Phocuswright Europe 2025

Fresh from a weekend at Sitges Pride, I swapped my glittery pink Stetson for sensible shoes and headed to the imposing Palau de Congressos de Catalunya with Adido’s CEO Andy Headington for two and a half days of presentations, roundtables, networking and general high-quality natter.

The venue was a beast. The whole place had the vibe of a corporate Freshers Week, albeit with fewer vodka jellies, free posters or love bites. But you’re not here to learn about my late 90’s adventures at Leeds University, so let’s take a whistlestop tour of Phocuswright Europe 2025. ¡Vamos!

(By the way, this blog only covers the sessions I attended – there were plenty more which I’ve no doubt were equally as engaging and insightful.)

Day one

Industry Roundtable: The Next Step with AI in Travel (Off the record)

An early session brought together some bright minds from Visa, Cambon Partners, Magpie and PhocusWire to chew over AI’s role in travel. While I can’t go into detail (it was a ‘what is said in this room, stays in this room’ discussion), the consensus was that AI isn’t replacing travel agents just yet – it’s simply handling mundane tasks so humans can focus on building strong customer relationships.

Breakout: AI-First Discovery – How Smart Travel Tech & OTAs Win When No One Clicks

Brennen Bliss, CEO Propellic

One of the most engaging and charismatic speakers of the week, Bliss, laid out just how impactful AI overviews (AIOs) are and will continue to be. His data showed that, as of this year, 65% of travel queries trigger AI-generated overviews, fundamentally shifting how visibility works in search.

Sharing analytics from over 60 travel brands, Bliss revealed that traditional traffic metrics are changing. With travellers getting recommendations directly from AI before clicking any link, the question was posed: is your travel tech platform or OTA even in the conversation?

Search queries are also changing – an average ChatGPT-style query apparently runs to 86 words (median of 15), compared to the traditional average of 1.9. This is quite the outré claim, but the slide below would suggest we are going hard and heavy with our prompts to get exactly what we want.

To stay relevant, brands should be optimising for AI as of now. It’s no longer about clicks but share-of-answer – how often your brand features in AI outputs. Think frequent brand mentions, structured content (like lists), good reviews, clean code and answer-first formatting. Those not adapting for generative engine optimisation (GEO) risk becoming invisible.

Innovation Roundtable (Also off the record)
Another closed-door session featuring senior voices from BCD Travel, Wego Group, Stena Line and others. Topics included personalisation, multimodality and AI – but I can’t spill the beans or they might not let me back in next year.

After feeling suitably innovated, I went off in search of Andy to swap notes, only to find him in the middle of a Travel Trends podcast with Dan Christian – no doubt plugging his forthcoming book (available for pre-sale, folks!)

Cracking first day done. Lots of food for thought – but now it was time for food for belly. Paella, sangria and cava ensued.

Day 2

Day 2 kicked off with an invitation from Phocuswright to ‘lace up and discover Barcelona’ and by that, they meant join fellow corporates for a crack-of-dawn run around the city. Not for me, thanks. I’ve already discovered Barcelona. What I have discovered, however, is that sangria and cava are a devastatingly delicious yet potent combo and the effect on my poor morning-after head wasn’t pretty.

To be honest, even without the cava/sangria cocktails, I haven’t voluntarily run anywhere since 2006 and I wasn’t going to subject the good folk of Barcelona to the sight of me half sobbing / half staggering around their beautiful city.

That said, a couple of coffees and gallons of water later, I was ready to rock.

Executive Interview: From Inspiration to Action–Tripadvisor’s Strategic Shift

Matt Goldberg, CEO Tripadvisor Group
Pepijn Rijvers, President Viator
Mitra Sorrells, SVP, ContentPhocuswright & PhocusWire

Tripadvisor Group CEO Matt Goldberg and Viator’s new president Pepijn Rijvers sat down for a candid conversation on Tripadvisor’s shifting strategy, its vision for growth and how it’s adapting to a changing travel landscape, as well as the rise of Viator’s influence and its central role in Tripadvisor’s future. Oh – and of course, lots of AI chat.

Phocuswright Research: From AI to Wallet – The New Era of Travel Planning

Speaker: Alicia Schmid, Director of Research, Phocuswright Inc.

This next presentation was stat-heavy, which is always welcome. Alicia explained how GenAI is gaining traction, but travel-specific adoption remains low. Only 22% of Brits, 19% of French travellers and 15% of Germans use GenAI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini for trip planning.

Despite digital advances, most travellers still prefer human interaction, particularly when travel doesn’t go according to plan. Even straightforward tasks such as checking into a hotel or changing reservations still saw 53% of travellers expressing a preference for human contact over digital assistance.

Some other stats:

• GenAI is mostly used for inspiration, with 28–54% using it for ideas, but only 20–30% say it influenced actual decisions. Trust, privacy and accuracy remain concerns.
• Google and Bing still dominate travel searches. But in-trip GenAI use is up, especially for translation and local recommendations.
• Travellers expect GenAI on booking sites, but mainly for queries. The EU’s digital identity wallet, launching in 2026, promises better security and faster processing, with 73% UK awareness already.

Personalisation is the key to bridging the gap between human and digital interaction. To truly stand out, travel brands must develop deep knowledge of their users and ensure data quality and relevance is at the heart of their future strategies.

Executive Interview: Accor’s Digital Playbook – Loyalty, Innovation and the Power of AI

Speaker: Alix Boulnois, Chief Commercial, Digital & Tech Officer, Accor
Interviewer: Linda Fox, Executive Editor, PhocusWire

Accor is embedding AI across its digital strategy, from CRM and branding to payments and guest care. The brand’s loyalty programmes and customer service are being reshaped by automation and personalisation, with a focus on:

• Increased guest expectations across industries.
• Real-time support and proactive service.
• AI as a driver of brand reputation and customer retention.

Still, Accor acknowledges that AI doesn’t yet replace human connection in key moments like planning or problem-solving. Inspiration is the top use case for GenAI; decisions involving money remain human-led.

Executive Panel: Experiences - Travel’s Biggest Battleground?

Panelists:
Mariya Donat (Hyatt)
Neha Jindal (Booking.com)
Nicolas Martiquet (Amadeus)
Moderator: Luuc Elzinga, Tiqets

Experiences are now at the heart of travel, with a €300 billion global value. Industry leaders from Hyatt, Booking.com and Amadeus discussed who controls the traveller’s experience moment:

• Hyatt focuses on brand-led emotional connections, using insights to tailor and merchandise experiences online.
• Booking.com sees experiences as core to its ‘connected trip’ model, aiming to bring 70% of still-offline attractions into its ecosystem.
• Amadeus is working on connecting fragmented travel services, helping agents shift focus from logistics to memorable activities.

AI recommendation engines and personalisation tools are helping to overcome the ‘paradox of choice’. Loyalty is the endgame - driven by emotion, not just transactions.

Executive Interview: Agents, Algorithms and the Future of Everything

Speaker: Marc Mekki, Founder, Inspire Limitless
Moderator: Mitra Sorrells, Phocuswright

Mekki argued that we are on the cusp of a structural but era-defining change. With the rise of ChatGPT, we are seeing technology being used firstly in the consumer sphere, long before adoption on a corporate level. Websites and traditional search models are being replaced by AI agents that deliver exactly what users ask instantly, and often invisibly.

For travel brands, that means:

• SEO and clicks may soon matter less than structured data and system interoperability.
• Brands must ensure their offerings can be understood and surfaced by AI models.
• Content will still matter, but how it’s accessed, delivered and experienced will change.

Mekki also made the point that while everyone else focuses on using AI for today’s challenges, the real winners are already anticipating and shaping what comes next, as AI is developing at such a rate that any AI integration implemented now is likely to be obsolete before too long. He finished by saying the line that made me wince: ‘in five years’ time, the way we search and book travel will be unrecognisable’. Ten years, maybe. But five?!? I think it’s wise to take such a bold proclamation with a healthy dollop of salt. Hey – if I’m proven wrong, I’ll take it on the chin.

The Bridge Series: Travel Tech Trends Around the World

Speakers: Emilie Dumont (Digitrips), Rajnish Kumar (ixigo),
Moderators: Pete Comeau, Siew Hoon Yeoh

Innovation in India's fast-growing travel market offers universal lessons. Rajnish, leading a top OTA, stresses the ubiquitous use of AI for internal efficiency and customer support, with 92% of chats and nearly 50% of voice calls fully automated. This is a global trend, though India's fragmented customer segments require highly nuanced app strategies.

Emily highlights multimodal AI interfaces (voice, text, vision) as the ‘coolest tech headline’, signalling a move towards more human-like interactions.

In India, an increasingly mobile-first, tech-savvy population is embracing these changes. Rajnish's company, ixigo, focused on solving unique pain points, like building a small, offline-capable train app for rural users, leading to massive growth. Their next ‘rocket booster’ is flights and buses, driven by infrastructure investment and a consumer trend towards premiumisation and value over just price.

AI is commoditising content creation, making AI influencers and video ads a secular trend. On job creation, there's optimism that AI will create more, more interesting, and creative jobs than it replaces. Emily also champions ‘pleasure’ as a core company value, sparked by in-person connection.

Executive Interview: Designing the Future of Travel

Speaker: Shilpa Ranganathan Chief Product Officer, Expedia Group
Interviewer: Pete Comeau Managing Director, Phocuswright Inc.

After years leading product innovation at Microsoft, Shilpa Ranganathan returns to Expedia Group as chief product officer to lead product and design. In this one-on-one conversation, she draws on her experience with global-scale products, she stresses the importance of trust, data control and building intuitive, end-to-end experiences.

The conversation contrasts the early 2000s, when online travel was just taking off, with today’s AI-driven world. Expedia is embracing both generative AI (smart filters, tailored property highlights) and agentic AI, such as Hotels.com’s new AI agent that blends search, discovery and customer service via natural language. While partnerships with OpenAI and Microsoft Copilot are promising, direct bookings via these platforms are still developing.

Social commerce is another priority. With 80% of millennials using social media for travel ideas and 70% trusting influencers, Expedia now offers features like ‘trip matching’ from DMs and curated ‘travel shops’.

Looking ahead, Shilpa sees huge potential in AI as a trusted companion for planning and support, handling everything from delays to personalised tours, and a future where AI agents across companies collaborate for better, connected travel experiences.

Innovation in Action: Expert Reactions & Industry Impact

Panelists:
Guido Becher Global Head of Travel & Loyalty, Rappi
Manuel Hilty CEO and Co-Founder, Nezasa
Piero Sierra Chief Product Officer, Skyscanner
Cara Whitehill Vice President, Thayer Investment Partners
Moderator: Pete Comeau Managing Director, Phocuswright Inc.

After a round of travel tech demos, the panel explored which innovations truly solve problems and which rely too heavily on AI buzzwords. They agreed that the real value lies in tools that reduce friction for travellers, such as smoother check-ins, embedded insurance and better customer service.

Agent-based systems and AI are helping accelerate product development and testing, but issues around scalability and language support remain. Any lasting solution must serve both travellers and the wider industry.

From an investment perspective, panellists highlighted the importance of repeatable models and early traction. B2B companies are also thinking carefully about how agents fit within broader ecosystems. In-destination support, particularly linking transport and local services, was seen as a key area for future development.

The key message was clear: simply mentioning AI is not enough. What matters is the value delivered to users. The future is likely to involve specialised agents working across different systems, which will require better interoperability within the travel tech space.

Day three

And so, to the last (half) day at Phocuswright. With a head still fragile from two consecutive cava-fuelled nights, the free coffee beckoned me like an old friend.

Trust, Threats and Technology – Securing Travel at Scale

Speaker: Marnie Wilking, Chief Security Officer, Booking.com
Interviewer: Lorraine Sileo, Founder Phocuswright Research and Senior Analyst, Phocuswright

Having recently fallen foul of an Airbnb-related scam, this was the presentation I was most invested in attending. Booking.com’s Marnie Wilking took the stage to discuss the company’s global defence against rising cyber threats, including AI-powered scams, credential stuffing and nation-state attacks. Travel is a prime target due to its emotional pull and financial investment, especially since the post-Covid boom.

Scams have surged since late 2022, aligning with the rise of generative AI models such as ChatGPT. Phishing emails have increased by 300–1000%, becoming more convincing and harder to detect. Travel scams are now widespread (which I know from bitter experience!), with Mastercard reporting a 12% rise in fraud during trip planning (2024), and McAfee finding that 28% of people were scammed either while booking or after arrival.

Wilking stressed the importance of a trustworthy ecosystem, noting that scammers often outpace even banks. Booking.com’s strategy includes AI-led prevention, which now blocks 99% of fake bookings and recently intercepted 50 million malicious links in a single month. Detection and education are also key pillars, aimed at both travellers and partners.

Her advice: always use multi-factor authentication, keep apps updated and don’t make payments when you’re distracted.

Agents, ID and the Future of Travel

Panellists:
Nick Price, Co-Chair DIF Hospitality & Travel SIG
Jamie Smith, Founder of Customer Futures
Annet Steenbergen, Advisor EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium
Moderator: Mike Coletta, Manager, Research and Innovation Phocuswright

The EU’s digital identity wallet is set for rollout in December 2026, aiming to simplify travel by enabling secure, paper-free access to services like hotels, health care and transport. A pilot in Benidorm showed how travellers could use the wallet to check in and access medical services without physical documents.

However, digital identity across the travel industry remains fragmented. With only 18 months to go, many suppliers are still unprepared. The Digital Identity Framework (DIF) is working to bridge gaps between travel and identity sectors, aiming to standardise how data like preferences, allergies and loyalty details are stored and shared.

Most traveller data is still trapped in disconnected systems. DIF’s goal is to unlock this with ‘empowerment tech’, putting individuals in control of their digital profile. This allows AI to create far more personal, accurate travel planning.

AI agents, powered by detailed digital identities, could soon book trips based on specific needs - such as using student discounts or noting dietary restrictions - automatically. For this to work, collaboration is essential, with the quality of data forming the real competitive edge. Digital ID is seen as the key enabler, making hyper-personalised, seamless travel a reality.

Search, Signals and Smarter Travel – Google on What’s Next

Speaker: Sergio Torrijos Selma, Senior Head of Sales, Travel Google
Interviewer: Madeline List, Manager, Research and Special Projects Phocuswright

Google’s Sergio Torrijos Selma brought charts, trends and the promise that search data might predict the future. The key stats revealed were that three in five travellers are undecided where they want to travel when starting their research, while an average of 303 minutes is spent on trip research 45 days before booking.

He went on to explain how AI is reshaping how people explore and decide. Search isn’t just about where and when anymore; it’s becoming context-rich, increasingly predictive and oddly intuitive. The big question: can the travel industry keep up? Google's answer, more or less: yes, if it starts paying attention to the signals rather than just the bookings.

Reflections

It’s unsurprising really that AI dominated the conversation over the past few days. The general consensus of the conference seemed to be ‘traditional ways of searching/booking are dead - long live AI agents!’. The cynic in me is pretty resistant to such hyperbolic statements. It felt at times like being in an echo chamber – with people heavily invested in AI tech speaking directly to an audience already heavily invested in AI tech.

When we talk about AI innovation, what I really wanted to hear about was how it will truly connect with the end user. And by end user, I’m talking about my mum or, more broadly, the generation with the spending power who still vehemently champion human interaction, from personal recommendations through to booking and aftercare. Because to many travellers (and it’s not just boomers), AI agents are not even close to being the preferred option. Just look at the fact that Travel Counsellors have had back-to-back record years. Why? Because their business model is very much human-orientated - and that is still valued above and beyond whatever latest tech tool is flavour of the month. Maybe it will all change – but in five years? To quote that ubiquitous meme: sure, Jan.

Adéu - fins a la propera!

And with that, Phocuswright Europe came to an end, leaving Andy and I with a few spare hours for sightseeing before making the long journey back to our respective ends of the country. We took a quick jaunt up Montjuïc to admire the jaw-dropping views across the city. Seeing it all spread out gloriously before us, it’s understandable why Barcelona suffers from overtourism – there are few cities that tick quite so many boxes as this Catalan stunner. I’ll be back, that’s for sure.