LEBANON (New Hampshire) – According to the Global Rescue Winter Sentiment Survey and Traveler Safety Survey 2026Most travelers believe that artificial intelligence will play a very limited role in the travel planning process in 2026. Human judgment, experience and independent verification are still dominant factors in decision making.
In 2026, 36% of travelers expect to use AI to plan their travels, either to narrow down options or to make decisions for them. A clear majority of travelers remained cautious. 36 percent stated that they wouldn’t use AI at all for travel planning, and 25 percent indicated they were going to rely primarily on human suggestions.
Dan Richards is the chief executive of The Global Rescue Companies and a US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board member at the U.S.
Department of Commerce. AI is seen as an assistant and not a trustworthy authority.
This is especially true when it comes to safety, costs, or risk.
Further Findings
The gender differences highlight varying degrees of comfort when it comes to AI. Women were less likely to adopt AI to help them make decisions. Men, on the other hand, are more inclined to do so. Men were slightly more likely to use AI in travel planning than women, who said they wouldn’t. Women are also more inclined to use human recommendation (26%) compared with men’s 23%).
The geographic differences in the way travelers use AI, rather than their levels of resistance to it, showed different patterns. Both U.S. citizens and non-U.S.
residents were equally likely not to use AI in travel planning. 37 percent of both groups said they wouldn’t. Non-U.S. responders, however, showed a greater preference for human advice, with 31% relying on it more than 22 percent of U.S. travellers. U.S. travellers were more likely to use AI for decision support, as 24 percent said that AI could help them narrow down their options before making a final decision.
This is more than twice the 11 percent reported by non US travelers.
AI began to suggest destinations that travelers hadn’t considered. In total, 41% of respondents indicated that they were unlikely to visit a destination suggested by AI. A further 30 percent indicated that they were somewhat likely to travel, depending on safety and cost considerations. Meanwhile, 20 percent stated they would only consider a destination recommended by AI after an independent check. Only 1 percent of respondents said that they are very likely to believe the AI recommendation.
Richards stated that trust and verification were essential.
Richards said that AI may be able to introduce travellers to new ideas but rarely completes the sale without human verification.
Different levels of caution
Men and women expressed similar levels of skepticism, but the level of female skepticism was slightly higher. 43 percent said they were unlikely to accept an AI recommendation for a destination, while only 39 percent did so. Women were less willing to verify AI recommendations independently. Only 18% of respondents said they would.
U.S. travellers and non-U.S. visitors showed similar levels caution. 42 percent of U.S.
and 43 percent of non-U.S. travellers said that they were unlikely to visit a destination recommended by AI. U.S.
travellers were more inclined to verify the recommendations independently, whereas non-U.S. tourists tended to consider cost and safety before making a decision.
Richards stated that “AI may influence the way travelers find destinations but will never replace human judgement.” For travelers who are focused on safety, resilience and technology, the technology should support, not replace, informed decisions.
