The 7 travel tech trends that will matter in 2026

It’s hard to keep up with today’s travel tech trends. To help, we’ve gathered the key tech trends every travel professional should know.

The findings reveal three major themes reshaping travel in 2026.

First, AI is evolving from assistant to agent—moving beyond recommendations to autonomous action and decision-making.

Second, automation is becoming an invisible infrastructure, with the most effective technology working seamlessly behind the scenes rather than through traditional interfaces.

Third, personalisation and sustainability are shifting from aspirational goals to operational reality, powered by data accuracy and embedded systems rather than surface-level promises.

Together, these themes signal a fundamental transformation: travel tech in 2026 is less about flashy features and more about intelligent systems that anticipate needs, reduce friction, and deliver measurable outcomes.

1. Agentic AI takes the wheel: Why it beats AI that only answers

Agentic AI is undoubtedly the star of the tech stage right now within the travel industry. Despite it being in its early phases of adoption.  McKinsey’s research shows a clear gap in more autonomous systems. 38% of travel companies say they are not using agentic AI at all, with only 2% saying Agentic AI is widely used within their organisation.

Agentic AI is a new kind of artificial intelligence that does more than just respond to questions. It can take initiative, make decisions, and complete tasks for users. It works across different systems and steps, understanding requests, deciding what to do next, and carrying out actions. While it works on its own, agentic AI is meant to help human teams by handling routine or complex tasks, so people can focus on areas that need judgement, empathy, or oversight.

Until now, the travel industry has used tools like early chatbots and basic generative AI. These are common, but they have clear limits. First-generation chatbots answer simple questions, and generative AI can suggest destinations or draft itinerary emails, but neither can take action on their own. Many of us have tried to get a chatbot to rebook a cancelled flight or request a special meal, only to end up in a loop or be told to fill out a form, leaving travellers to handle things themselves.

Agentic AI aims to solve these problems because it doesn’t just answer questions—it takes action.

For destinations, agentic AI goes beyond answering questions and actively shapes the visitor experience. It learns what travellers want, suggests personalised itineraries, monitors reviews and social sentiment, and shares insights with local partners. It can predict disruptions, improve operations, and automate routine messages, making sure visitors get the right information when they need it.

In short, it uses raw data to create destinations that are smarter and more responsive, so every interaction feels informed, smooth, and personal.

2. Personalisation at scale: When every traveller gets their own journey

By 2026, the way travel companies group their audiences will be very different from past models. Instead of using broad categories and fixed personas, the industry is moving toward flexible, behaviour-based personalisation, thanks to AI. Recent research shows that 50% of travellers in EMEA have already used AI to plan or research a holiday, up from 41% last year and 26% two years ago. Nearly one in seven travellers say they use it all the time, showing how quickly AI is becoming part of everyday trip planning.

This change has a big impact on how travel brands communicate. AI makes it easier to personalise messages for many people at once, moving beyond set groups to respond to each person’s intent, timing, and context. It also helps organisations process and understand complex data much faster, turning many sources into insights that are useful, timely, and easy to understand. In this new environment, data is not just valuable—it is essential.

Geolocation (GEO) takes this evolution further. By linking digital experiences to where people actually are, GEO allows for more direct, real-time interactions with travellers. AI interfaces use location and context to make personalisation more immediate and predictive, so travel experiences adjust to what people need, where they are, and what they might want next.

3. The invisible revolution: The best travel tech is the tech you never see

In 2026, a major change in travel technology is happening behind the scenes, not just in what travellers see. Automation is becoming the hidden backbone of travel, quietly managing planning, operations, and service delivery without needing constant human input or visible interfaces. 

Instead of using more and more apps or dashboards, travellers now benefit from systems that handle complexity for them. Automation supports things like dynamic pricing, itinerary changes, scheduling, customer support, and resource management. By bringing together data from bookings, preferences, travel patterns, and other signals, these systems can react in real time to changes that would be too hard to manage by hand. 

For destinations and travel organisations, this change has real effects. Automation means less need for frontline staff, better efficiency, and ongoing improvements in both operations and customer service. It also helps make experiences feel smoother and more responsive, even as the systems behind them get more complex. 

Automation is not just a feature or an extra—it is the backbone of the travel industry. Its real value lies in quietly working in the background, shaping journeys, decisions, and results consistently and on a large scale. 

4. Zero-touch travel: AI reads your calendar and handles the rest

According to The Future of Tourism: The Great Realignment, penned by Data Appeal CEO Mirko Lalli, corporate travel is approaching a turning point. The traditional Online Booking Tool, long the go-to interface for employees planning trips, is “facing obsolescence.” In its place, the concept of zero-touch travel is emerging — a system where much of the booking process is automated, yet employees remain in control.

In one scenario described by Lalli, “an employee accepts a meeting invitation in Microsoft Teams that includes a location in another city. An AI agent … reads the meeting details, cross-references the company’s travel policy, checks for scheduling conflicts, and proactively books appropriate flights and hotels, presenting the options in the chat interface for a simple approval click.” Here, the AI doesn’t just assist — it effectively embodies the policy itself, removing friction while ensuring compliance.

The report also highlights the creation of a “Trust Flywheel”: as employees realise the system reliably finds the best options, “they stop looking for alternatives,” reducing off-channel bookings and building confidence in the automated workflow. At the same time, travel managers must now “shift from policy enforcer to AI auditor, from booking overseer to algorithm trainer,” navigating new responsibilities in a landscape where automation drives both efficiency and oversight.

5. No data, no travel:Accuracy trumps volume in the new travel economy

Data has always been important in travel, but by 2026, the industry is at a turning point. None of the big tech trends—like zero-touch experiences, predictive personalisation, dynamic pricing, or sustainability management—are possible without the right data, especially accurate and high-quality data. The focus is not on collecting more, but on knowing which data to trust and how to use it.

Now, bookings, travel patterns, visitor preferences, local context, and social sentiment are combined in real time to create useful insights. This helps hotels adjust room assignments and energy use, lets transport operators manage capacity, and allows attractions to personalise recommendations—often before travellers even ask. The key is not having more data, but having the right, accurate, and timely data to drive decisions across the industry.

One important result of this change is that everyone in travel now needs to understand data. From marketing to operations to destination managers, professionals must know how to read insights, spot important patterns, and act on them. In 2026, travel is not just reactive—it is predictive, personalised, and shaped by people who can turn data into smart, real-world experiences.

6. VR/AR grows up: From marketing gimmick to operational powerhouse

Immersive technologies like VR and AR are no longer just for entertainment. They are now part of the daily operations of smart tourist destinations (STDs) through digital twins (DTs). By creating virtual copies of cities, transport hubs, museums, or attractions, DTs let managers simulate, monitor, and improve operations in real time, making both efficiency and visitor experiences better.

For example, according to MDPI, Seattle’s DT platform uses VR, AR, and 3D mapping to offer interactive city tours while also tracking transport, utilities, and energy use. In Lusail, Qatar, the DT uses IoT sensor data to improve building management and mobility systems. In museums, DTs with VR/AR remove physical limits, allowing for virtual exhibits and interactive experiences that guide visitors and help managers predict visitor flow and demand.

This combination helps cities and tourism operators plan urban growth, reduce congestion, manage energy and water use, and get ready for emergencies like floods or storms.

In short, immersive technologies combined with DTs are turning smart tourist destinations from reactive service providers into proactive, data-driven environments where visitor experience, sustainability, and efficiency come together.

7. Smarter operations and technology are making greener travel the default

Perhaps the most sobering insight from recent reports is that travel’s sustainability promises are struggling to meet reality. As Skift puts it, the “Sustainability Fairytale” is not getting a happy ending: voluntary green behaviour hasn’t scaled, travellers talk green but continue to book the cheapest options, and early net-zero goals are under pressure (Skift, 2025).

However, behind the scenes, the industry is moving toward what is called “embedded sustainability”—operational changes and technologies that do not depend on travellers making green choices. As discussed in The Future of Tourism: The Great Realignment  ideas like science-based emissions targets and tools such as “SAF Book-and-Claim” are being developed to separate sustainability from individual behaviour. This allows emissions tracking and verification to become part of daily operations, not just an optional extra.

Destinations and operators are also using smart tools to manage overtourism and resources. AI models can predict crowd sizes, guide visitors to less busy areas, and reward destinations that handle tourism sustainably. Expedia calls these systems “Smart Travel Health Checks,” which help balance popularity with environmental impact.

By 2026, smart operations and sustainability technology are central to travel management. By using these systems, operators can reduce environmental impact, use resources more efficiently, and maintain high-quality experiences, even as traditional marketing-based sustainability efforts struggle.

Turning data and tech into actionable insights

In 2026, DMOs are using technology not just to watch visitors, but to shape their experiences in advance. By combining AI, geolocation, and real-time data from bookings, travel patterns, and social sentiment, destinations can predict needs, manage visitor flow, and personalise engagement on a large scale. Automation and digital twins let teams test and adjust operations before visitors arrive, making sure experiences are smooth and sustainable. At the same time, sustainability tech—from emissions tracking to resource management—is becoming part of daily operations, helping DMOs balance growth with environmental responsibility. The trend is clear: destinations that use accurate data and smart systems will succeed by acting quickly, responding well, and creating seamless, sustainable experiences.