Just wrapped up my visit to Phocuswright Europe.
A couple quick takeaways:
1. AI was (unsurprisingly) everywhere. Tons of speculation on the future of travel planning & booking, but honestly, no one knows what’s coming, just that big changes are ahead. The most interesting / contrarian take I heard came from Mauricio Prieto during his talk with Chris Hemmeter -> Do travelers really want a fully frictionless, zero-click booking experience via agentic systems? Maybe some friction is actually beneficial, creating more trust in expensive, emotionally charged booking decisions.
2. No doubt, the generational shift favors AI. Lufthansa’s Olaf Backofen shared insights into customer preferences on Lufthansa’s different booking channels. Gen-Z travelers are significantly more open to booking flights via conversational AI interfaces (over half prefer it compared to traditional booking flows). Btw, exactly the other way around for older generations.
3. OAG’s Filip Filipov was my favorite panelist/speaker. Bold, no-BS clarity on the primary challenge for AI in travel, particularly aviation as a zero-defect industry: trusted data. Without accurate, high-quality inputs, meaningful innovation stalls. Currently, poor data quality slows AI adoption and rollout in aviation, especially on the ops side.
4. Tours & Activities is travel’s final offline frontier, with only 30% of online penetration. Many incumbents, particularly airlines and hotels, still struggle to accept the obvious: travelers value destination experiences far more than flights or hotel rooms (which are a means to an end, for flights even more so than for accommodation).
5. Hotels vs. Short-Term Rentals is a fake rivalry story. Data clearly shows both segments growing steadily, indicating they’re complementary rather than competing. HomeToGo’s Bodo Thielmann and Airbnb’s Emmanuel Marill agreed. Yet, convergence is happening: STRs are becoming more serviced, and hotels are shifting towards boutique models, definitely blurring traditional distinctions.
6. Finally, my favorite panel discussed the investor perspective on AI’s future in travel. Mike Coletta presented funding data for AI travel startups, showing a pretty harsh slowdown in 2025. Christoph Schuh from Lakestar with a helpful explanation -> B2C travel startups face major funding challenges due to uncertainties about how AI will disrupt traditional booking channels and platforms/marketplaces. The B2B sector is much more promising, but investments primarily go into industry-agnostic AI startups (think dynamic pricing, which is relevant for retail just as much as travel) rather than travel-specific players, suggesting the slowdown in pure AI-focused travel startups doesn’t mean less innovation in B2B travel; in fact, likely the opposite.
Besides all insights and inspiration, the best part was meeting so many “familiar” faces in person, especially the Phocuswright / PhocusWire crew. Great event Linda Fox, Mitra Sorrells, Morgan Hines!
