AI / MACHINE LEARNING

Globant / TOURISE report. Tourism’s AI Takeover: How Agentic Systems Are Redefining the Future of Travel

The report reveals how “Agentic Tourism” — a new AI-driven model combining automation with human empathy — is transforming global travel into seamless, personalized, and sustainable experiences that boost loyalty, efficiency, and growth.

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The global tourism industry stands on the brink of transformation. According to the Tourism’s AI Takeover report, a collaboration between Globant and TOURISE, artificial intelligence is not merely optimizing travel — it’s redefining how journeys are imagined, orchestrated, and experienced. With AI in tourism projected to grow from USD 3.37 billion in 2024 to USD 13.86 billion by 2030, the industry is entering what the report calls the “Agentic Era”: a new operating model that blends automation with human empathy to create intelligent, personalized, and regenerative travel experiences.

1. From Static Itineraries to Dynamic Journeys

Traditional tourism, built on fixed packages and reactive service, is giving way to adaptive, intelligent orchestration.

• Over 67% of travelers already use AI to research destinations, and 56% rely on it to plan activities.

• Corporate adoption is even higher, with 90% of organizations using AI in travel management.

Agentic systems — powered by real-time data and predictive intelligence — move beyond one-size-fits-all planning to create journeys that evolve dynamically based on traveler preferences, sustainability choices, and contextual factors like weather or crowd levels.

The result is a shift from “one-stop shop” to “no-stop shop” — where travel flows seamlessly, and every moment feels intuitively orchestrated.

2. The Rise of Agentic Tourism

At the core of this transformation is the Agentic Tourism framework, which introduces five interoperable AI agent archetypes designed to work together across the traveler journey:

1. Experience Maximizer – Delivers hyper-personalization, adjusting itineraries in real time to boost loyalty and NPS.

2. Operations Optimizer – Automates resource allocation, reduces wait times, and improves efficiency behind the scenes.

3. Regeneration Guardian – Embeds sustainability by nudging guests toward eco-friendly and community-positive choices.

4. Wellness Agent – Monitors traveler health and wellbeing, using environmental and wearable data to offer timely advice.

5. Opportunity Connector – Transforms trips into platforms for collaboration, linking business travelers with local opportunities.

Together, these agents represent a holistic reinvention of the travel experience, where automation removes friction so humans can amplify connection, emotion, and trust.

3. Human-Centric Governance and Trust

The report emphasizes that successful AI adoption depends not just on capability, but on trust and transparency.
Through the “Trust Ladder” and “Delegation Contract” models, travelers can choose how much autonomy to delegate to AI — from basic recommendations to full automation of routine decisions.

This phased, explainable approach builds user confidence while maintaining human oversight. In essence, AI doesn’t replace travel professionals — it augments them, allowing staff to focus on empathy and high-value interactions.

4. Quantifying the Agentic Advantage

AI must prove its worth in measurable terms. The report proposes a new Agentic Scorecard that tracks five domains of performance — mirroring the five agent archetypes:

• Experience: Conversion, satisfaction, and loyalty (NPS)

• Efficiency: Queue time, throughput, and labor optimization

• Sustainability: CO₂ saved per itinerary, local vendor spend share

• Wellbeing: Health alerts acknowledged, incident reduction

• Opportunity: Business connections and economic impact

This “live dashboard of value creation” allows organizations to directly link AI-driven actions to tangible business results — proving that frictionless travel drives both satisfaction and revenue.

5. Building the Agentic Tourism Coalition

A central call to action in the report is the formation of an Agentic Tourism Coalition (ATC) — a global alliance of airlines, hotels, DMOs, OTAs, regulators, and tech companies.
Its mission: to develop an open Agent Travel Protocol (ATP) that allows all AI agents to communicate securely and interoperably.

Without such collaboration, the report warns, tourism risks fragmenting into “walled agents” — closed ecosystems controlled by a few major players. Open protocols ensure innovation, fairness, and traveler choice across borders.

6. A Human-Centered Future

While technology enables scalability, humans remain the heart of the experience. The report calls for widespread upskilling to create new roles such as “Travel Counselors” and “Crisis Managers,” who leverage AI insights to deliver personal, high-impact service.

By automating logistics, frontline staff are freed to create moments of delight — transforming travel from a transaction into a relationship.

7. The Road Ahead

The transformation roadmap spans 24 to 36 months, with four key phases:

1. Foundations: Strategy, data governance, and success metrics.

2. Pilots: Quick wins and early prototypes of Agentic Tourism systems.

3. Scale: Broader rollout across operators and destinations.

4. Ecosystem: Full adoption of open protocols and policy frameworks.

This phased approach ensures that the shift to AI-driven tourism remains responsible, measurable, and human-first.

Key Takeaways

• AI is now central to tourism’s competitiveness, growing 4x by 2030.

• Agentic Tourism merges automation and empathy to deliver adaptive, seamless journeys.

• Five AI agent archetypes redefine operations, personalization, sustainability, wellbeing, and opportunity.

• Human governance and explainable AI are essential to build trust.

• Open collaboration — not closed ecosystems — will determine who wins in the AI-powered travel era.

• The ultimate goal: travel that is intelligent, human, and regenerative — where technology amplifies the magic of discovery.

Source: Globant / TOURISE