Gen Z turns to AI for 69% of trip planning, far outpacing older travelers

The Booking.com 2026 Travel Trends survey, released in July 2026, polled 32,800 people who intend to travel in 2026 across 34 countries to understand how different age groups approach travel planning. The results reveal a pronounced generational split in the adoption of generative AI for travel-related tasks.

Gen Z leads all age groups by a significant margin, with 69% using generative AI to plan trips and while traveling. This appetite for AI-assisted planning drops measurably with each older generation: Millennials follow closely at 64%, but the decline steepens thereafter. Gen X sees a notable drop to 41%, and Boomers represent the smallest adopters at just 11%. The gap is not merely numeric but reflects a fundamental difference in how younger and older travelers approach trip planning. While two-thirds or more of Gen Z and Millennials lean on AI to research destinations, compare options, and navigate trips in real time, only 41% of Gen X and just 11% of Boomers rely on AI for these tasks.

The scale of the generational gap is striking: a Gen Z traveler is more than six times as likely as a Boomer to consult a chatbot for travel advice. This finding suggests that AI-assisted travel planning is, for now, largely a habit of the young, though the pattern of adoption across age groups indicates the potential for broader uptake over time. The survey's scope—spanning 34 countries and tracking travel intentions for 2026—points to a trend that is not confined to a single market but reflects a global shift in how the youngest generation of travelers approaches planning and decision-making during trips.

The Booking.com 2026 Travel Trends survey reveals a stark generational divide in how travelers plan and navigate their trips. Gen Z's adoption of generative AI for travel planning—at 69%—is not merely a preference but a defining behavior that sets them apart from every other age cohort. Millennials, the next-youngest group, trail by five percentage points at 64%, but the adoption rate drops dramatically among older generations, falling to 41% for Gen X and plummeting to 11% for Boomers. This pattern mirrors the broader generational divide that already shapes how people travel overall, suggesting that AI integration in travel planning is becoming intertwined with age-based differences in technology comfort and usage patterns.

The fact that Gen Z travelers are more than six times as likely as Boomers to consult a chatbot for travel advice underscores not just a preference gap but a fundamental shift in how the youngest generation approaches travel decisions. These younger travelers use AI to research destinations, compare options, and navigate trips in real time—functions that represent a material change in travel planning behavior. As the survey data is based on 32,800 travelers across 34 countries, the finding points to a global pattern rather than a localized trend, indicating that this generational split in AI adoption is emerging worldwide.

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