The trust gap: why Australian travellers are shunning AI trip planning

Useful for inspiration but unhelpful beyond that, data shows.

Australians appear happy to use AI for ideas while leaving the final booking decisions to more traditional channels. Picture by Unsplash/Karina Syrotiuk

By Carla Mascarenhas

Updated May 12, 2026, first published April 28, 2026

Australians are using artificial intelligence as a planning assistant rather than a booking agent, preferring to stick to largely traditional methods when organising holidays, new data shows.

Despite AI becoming more common across the travel industry, many Australians remain cautious about trusting the technology with expensive and complex travel decisions.

Dr Garth Lean, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Heritage Studies at the University of Western Sydney, told Explore the hesitation likely reflected wider concerns about AI's reliability.

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"AI is very good at producing fluent, confident answers, but that doesn't always mean the information is current, accurate or well matched to the traveller," he said.

"That matters because small errors can have big consequences, whether around visa issues, booking conditions, transfer times, opening hours, safety, or how easy it really is to get around a place."

His comments come after the latest Europ Assistance Holiday Barometer found just 12 per cent of Australians have used AI tools to help plan or book a holiday, compared with 22 per cent of Americans and 16 per cent of Europeans.

Australians also remain more cautious about future use, with only 19 per cent saying they expect to use AI for travel planning compared with 25 per cent of Americans and 21 per cent of Europeans.

David Mayo, Commercial and Marketing Director at Insure&Go, said Australians appeared to be taking a more conservative approach to the technology.

"Aussies have always been enthusiastic travellers, but there seems to be a lower trust in AI when it comes to research and planning travel," he said.

Among Australians already using AI for travel, the technology is being used mainly for inspiration and trip planning rather than bookings.

Accommodation recommendations were the most common use, followed by destination advice, activity research, itinerary planning and comparing booking platforms.

WSU's Dr Lean said that made sense given where AI performs best.

"AI can be very useful for inspiration and early-stage planning," he said.

"If you feed in the right parameters, such as time of year, budget and travel style, it can be very good at suggesting destinations, structuring itineraries and comparing broad options."

But he warned travellers should still fact-check key details, noting AI can provide outdated or inaccurate information and often recommends familiar destinations over more nuanced suggestions.

Separate data cited in the report found 79 per cent of Australian destination marketing organisations and 71 per cent of travel operators have already adopted AI tools.

Dr Lean said traveller uptake was likely to grow as younger generations become more comfortable with the technology and AI becomes more embedded in booking platforms and travel apps.

Words byCarla Mascarenhas

Carla Mascarenhas is a journalist with Explore Travel and The Senior. She specialises in deep issues affecting Gen X and beyond, and the latest in travel news. Contact her on carla.mascarenhas@austcommunitymedia.com.au