AI becomes "assistant" in planning
In just about 15 minutes, Ms. Tu Anh (25 years old, Hanoi) completed most of her plan for a 4-day Da Nang trip. Instead of opening dozens of browser tabs as before, she entered quite detailed requests into ChatGPT or Gemini applications: Budget of 10 million VND for 2 people, liked a cafe with a beautiful architecture, wanted to avoid places that were too crowded and spent an afternoon exploring local culture.
In just a few seconds, the applications have given daily schedules, suggested travel options, sightseeing times and a list of suitable locations. You just need to adjust some points according to your preferences before booking a service.
I no longer spend a whole week looking for information. AI helps me have an initial plan very quickly, and choosing where to go or which point to drop is still my decision," Ms. Tu Anh shared.
The above story is reflecting the increasingly popular trend of many Vietnamese tourists. AI is no longer just an information search tool but gradually becomes a "travel assistant" to accompany from the time the trip was still on paper.
According to a trend report released by Booking.com, 82% of Vietnamese tourists believe that AI makes travel planning easier and less stressful. Meanwhile, 64% said that this technology significantly saves time searching for information and preparing for the trip.
Notably, AI is used most to find suggestions for activities, attractions, restaurants (50%), compare travel options (46%) and find suitable accommodation (43%). In addition, many people also use AI to research destination culture, build detailed schedules, manage budgets or prepare luggage.
These figures show that the behavior of tourists is shifting from proactively searching for each information source to using AI to synthesize and filter data before making a decision.
Experience is still the deciding factor
A noteworthy point from the survey is that AI not only helps shorten preparation time but also gradually changes the way tourists make decisions.
49% of people who have used AI said that the suggestions they receive are highly personalized, suitable for their personal style and travel preferences. Meanwhile, 64% assessed that this technology significantly reduces the time spent learning information and planning.
Instead of just looking up a specific location, many tourists are using AI as an "assistant" to accompany them throughout the journey preparation process. 47% use AI to study the destination in depth, from culture, history to books, movies or stories related to the locality. About 42% ask AI to build daily schedules, while 41% use technology to prepare luggage, learn about customs, rules of conduct or manage budgets and hunt for incentives.
However, the development of AI does not mean that tourists are willing to hand over all decisions to technology. In the group that has never used AI, 34% said they like to plan on their own and do not need AI support. 31% still prioritizes referring to real-world experiences from people who have been to the destination, while 30% admit they are not used to applying AI when preparing for the trip.
These figures show that AI is changing tourist behavior towards optimizing information search and planning processes, but the personal experience factor still plays an important role.
Instead of completely replacing humans, AI is being seen by many tourists as a tool to help handle time-consuming tasks, so that they can focus more on choosing experiences that suit their preferences.
