The Future of Travel: How AI is Transforming the Way We Explore
Travel has always been a mix of excitement and uncertainty. From rushing to catch a flight to panicking mid-air about how to reach a foreign hotel, the journey can be as stressful as the destination. However, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), this anxiety may soon become a thing of the past. AI is set to revolutionize the travel experience, making it more seamless and efficient, even if it might feel a little too predictable.
Two global travel platforms, Rome2Rio and its German parent company Omio, are at the forefront of this transformation. They have announced the launch of apps integrated with OpenAI, offering their 900 million weekly users access to routes, prices, and transport options worldwide. These new AI-powered apps will allow users to search, compare, and plan journeys across trains, buses, flights, ferries, and other modes of transportation—all within a single conversation.
Simplifying the Journey
Finding the best route between two cities often involves juggling multiple booking sites to piece together connections. This process can be time-consuming and frustrating. However, with the introduction of these AI-powered apps, users can simply ask, “What’s the fastest and cheapest route from Rome to Florence this Saturday?” and receive all the necessary information in one place.
According to Rome2Rio’s research, one in three travelers is already using AI to plan trips, often turning to the technology before they even decide on a destination. While AI is not yet perfect and can sometimes hallucinate or make things up, the travel companies emphasize that they use live data rather than AI-generated estimates.
“There’s a real train, there’s a real bus, a ferry — and it’s all connected via API, deep technical integrations,” said Naren Shaam, founder and CEO of Omio, speaking to Euronews Next. “Anything built off of that is real content.”
The technology is designed to reduce AI hallucination by pulling from a verified inventory rather than generating approximate travel information, he added. Additionally, AI can help travelers by informing them about disruptions and providing alternate routes.
“If there is a disruption on a line, we should, in theory, send you a message saying, ‘Hey, there’s likely a disruption. Here are a couple of alternate options to consider,’” Shaam explained. While last-minute changes may cost more, the goal is to make travel “a lot more transparent and help customers make sound decisions.”
Balancing Convenience and Exploration
Despite the convenience AI brings to travel, there is a concern that if everyone uses it to plan their routes and holidays, already over-touristed areas may become even more populated. Will an algorithm take away the wanderlust of travel, such as stumbling across an unexpected route, discovering a town not on any itinerary, and making a split-second decision at a station?
AI systems are trained on popularity data, which can reinforce existing patterns, meaning they may nudge users toward the same routes and travel adventures that already dominate internet search results. However, Shaam acknowledges the risk but argues that the effect can also go the other way.
“AI can empower people to discover more routes,” he said. “You have to trigger more questions for it to go deeper into context to give more unique itineraries.” The idea is that conversational AI, unlike a search bar, invites follow-up questions and may lead a user, who was asking about where to spend a night in Madrid, to ask about other parts of Spain.
Expanding Travel Horizons
Shaam also believes that AI-driven discovery could help spread tourism beyond overcrowded major cities, nudging travelers toward rail and bus connections to secondary destinations. For example, if you visit Spain and aren’t only going to Madrid and Barcelona, but also Seville, Granada, and Bilbao—each of which is a two to two-and-a-half-hour train journey—AI can make those trips happen.
“If AI can make that trip happen, it’s good for local ecosystems too,” he said. For now, Omio frames AI as a tool that handles logistics, leaving the spirit of adventure intact.
