I know how this is immediately going to come across: a travel blogger who creates content for travelers talking about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) being used by my audience to plan their trips. Do they need me anymore? You think you know how this story is going to end.
I am here to tackle the issue as it stands right now – end of 2026. (This is all going to change in another 6 months, 1 year, 10 years, as the AI landscape continues to evolve.) Plus, one of my goals at the beginning of the year was to grow this website. (HA!) Now that the year is almost done, I’ve been taking some time to reflect on my goals.
I have used and still use AI to help with my travel planning, even as a devotee of travel blogs and websites. After trying Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT, my platform of choice is ChatGPT.
I have also been in content creation and communications for decades. I have seen so many shifts, trends, and new things come and go (remember when Substack was going to bring equity back to the Internet, and Bluesky was going to suffocate Twitter/X?).
I have spent years trying to manipulate Google SEO even though the formula is secret. (If you want to fully understand how ridiculous that relationship is and how we got to where we are now, I encourage you to check out this post.) I have seen basically everything become a pay-to-play model. So I have fears and thoughts about how the AI boom will evolve.
For the record: I am not even going to start on the issue of AI literally stealing content like mine. (I get emails regularly from firms and lawyers asking if I want to join a class action lawsuit, if you want a behind-the-scenes peek.) This post here by A Dangerous Business travel blog does a great job explaining that. I assume it’s basic knowledge that sites like mine don’t get a dime if AI uses my information to create their recommendations. But I can’t fix that here.
I am not scared of AI or the future. But I do see some warning signs. I also see some incredible opportunities when it comes to using AI to plan travel.
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How to Use AI Tools To Do Your Travel Planning
I am not a heathen or a luddite. I am a Gen Xer who has navigated massive amounts of technological change. I am not going to pretend we’re just putting the genie back in the bottle and going back to “how it was.” (Which, what are we even talking about there? Paper maps and Fodor’s guidebooks from Borders?)
So here’s what I’ve learned on how to use AI well if you want to use it to plan travel:
Understand how AI works. It wants to provide you with information, so it will never admit to not knowing or having all the answers. It also prioritizes information based on algorithms and SEO – the more popular something is, the more likely your AI bot is to suggest it. But it doesn’t actually evaluate the information critically. It provides a broad overview of what the Internet recommends overall.
Be incredibly specific with your prompt. If you feel comfortable, you can log in each time you interact so that your AI bot gets to “know” you (your kids’ ages, what activities you like, etc.). But that is spooky, too.
Click on the source links that AI gives you. Make sure the information they are feeding you is, first of all, real, and second of all, from a source you like. Many times I have clicked a source link that AI used to recommend a hotel, for example, and it was the hotel’s own blog post suggesting their hotel, which simply had really good SEO.
Make sure it passes the sniff test. For example, if you are looking at an itinerary that tells you a waterpark in Kentucky would be a great stop during your December road trip, take a pause.
Fact-check it all! Even when you think you’ve got it all set, Google the places, exhibits, museums, tickets, shows, flight tickets, and hotels. Make your bookings outside of AI at the source.
I will admit, I have not found any AI bot better, more efficient, or particularly helpful when it comes to pricing airfare. It still takes some poking around to find a good flight deal on the right platform. (AI has flat-out made up flight routes that don’t exist.)
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The Pros of Using AI for Travel Planning
AI is great at more open-ended questions, such as, “Where are some places I should go for fall break with two dogs?” If you don’t know where to start, instead of doing a Google search and clicking ten independent links, AI can summarize those easily. I know that’s the opposite of what I just said about “be specific,” but if you are beginning to plan, asking AI what other people have done and what’s recommended by many is good information to consider.
It is fantastic at summarizing what content already exists. If you just want to start with some broad strokes, such as, “What are the top places to see in Switzerland?” AI is great. AI is also useful for tackling the next question: “How close are those places to each other?” If you are just looking for facts and information and not a stylized itinerary this is a great tool.
AI can give you a great starting point by being a strong filter. If you are overwhelmed by where to start, it can save heaps of time and mental load.
It organizes the information well. I find the documents, styling, and information AI sends back to me very well organized and arranged. It helps me process and know what to ask next.
The Problems with Using AI for Travel Planning
It recommends the same things over and over again. If you wanted to find a hidden gem or read insider’s tips, this isn’t the tool. I fear this will lead to even more hyper-tourism and super-populated places. AI is a reflection of popularity, not of quality.
AI doesn’t know when it has landed on garbage. It also doesn’t know when it’s scouring and suggesting AI-generated content that isn’t real (which is becoming more frequent these days).
You don’t get great insider’s tips. If you actually want to know how to navigate a place and what to look for to maximize the experience, AI is not the right tool – it’s never “been there, done that.” And as a summary and synthesis tool, it doesn’t go deep.
It’s not always good! I am not talking about hallucinations. I am referring to what it actually recommends and the itineraries it proposes. It doesn’t know when I want a rest day, or how much is too much in one day. I have had some pretty crazy itineraries made for me by ChatGPT, even with significant training and good prompts.
It doesn’t always read hours, closing times, special ticket considerations, or real-time information. (Although most AI tools will prompt you to go look.)
Remember that in some way, someone is making money off of your AI hit. I truly believe (again, informed by doing content creation and being in the Internet space for close to 20 years now) that we are moments away from all of these AI agents and platforms being monetized in ways we don’t like. (I can see being pushed a restaurant or bar because they paid for the placement.) Our attention is the product on sale. Small bloggers like me work earnestly and get cents on the views… AI is a business/company, and who knows how much they get. Food for thought.
It’s not a personal recommendation from someone who has heard what you are looking for and can reply with emotional intelligence. My AI bot is incredibly chipper and doesn’t give me the potential pitfalls and warnings with a travel itinerary or place.
There is an “inspiration gap,” I’ve seen said. The AI bot can give you the itinerary, tell you why you may want to go, but you aren’t going to accidentally discover, click on, or get inspired by another piece of content you didn’t even know existed because the blogger or writer shared it.
Another “for the record” moment: I am not going to get into the environmental impact of AI here. That conversation could go a thousand ways, and this article is already REALLY LONG.
How AI Has Affected Travel Blogs
I think it’s no secret or at all unpredictable that travel blogs are being hurt by the AI craze. But it seems like things are on the upswing again.
As the fascination with the ability of AI to do so many amazing things (to save us time and make life more efficient) grows, we’re also learning its limitations.
Here’s my biggest takeaway, warning, and fear: AI for travel planning only works if it keeps being fed content. If travel bloggers and travel writers stop, AI doesn’t get fresh information. If no one goes and sees the places and then comes home to write about it, information becomes old, stale, and boring. So how is this all going to work if travel bloggers and writers are demotivated to provide the content given the current business relationship?
Things You Can Do Now
Use your AI travel tool. Absolutely! I am not here to tell you not to use a tool; just be cautious, curious, and don’t make it the ending.
Bookmark and subscribe to email lists of your favorite and most reliable travel bloggers. (You all have seen me reference Earth Trekkers, for example, many times.)
Go buy travel books, or get them from the library. Use real information real people created from their experiences.
Final Thoughts
So what does that mean for the future? Travel bloggers are shuttering and scaling back because they can no longer make money (and these websites require a significant amount of time and investment to run). Pinterest is losing followers as AI-slop dominates. We have fewer Instagram creators who dominate the algorithm and pretty much share either the same places as each other (i.e., the cheesecake in Istanbul phenomenon) or the places that paid them.
So, where to from here? Where do we want to go? What’s next in our travel planning information landscape?
I imagine an AI bot somewhere has an itinerary and plan for us.