Agoda's 2027 Asia Travel Pulse shows that 53% of surveyed Asian travellers now use artificial intelligence to plan trips, up from 33% a year earlier.

The survey found travellers are far less willing to hand over the final booking decision to software. Across 11 Asian markets, 89% said they still want some degree of control over hotel bookings, while only 6% said they would fully trust an AI agent to complete a booking on their behalf.

Most respondents use AI at the start of the travel process rather than at the point of purchase. Building an itinerary was the most common use, cited by 64%, followed by finding inspiration at 45% and comparing hotels or flights at 44%.

The sharpest increases in AI use for travel planning were recorded in Vietnam and Taiwan. In Vietnam, usage rose from 30% to 63%, while in Taiwan it increased from 35% to 63%.

Travellers in Taiwan and South Korea were the most likely to use AI to build itineraries, at 75% and 73% respectively.

The data points to a divide between using AI for research and using it for transactions. While 38% of travellers said they would let an AI agent book a hotel in some form, most in that group would attach conditions.

Nearly a quarter of respondents, or 23%, said they would permit AI booking only if they could review the reservation before confirmation. Another 9% said they would limit AI booking to simple or low-cost reservations.

Among those surveyed, 57% said they would rather book a hotel themselves.

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