Business 5 min read By Arthur Ellington
Travel brands face loyalty crisis as AI agents reshape booking
New Accenture research shows 96% of travellers would abandon their preferred airline or hotel for a faster, easier experience, forcing travel companies to rethink loyalty strategies in the age of agentic AI.
Travel brands are confronting a fundamental shift in customer loyalty as artificial intelligence agents take over more of the discovery and booking process. New research from Accenture, based on a survey of more than 5,000 travellers across 12 markets, found that 96% would switch away from their preferred travel brand if another provider offered a significantly easier and faster experience. The findings challenge one of the industry's longest-held assumptions: that loyalty programmes alone can protect brands from competitive disruption.
The research, titled «Win the AI agent, win the traveller», suggests that travellers are increasingly making decisions based not on long-standing brand relationships but on which company can help them achieve their goal fastest and with the least effort. A further 91% said they would be willing to pay more for an option that reduced the time and effort required to plan and manage a trip. According to Accenture's Consumer Pulse 2026, 36% of loyal travellers — those who typically choose from one to three preferred brands within a category such as hotels or airlines — would allow an AI agent to switch them to a different brand if it offered a better fit.
The scale of the challenge is compounded by the complexity of the current booking experience. Despite years of technological innovation, 94% of travellers describe the booking process as moderately or very complex, and nearly two-thirds use four or more platforms before making a purchase. A typical journey might begin on a search engine, continue to a hotel website, move to an online travel agency for comparison, involve checking reviews on social media, and switch between multiple devices before a booking is finally completed. Each additional click, comparison and handoff introduces friction that risks both revenue and customer relationships.
Payment-related problems are a particular source of abandonment. More than 83% of travellers report abandoning a booking because of issues such as unexpected fees, declined cards or limited payment options. Nearly half say the payment experience strongly influences which provider they ultimately choose. The industry's challenge, the research suggests, is no longer simply attracting attention but removing obstacles between intent and action.
Generative AI is beginning to change how travellers discover and compare options. Instead of searching separately for hotels, amenities, locations and prices, consumers can increasingly describe what they want in a conversation — for example, asking for a family-friendly hotel in Amsterdam for a weekend, or a hotel in Paris with a spa near the Eiffel Tower. The significant shift is not merely that AI can answer these questions faster, but that it can influence which options a traveller considers in the first place. A traveller may no longer browse dozens of websites; instead, an AI agent could recommend a different brand if it better matches the trip they are trying to take.
This means travel companies need to rethink what it means to be discoverable. For years, brands optimised their websites, search rankings, mobile apps and distribution relationships. Now they must also ensure their content, inventory, rates, amenities and booking capabilities can participate effectively in AI-driven discovery. Radisson's ChatGPT experience is cited as an early example of this shift, allowing travellers to describe what they need and bringing relevant properties into that conversation rather than requiring them to navigate a digital ecosystem.
For brands, the question becomes whether their information is accurate, accessible and relevant enough to make the shortlist when a traveller asks an AI agent for the best hotel for their needs. A strong brand still matters, but it increasingly needs to be backed by strong data, connected commerce capabilities and an experience that can deliver on the promise.
The travel companies that thrive in the coming decade will likely be those that recognise a simple truth: convenience is becoming a major driver of loyalty. AI agents may influence discovery and booking, but what ultimately drives preference is a brand's ability to execute — accurate inventory, seamless booking and payment systems, personalised offers, reliable service delivery and loyalty programmes that provide meaningful value. As travel becomes more digital and interconnected, operational excellence becomes a competitive advantage.
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