Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) remains a central focus for the travel sector looking ahead to 2025 – but challenges are emerging as initial optimism begins to dissipat.
That is according to a new report released by Amadeus – ‘Navigating the Future: How Generative Artificial Intelligence is transforming the travel industry’ – which surveyed experts in the field from across the travel ecosystem.
Budget and resources will be allocated to the development of AI
Among the 300+ industry leaders questioned, Generative AI was cited as a ‘top priority’ for the coming year by 46% – ahead of any other technology. This figure increased to 61% in Asia Pacific. This suggests that the region is ready to lead the way in this transformative technology.
Other technologies that were cited as top priorities for 2025 include data management (38%), cloud computing (36%), nongenerative AI IT infrastructure (34%), biometric technology (23%).
Globally, over half of travel technology leaders (51%) argue Generative AI already has a ‘significant presence’ in the travel industry in their country. 36% more expect this presence in the travel industry to emerge within the next 12 months, while 11% think it will take between one and two years. Only 2% of travel tech leaders believe it will take Generative AI three years or more to have a significant impact on the travel industry where they are.
Today, 41% travel companies claim that they have the budget and resources to implement Generative AI. Meanwhile, 87% of them are open to collaborating with third-party vendors to develop Generative AI applications.
Generative AI faces challenges related to data, talent, and cost
While support for Generative AI is unwavering, “Navigating Future” reveals that new challenges are emerging.
When asked if there was anything that slowed the roll-out, industry leaders responded:
- Data security – 35%
- Lack of Generative AI expertise and training – 34%
- Data quality and inadequate technological infrastructure – 33%
- ROI concerns, lack of use cases, or difficulty in estimating value – 30%
- Difficulty in connecting with partners or vendors – 29%
Generative AI experts are currently struggling to recruit experts, train existing workforces, and convince senior leaders about the value of Generative AI.
How is Generative AI applied?
While the process of experimenting with Generative AI is still ongoing, several use cases in the travel technology industry have emerged.
The most popular are digital assistance for travelers at the time of booking (53%), followed closely by recommendations for activities or locations (48%), content creation (47%), assisting staff to better serve their customers (45%), as well as collecting and condensing customer feedback (45%).
What does a successful deployment of Generative AI Look Like?
In order of importance for respondents to “Navigating Future”, they were looking for improvements in return on investments, customer satisfaction, efficiency, precision, and relevance, performance metrics, and key performance indicators.
Sylvain Ro, Chief Technology Officer at Amadeus said: “At Amadeus we strive to make travel better for everyone and everywhere. There is perhaps no better way to see this mission come to life than with the deployment of Generative AI. This is a technology with the potential to transform everything we do within the travel ecosystem. It will enhance the passenger experience at each step of the trip.
While technology will remain a major focus in the coming year, there are questions about whether Generative AI is going to deliver enough returns on investment. In addition, the shortage of talent will also be brought into the spotlight. It is important that we use new technology responsibly to ensure data security, privacy and content reliability. It’s time to prove that Generative AI can live up the hype.”
Methodology
Amadeus commissioned Mercury Analytics, a market research organization which harnesses state-of-the-art techniques and AI, to study the role – both current and future – of Generative AI in the travel sector.
In the third quarter 2024, 306 senior technology executives in the travel industry who had knowledge of Generative AI have been questioned. They were located in ten different markets: Canada (the home market), Italy, United Kingdom (the second largest), France, Germany, India Australia, China Japan and the United States.
