Are You Sure About That

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Monday, October 26, 2026

AI is 6% of travel bookings

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Nov 11

NYC

AI is 6% of travel bookings

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Skift Research published something that cuts against most of what gets said about AI and travel booking, and we thought you’d want the number directly.

Across the booking journey, AI now shows up in 21% of inspiration-stage touchpoints and 29% after booking — but only 6% at the moment of booking itself. Booking Holdings says fewer than 1% of its room nights come from AI channels; Bernstein puts Marriott around 1.6%.

The short version: AI is rewiring discovery, not the transaction. At least not yet. Which flips the usual question. The fight isn’t “will an agent take the booking.” It’s who owns the customer once AI controls the discovery layer in front of it.

That’s the question Commerce Summit is built around, Nov 11 in NYC. Seth Borko opens with the full research. Tyler Morse (MCR Hotels) takes on who owns the hotel customer. Adam Schwab (Luxury Escapes) and Doria Holbrook (Hertz’s Oro Mobility) get into where operators invest next. Citi’s Abhinav Anand asks who captures payments and loyalty revenue when AI agents complete the transaction. And in the closing scorecard, Hitit CEO Nevra Onursal Karaagac takes a side while the room votes on going direct versus working with partners.

Not a brand deck. The people actually placing these bets.

If that 6% number changes how you’re thinking about where to put distribution and payments money, this is the room for it.