• THE ENGINE: TECH TRENDS
Seven tech trends changing how journeys are discovered, sold and delivered
Travel technology has stopped waiting in the wings. It is choosing destinations, pricing rooms, checking identities, taking payments and helping operators decide what happens next. The action is global, but Saudi Arabia has a distinctive view from both sides of the journey, building a digitally enabled tourism economy at home while producing one of the world’s most enthusiastic markets for new travel tools. Here are the seven developments moving fastest.
40% Use AI to plan trips Statista
hotels, transport and experiences. Outbound, they will need to understand Arabic, family dynamics, cultural preferences and the way Saudi travellers actually travel.
1. AI CROSSES FROM ADVICE TO ACTION Global take Generative AI can write an itinerary. Agentic AI is designed to act on it, using external systems to compare live options, complete tasks and manage changes within rules set by the traveller or business. Phocuswright says 61% of travel companies surveyed are already experimenting with or scaling agentic AI, although only 6% are actively rolling it out across multiple areas. In other words, the technology is advancing quickly, but the fully autonomous holiday remains some distance away.
and bookable experiences. International destinations seeking Saudi guests need the same level of detail. If the information is vague, buried in a PDF or inconsistent across platforms, the AI may simply recommend somewhere else.
2. SEARCH BECOMES A CONVERSATION Global take
The traditional search box is losing ground to the prompt. Travellers can now ask for “somewhere warm with great food and a direct flight” without deciding where they want to go first. Phocuswright found that 39% of active US travellers use AI to plan trips, up from 28% a year earlier. At the same time, the share using general search engines for travel research fell from 51% in mid-2024 to 36% in late 2025. The commercial implication is huge: travel companies must make their content easy for AI to find, understand and recommend. Saudi take For Saudi tourism businesses, that means clear, current Arabic and English content covering location, transport, opening times, room types, family facilities, accessibility
3. AI EARNS ITS KEEP BACK OF HOUSE Global take
61% Travel businesses using or scaling
The most useful AI in travel may also be the least glamorous. Wyndham’s 2026 Hotel Owner Trends Report found that 98% of owners surveyed had started incorporating AI, but only 32% had embedded it across most of their operations. Among those using it, 64% are applying AI to operational efficiency, 54% to energy efficiency and 53% to revenue optimisation. The early returns are coming from forecasting, pricing, maintenance, staffing and administration, rather than robot concierges waving guests towards breakfast.
Saudi take Saudi travellers look ready to move faster than many markets.
agentic AI Phocuswright
Simon-Kucher found that 76% have already used AI-powered travel features, compared with much lower adoption across Europe. Inbound, intelligent agents could help visitors understand and combine a rapidly expanding choice of Saudi destinations,
52 | WTM SPOTLIGHT RIYADH 52 | SPOTLIGHT RIYADH
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator