Consumers say they trust generative AI to plan travel more than they trust the technology to assist with other common tasks. This finding comes from a survey of more than 1,000 consumers by travel publisher Matador Network, which operates the GuideGeek AI platform for travel.

When asked to rank how much they trust AI to assist with a variety of tasks, on a scale of 1 (no trust) to 5 (complete trust), survey respondents ranked travel planning above every other application of AI on the survey. More than a third (36%) said they have complete trust (5) or near-complete trust (4) in AI to help plan travel. The list of tasks included shopping, work, and other common applications of artificial intelligence.

How much do travel consumers trust AI?

Percentage of respondents who said they have a high level of trust in AI for the following uses:

• 36.0% - Travel: Provide good travel recommendations and itineraries
• 33.6% - Shopping: Give helpful shopping tips
• 33.2% - Information: Accurately explain things you don't understand
• 18.8% - Work: Write documents and content for your job
• 16.9% - Health: Advise on medical or health issues
• 15.9% - Advice: Help solve problems in your life

"Since we first launched GuideGeek three years ago, I've viewed travel as one of the most effective ways to use AI, and also one of the most fun and lowest stakes," says Matador Network CEO Ross Borden. "It makes sense that people trust AI with travel planning more than just about anything else. With just a little high-level info about who you are and what you care about, AI can cut through 95% of the noise in the travel planning process."

Since launching in 2023, GuideGeek rapidly scaled to over 1 million users for its free travel AI tool. Travelers can message the AI on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook Messenger for instant, customized itineraries and travel recommendations drawing on GuideGeek's more than 1,000 integrations for travel data.

"It gave me ideas on where we could go, which was helpful since my son is autistic," says Morna Brown from Orlando, Florida, of her recent trip to Honolulu. "It suggested several places we could go and activities he might enjoy. It even created an itinerary based on the activities we booked and places we could see nearby. It was by far the best trip I've been on in awhile. It was my son's best trip ever."

Increasing accuracy and opportunities for travel brands

Within a year of launching, GuideGeek improved the accuracy of its responses to better than 98%. As a result, many of the world's leading destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and other travel brands have collaborated with GuideGeek on custom AI tools such as NYC Tourism + Conventions, Tourism New Zealand and the Aruba Tourism Authority.

"When GuideGeek first started partnering with DMOs, AI was new and a lot of people were encountering it for the first time," says Matador Network Director of AI Advocacy Greg Oates. "AI has become a routine part of a lot of people's lives in many different ways. Given that the levels of trust in AI among travel consumers are so high, there's a real opportunity for travel brands to focus on new AI integrations and conversions to better serve their business objectives."