Nearly a third (31%) of UK travellers have booked a hotel recommended by AI, according to new research commissioned by Aven Hospitality, though most still prefer to complete the booking themselves.
Younger travellers lead the shift
The survey of 1,000 UK adults who stayed in a hotel in the past year found half of Gen Z respondents and 41% of millennials had booked an AI-recommended hotel, against 24% of Gen X and just 7% of baby boomers. Among those who had booked via AI, 71% said they would keep using it to find hotels but complete the booking themselves, while 29% were happy to let AI handle both.
Search still leads, but AI is catching up
Search engines remain the most common route to hotel discovery, used by 46% of respondents, ahead of Tripadvisor (42%) and online travel agencies (40%). But two-thirds have used AI to search for travel options, and almost half do so frequently – in line with a separate NYU SPS/BCG study published in March, which found 37% of travellers already use AI embedded in booking sites to plan and book trips.
Where trust runs out
Trust narrows sharply at the booking stage: 97% of those who booked an AI-recommended hotel rated the recommendation as accurate, yet just 12% said they would trust an AI agent to handle the booking itself, against 23% who trusted it for finding budget options and 21% for researching properties.
Friction and inaccuracy still cost bookings
Nearly a fifth (19%) of UK travellers have abandoned a booking and gone elsewhere because the process was too complicated, with inflexible payment options (18%) and slow websites (17%) also cited. Inaccurate listings compound the problem – 13% had booked for an amenity that turned out unavailable, and 12% booked a property that was misrepresented.
Noreen Henry, chief revenue officer at Aven Hospitality, the hotel technology business rebranded this year after spinning out of Sabre Corporation, said: “AI is changing how travellers find hotels, but discovery is only part of the journey. Hoteliers need to ensure their properties are accurately represented wherever guests search, while making it easy to turn interest into a confirmed booking.”