Agoda: Indian travellers plan trips with AI

Travel planning is starting to look less like browsing and more like prompting. That is the real story here. Agoda says Indian travelers are not just dabbling with AI for fun destination ideas anymore — they are using it across the whole trip-planning chain, from where to go to where to eat. The shift matters because it changes who gets discovered, when decisions get made, and how much of a trip is locked in before someone even leaves home. ### What actually changed? Agoda said on May 8 that 68% of Indian travelers are likely to use AI for their next trip. That is the headline number. The more important detail is that this is no longer framed as a niche behavior — Agoda says Indian travelers want AI help from destination discovery through dining recommendations. ### Is this just future intent? Not entirely. Agoda says one in three Indian travelers — 33% — already use AI for travel planning. So this is not a pure “maybe someday” survey result. It looks more like an early behavior that is getting normalized fast, with the next-trip number suggesting the mainstreaming phase is coming next. (agoda.com) ### What are people asking AI to do? The requests are pretty practical. Agoda’s report says Indian travelers are using AI for recommendations on local attractions and activities, personalized itineraries, and dining suggestions. That last part is easy to miss, but it is a big clue — AI is moving from broad inspiration into on-the-ground consumption choices. (agoda.com) ### Why does dining matter so much? Because restaurant discovery used to be one of the last parts of travel that stayed loose. You booked the flight and hotel, then figured out food later by wandering around, checking maps, or asking locals. If AI gets inserted there, more meals get chosen upstream. Basically, the same system that helps pick a neighborhood can now also steer travelers to a specific restaurant, market, or cuisine before the trip starts. (socialsamosa.com) ### Are travelers comfortable trusting AI? More than you might expect. Agoda says 88% of Indian travelers either trust AI-generated travel recommendations or feel neutral about them, and 53% express clear trust. That does not mean travelers will blindly follow every suggestion. But it does mean AI has cleared the biggest hurdle — people are willing to treat it as a usable planning layer rather than a gimmick. (agoda.com) ### Why is India moving this way? Part of the answer is that Indian travelers were already digitally comfortable. Agoda has tied this year’s AI findings to its earlier travel-trends work showing heavy use of travel apps in India. The company has also been building consumer-facing AI tools in the market, including an AI vacation planner and other booking assistance features. So the behavior shift is happening alongside product pushes that make AI feel more normal and more useful. (agoda.com) ### Who wins if this sticks? Platforms with inventory win first. If AI is generating itineraries, those systems naturally favor bookable hotels, activities, and restaurants they can surface cleanly. Travelers may get faster planning. But the catch is that discovery could narrow. Places that used to benefit from serendipity — the stall you notice while walking, the restaurant a driver mentions, the café with no marketing muscle — may get less traffic if more decisions are made in advance. (ttrweekly.com) This is an inference from how recommendation systems shape choice, not a direct claim from Agoda’s release. ### So what is the bottom line? AI is becoming the front door to travel planning for a large share of Indian travelers. And once that front door includes dining, the change is bigger than search convenience — it starts to reshape how trips get assembled, and who gets found, before the trip even begins. (agoda.com)