AI Continues to Lead Travel Tech Investment in Year Three
64% of travel operators plan to raise AI spending in the next 12 months. What that means for travel agents who quote ground packages in Europe.
Travel automation · · 6 min read
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64 percent of travel operators plan to increase their AI investment in the next 12 months. This is not a guess about the future. It comes from a TravelTech Show survey of 103 travel company representatives in April 2026. It is also the third year in a row that AI is the top technology investment for travel operators.
For travel agents who quote ground packages across Europe, this matters. It is a clear sign that the way trips are planned, sold and delivered is changing.
How Much Are Travel Operators Spending on AI?
Most operators plan to spend more on AI, and some plan to spend a lot more. In the TravelTech Show survey of April 2026, 64 percent plan to increase AI investment in the next 12 months. 21 percent plan to double their AI spend, and a further 31 percent will raise it by up to 20 percent.
Their main goals are a better experience for their clients, more loyalty, more bookings and lower costs.
AI has stayed the top technology investment for three years, but fewer operators name it each year. The share of operators who name AI among the three technologies they will invest in:
| Year | Operators naming AI as a top-three technology investment |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 56% |
| 2025 | 52% |
| 2026 | 43% |
For an agency, the message is simple. Operators are putting money into the work clients notice first: fast replies and accurate quotes.
What Does AI Do for Ground Packages?
AI is not replacing travel agents. What it does is much more practical.
Many operators now use an AI assistant for routine client questions, such as tour availability, prices and cancellation rules. The assistant answers the simple questions at once, and staff handle the rest.
That is what AI looks like in practice. It does the repetitive work, so you can spend your time on the parts that need a person: building relationships, adjusting itineraries and closing sales.
Here are the areas where AI makes the biggest difference for agents who sell ground packages today.
Itinerary building. Instead of spending hours researching hotels, activities and transfer routes for a four-night package in Vienna or a five-night coastal tour through Croatia, you can build a detailed day-by-day itinerary in minutes. You review it, adjust it and send it to the client. On MindDMC the priced itinerary takes about 4–5 minutes; a DMC’s email reply usually takes 24–48 hours (how to get a DMC quote faster).
Client communication. AI chatbots and email assistants answer the first layer of client questions at any hour. Whether a client in New York asks about a Lisbon food tour at midnight or a German agency needs availability for a group in the Dolomites at seven in the morning, the AI replies at once.
Pricing and availability. AI systems can check hotel rates, transfer costs and activity prices across many European destinations in real time. Instead of checking supplier rates by hand for Athens, Barcelona or Prague, you let the system find the options that fit your margin.
Content. Descriptions for ground packages, emails and social media posts about your latest Florence or Reykjavik offer: AI writes the first draft. You add your own voice and destination knowledge.
Is an AI Chatbot Itinerary the Same as an Online DMC Itinerary?
No. A general AI chatbot writes a plan that can look right and still fail when you check it: routing that doesn’t work, activities at the same time or at hours they can’t happen, and wrong details. An online DMC for travel agents builds an itinerary with workable routing and timings, priced in real time, that you can book.
| Itinerary from a general AI chatbot | Itinerary from MindDMC | |
|---|---|---|
| Routing | Can include routes that don’t work | Workable routing |
| Activity timings | Can place activities at the same time, or at hours they can’t happen | Correct activity timings |
| Details | Can be wrong, so every line needs checking | An item that can’t be matched is marked as not included, not invented |
| Price | No real price | Priced in real time; hotel and train prices are fetched live |
| Changes | The text is rewritten and checked again | One message in the chat, and the itinerary is repriced |
| Booking | Can’t be booked as it is | Book it online with a 10% deposit |
Which Destinations Are Leading the Shift?
The gains from AI show most clearly in Europe’s busiest tourism markets.
Italy has travel companies in Milan, Rome and the Amalfi Coast adopting AI tools to manage strong demand. The northern regions around the Dolomites and the Italian Lakes were especially busy around the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Spain has a growing group of travel tech companies in Barcelona. Travel companies across Andalusia and the Balearic Islands use AI for client communication in several languages, which matters when clients come from Germany, the UK, France and Scandinavia.
Greece has travel companies using AI recommendations to send travellers toward lesser-known islands like Kalymnos and Milos. This eases pressure on Santorini and Mykonos and opens up new ground package options.
The Nordics, especially Norway, Finland and Iceland, are seeing more clients choose summer holidays in cooler places. Automated systems help travel companies handle the extra volume without lowering service quality.
What Does This Mean for Your Agency?
If you are a travel agent who has not started using AI yet, you are not too late. But the time to start is getting shorter.
Here is a simple way to think about it. Three years ago, AI in travel was an experiment. Two years ago, early users started seeing real results. Now, with 64 percent of operators planning to increase investment, it is becoming the standard that clients expect.
Clients are starting to expect fast quotes, personalised recommendations and replies at any hour. If another agent can send a priced ground package for a five-night Athens and Crete itinerary in minutes while you wait two days for a DMC’s reply, the booking goes to them.
Start small. You do not need to change everything at once. Pick one area and try an AI tool for a month. Building itineraries is the easiest place to start. Track how much time it saves.
Focus on what AI cannot do. Your destination knowledge, your supplier relationships and your understanding of what a client actually wants cannot be replaced. AI does the routine work. You make the judgement calls.
Build for speed and quality. In 2026 the best approach is a fast reply plus a personalised package. AI gives you the speed. Your experience gives you the quality.
What Should Travel Agents Do Now?
Start using AI where it saves the most time: building and pricing the quote. AI is not a future trend in the travel industry. It is here now, and 64 percent of operators plan to put more money into it in the next 12 months.
The question is not whether AI will change how ground packages are built and sold across Europe. It already has. The question is whether you are using it yet.
MindDMC is an online DMC for travel agents. You describe the trip in a chat and get a day-by-day itinerary with hotels, transfers and activities, priced in real time, in about 4–5 minutes. You set your own margin, and you can book it online with a 10% deposit. To try it, Get 20 free itineraries. No credit card required.
