After a period of recovery, the tourism industry is looking for new sources of growth from artificial intelligence (AI). Yet behind the excitement around AI lies a quieter but more fundamental race: the race to collect, digitize and connect traveler data across businesses, technology platforms and regulators. AI as a travel companion Recent market data suggested that AI has already moved beyond the experimental stage and is gradually becoming embedded in travel behavior. According to the Travel Trends 2026 report released by Agoda, 81% of Vietnamese travelers say they plan to use AI for their next trip – the highest level in Asia and well above the regional average of 63%. In practice, AI appears across different stages of the travel journey. In Vietnam, some of the most common uses involve applications that suggest tourist attractions and local activities or recommend restaurants and food experiences. Around 30% of users also rely on AI to build personalized itineraries or to translate languages in real time. Taken together, these figures suggest that AI is no longer perceived as a novelty. Instead, it is gradually becoming part of everyday digital behavior. Tourism has emerged as one of the sectors where the diffusion of […]