New Phocuswright Research: European Travelers Are Using AI More, But Trusting It Less Than Friends, Family and Human Advisors

LONDON, UK, Sept. 4, 2026 – New research from Phocuswright shows a widening gap between how much European travelers use artificial intelligence and how much they trust it, a divide that is reshaping where travel brands must show up across the planning journey.

 

According to Phocuswright’s Europe Consumer Travel Report 2026, AI-assisted trip research is splitting across three distinct types of channels rather than consolidating into one. Standalone AI platforms remain the leading entry point for AI-using travelers in the U.K., France and Germany, capturing between 44% and 51% depending on market. AI features embedded in online travel agencies and metasearch sites account for 21% to 33% of use, while AI-powered answers inside search engines capture another 25% to 34%. Direct supplier sites and apps trail well behind, at just 11% to 16%.

 

“Attention isn’t consolidating into one channel,” said Pete Comeau, Managing Director, Phocuswright. “It’s splitting across standalone AI tools, search and OTA platforms, and marketers who focus on only one are leaving a meaningful share of the decision journey uncovered.”

 

Phocuswright’s companion report, Europe’s Trust Economy: Confidence as Travel’s Newest Competitive Advantage, points to a critical reason for this fragmentation. The research found trust operates as a filter at every stage of the travel funnel, and AI has yet to earn the confidence that human sources have built over time. Friends and family remain the most trusted planning resource, with 42% to 55% of travelers saying they completely or mostly trust personal recommendations, ahead of retail travel agents at 33% to 42%. Trust in AI-generated results, by contrast, holds at just 17% to 20% across planning environments, even as usage climbs.

 

“That gap between adoption and confidence is the headline finding for marketers,” the report states. “AI functions as an assistant, not an authority, and closing the gap requires transparency about why a recommendation surfaced, not just faster output.”

 

The trust research also found meaningful differences by country: U.K. travelers show more general openness to AI and digital tools, German travelers are more cautious, and French travelers show more skepticism toward several information sources. A single pan-European trust message is unlikely to perform evenly across all three markets.

 

Both reports point to the same conclusion for travel marketers: winning the next phase of travel technology depends less on adding automation and more on making AI-driven experiences easier to verify, control and trust.

 

This research is shaping the agenda at Phocuswright’s Travel Marketing AI Summit London, taking place Sept. 8 at Convene 200 Aldersgate in London’s St. Paul’s district. The one-day, executive-level event brings together senior marketing and technology leaders from across the travel industry to examine how AI is reshaping the traveler journey, from discovery through loyalty.

Confirmed speakers include

• Leslie Cafferty, chief communications officer at Booking Holdings

 

• Dara Brady, chief marketing officer at Ryanair; Piero Sierra, chief AI officer at Skyscanner

 

• Ailish English, industry head of travel at Google; and Daniel Shin Un Kang, head of organic and agentic search at Expedia Group

 

• Emil Martinsek, CMO at GetYourGuide

 

Among other senior leaders from Skyscanner, TikTok, trivago, VisitBritain/VisitEngland and more.

 

Registration is limited. Details and the full program are available at www.phocuswright.com/Travel-Marketing-AI-Summit-London