. Companies that have made significant investments in developing their own proprietary AI technology are proving best equipped to respond effectively, fundamentally transforming the consumer experience by leveraging deep data insights. For example, platforms such as eDreams and Opodo exemplify this capability. Their sophisticated AI systems are engineered to process over 100 million daily searches to generate 6 billion predictions per day. This predictive capability allows for the precise anticipation of individual customer needs, automatically filtering out irrelevant options and ensuring highly personalised results that resonate deeply with user preferences-directly addressing some of the most frustrating aspects of travel highlighted by the market research.
When asked how they would most like AI to assist with planning travel, UK travellers chose finding the best value flights (40% overall; 55% 25-34 year olds), identifying suitable accommodation (29% overall; 46% of 25-34 year olds), and discovering new destinations (28% overall; 45% of 25-34 year olds) as their top priorities. When asked what areas they used technology for decision-making, most millennials (56%) cited travel planning, beating coordinating group plans (44%) and choosing what to read, watch, or listen to (40%).
Across all age groups, the study reveals that planning and booking trips tops the list of areas where consumers leverage technology for decision-making. With 42% of all respondents identifying technology as most useful for sourcing flights, finding deals, and recommending destinations, travel significantly outranks other common uses like choosing entertainment (31%) or coordinating group activities (28%). This widespread preference for tech assistance in travel underscores the industry's unique position at the forefront of AI adoption.
Commenting on the new data, Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO, said: "This new research confirms the market has shifted: AI-powered travel is the new norm, and we are at the forefront of this transformation. We anticipated this evolution over a decade ago, building an AI-first business that is now uniquely positioned to meet the expectations of today's travellers, particularly the younger generations driving this trend. Our proprietary AI, making over six billion daily predictions, allows us to deliver the hyper-personalised and seamless experience that consumers are so clearly craving, and our technology will be there to support them wherever they go. We are proud to be leading this new era in travel by delivering precisely what the modern traveller demands."
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1 61% increase from comparing the results of the previous edition of this study back in 2024
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250925766611/en/
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