A sharp rise in travellers using artificial intelligence to research hotels is reshaping the traditional holiday booking journey, new data has revealed.
Ahead of World Tourism Day on 27 September, hotel technology providers Net Affinity and Smarthotel have revealed that traffic to hotel websites from AI Assistants increased by almost 200% between March and August 2026, significantly outpacing overall website traffic growth of 32% during the same period.
The shift accelerated dramatically in August, with AI Assistant sessions increasing 53% month-on-month, while revenue generated through AI referrals rose 97% compared with July.
Net Affinity and Smarthotel, which provides booking technology and digital marketing solutions to hotels across the UK, Ireland and Europe, say findings from their latest AI Barometer point to an emerging change in how holidaymakers research where to stay.
Rather than searching across multiple websites, review platforms and travel guides, travellers can increasingly use AI to research destinations, compare hotels and narrow down options before they ever reach a hotel website.
ChatGPT currently dominates this emerging trend, accounting for 98% of AI Assistant traffic and 95% of revenue attributed to AI referrals within Net Affinity and Smarthotel’s data. Revenue generated through ChatGPT alone has increased by 141% since March.
Lauri Koop, Managing Director of Net Affinity, said: “AI is beginning to change the very top of the travel booking journey. A holidaymaker can now ask where to stay, compare different hotels, explore facilities and narrow down the best option for their trip within one conversation.
“That means by the time somebody reaches a hotel website, they may already be much further along in their decision-making process and have considerably stronger booking intent.”
The trend is also accelerating particularly quickly among travellers in the UK and Ireland. Since March, AI Assistant traffic has increased by 287% in the UK and 230% in Ireland, compared with 10% growth in the US.
However, Net Affinity and Smarthotel are cautioning against overstating AI’s current impact. Despite rapid growth, AI Assistants still account for just 0.4% of hotel website sessions, 0.4% of transactions and 0.5% of revenue, suggesting the technology remains an emerging influence rather than a replacement for traditional search.
At the same time, new device data reveals another major change in how consumers book their trips.
Between March and July, mobile’s share of hotel website traffic increased from 78% to 80%, while the proportion of transactions completed on mobile rose from 62% to 66%.
Mobile’s share of hotel revenue also climbed from 54% to 59%, while desktop revenue declined from 44% to 39%.
Lauri continued: “What makes this particularly interesting is the combination of AI and mobile. AI has the potential to shorten the research process, while smartphones are increasingly becoming the place where travellers complete the booking.
“The future journey could be much more compressed — from asking an AI Assistant where to stay, to comparing a handful of recommendations and then booking directly on a mobile phone.
“For hoteliers, that makes being easy to discover and easy to book equally important.”
Net Affinity and Smarthotel say hotels should ensure their websites clearly answer the questions travellers are asking, including information around experiences, dining, spa facilities, family stays and local attractions, while ensuring the mobile booking journey is fast and straightforward.
The company also believes trusted third-party coverage will become increasingly important as AI platforms draw on information from travel publications, tourism websites, review platforms and other authoritative online sources when helping users compare destinations and hotels.
For more information on Net Affinity and Smarthotel, please visit www.netaffinity.com and www.smarthotel.nl.