Some years pass without leaving a mark… and then there’s 2026.
A year in which travelers change, the industry changes, and technology changes. A year in which the question is no longer “Where am I going?” but “What do you recommend for me, right now?”
And that’s where it all begins.
Because after the whirlwind of 2024–2025, travelers arrive in 2026 with a different mindset. They want less noise, less stress, less endless comparisons. They want clarity. They want context. They want purpose. And above all, they want to be guided. Not because they can’t search, but because they no longer want to.
AI has become that co-pilot who accompanies them from inspiration to the last kilometer. And the industry is inevitably turning to it.
A traveler who moves fast, decides fast, and lives with purpose
2026 is the year of the traveler who changes plans according to extreme weather, fluctuating prices, or the time they have before the rain starts. They are travelers who live in a more volatile world… and respond with more agile decisions.
They are also travelers who seek depth: honest cuisine, real wellness, culture that goes beyond the surface, sustainability you can touch with your hands. They don’t want souvenirs: they want meaning.
And in this quest, AI becomes a beacon. Because when Forbes says that artificial intelligence will reinvent the way we travel, what they are really saying is that the experience will become personal. Personal and precise. Personal and contextual. Personal and alive.
From tab chaos to the calm of a recommendation
For years, traveling was a marathon of tabs. Open, close, compare, repeat. A journey before the journey. In 2026, that model collapses. AI no longer shows you “everything there is,” it tells you “this is what you need.”
And it does so in a way that feels natural: text, map, images, weather, schedules, optimized routes, events starting in two hours, alternatives if it rains, recommended neighborhoods based on how you like to experience the city. A continuous, multimodal, and simple conversation.
Users no longer enter Google with an open-ended question. They enter a conversational interface with a direct intention. And the industry learns to respond in that language.
Even visibility is changing. Traditional SEO is losing ground to conversational SEO, the new “position zero” where brands don’t fight for a ranking but to be found by an assistant, not by a listing.
It’s a quiet change… but a tectonic one.
Destination content: from “what is” to “what is happening now”
AI cannot invent what it does not know. It needs reliable, up-to-date, and structured sources. This is where destination content ceases to be static and becomes something alive.
2026 brings fierce demand for information by the second: whether that museum is full, whether there is an impromptu food fair, whether the wind is forcing a beach to close, whether the neighborhood you are going to will be celebrating that night. The user wants to know now, not tomorrow.
And this is why dynamic content (events, crowds, weather, closures, festivities) goes from being an “extra” to becoming the basis for discovery.
At Smartvel, we see it every day: the experiences most valued by travelers are not “top 10” lists, but recommendations with meaning, date, consistency, and context. What’s happening today, what will happen tomorrow, what’s relevant to you.
New travel patterns in 2026
Something is changing in the way we travel: it is no longer just about big trips, but about short getaways that serve as a breather. Short, frequent, and flexible trips that adapt to changing schedules. Trips that are built around what matters: sports, health, gastronomy, nature, intimate culture.
Travelers no longer want a generic trip; they want their trip. That’s why hyper-personalization is no longer a promise but a reality. Every recommendation responds to a micro-profile. Every plan has a reason.
Meanwhile, the world remains volatile: unpredictable weather phenomena, sensitive economies, and new green taxes that change routes and decisions. Everything forces us to travel in a more fluid, dynamic, and reactive way. And that’s where AI shows its strength: it accompanies you, adjusts to you, makes suggestions, and alerts you.
The era of LLMs: the new heart of travel
In 2026, AI is no longer a complement but becomes the layer that connects everything: inspiration, planning, logistics, security, reservations, itineraries.
Travelers’ questions become more human:
- “I want a neighborhood with good energy and quiet cafes.”
- “I have three days. What route do you recommend without rushing?”
- “I’m traveling with children. What plan will make us happy today with this weather?”
And AI responds with data, images, maps, and alternatives. It doesn’t guess: it relies on verifiable content. On traceable data. On trusted sources.
This is where reliable APIs cease to be just a technical connector and become the backbone of AI-assisted travel. But in 2026, it will no longer be enough to simply offer data: models will begin to rely on architectures such as MCP (Model Context Protocol) and formats such as llm.txt, which allow AI to understand, consult, and validate information in a more accurate and traceable way.
In this new scenario, content providers such as Smartvel not only provide data: they provide structure, context, and verifiability, feeding LLMs with the live information they need to give reliable recommendations. And this implies a greater commitment. Because to stay relevant, providers are practically “forced” to have dedicated research teams capable of anticipating new capabilities, experimenting with new standards, and developing integrations that help companies solve their biggest challenge in 2026: being visible and findable within LLMs.
Smartvel fits naturally here: it not only feeds AI, but also evolves at its own pace.
Marketing 2026: inspire, guide, convert in a single gesture
Tourism brands can no longer communicate in the same way as before. Marketing is no longer linear; it has become contextual. Everything depends on who you are, where you come from, what interests you, and what is happening at your destination right now.
Landing pages adapt to the climate, campaigns are tailored to the country of origin, and CTAs change depending on your stage of the journey. Inspiration does not exist on its own: it lives one click away from action.
Content is no longer static and is integrated into the entire digital strategy. It is no longer something that “is” on a website: it is something that transforms, that adapts to the recipient, the time of year, the weather on that day, the traveler’s tastes, their previous trips, and their way of discovering the world. It is content that breathes within each campaign, each advertisement, and each conversation, changing its tone, its order, and even its purpose according to the context of each user.
2026 is the year when brands understand that inspiration is no longer at the beginning of the funnel. It is at every point along the way.
Maps return to center stage
If 2020 was the year of video and 2023 the year of short content, 2026 is the year of the map.
Users no longer want endless lists; they want to see, locate, and feel the city as if they were walking through it.
The map becomes the primary interface: an intuitive way to discover neighborhoods, clusters, recommended areas, actual distances, and optimized routes. The traveler starts here… and often ends here too.
The industry is returning to the map not out of nostalgia, but because the map better responds to how we make decisions in a fast-paced world.
How tourism brands should prepare
The change is not small. But it is clear.
Brands that want to be relevant in 2026 must transform themselves from within: updated proprietary content, inspiration integrated across all channels, live itineraries, interactive maps, hyper-contextualized segmentation. Marketing that combines climate, season, behavior, and real data.
And above all, they must prepare for something decisive: visibility in the age of LLMs. If AI can’t find you, you don’t exist. If your content isn’t structured, it won’t be used. If your information isn’t verifiable, it won’t be recommended.
This is where partnerships become strategic. And where providers like Smartvel become key pieces of the digital travel infrastructure.
Conclusion: 2026 is the year of guided travel
2026 marks the definitive step towards travel where AI accompanies, recommends, and contextualizes; where dynamic content defines the experience; where brands that fail to adapt will become invisible.
It is a year that transforms both the traveler and the industry. And it is also a year full of opportunities for those who know how to ride this wave of change. Because if anything defines the travel of the future, it is this:
- Less searching, more guidance.
- Less noise, more relevance.
- Less effort, more experience.
Smartvel is well positioned on this path: verified data, structured APIs, maps, itineraries, and programmatic content that evolves at the pace of each destination.
Travel is changing. And we are ready to guide it.
SOURCES
Booking.com – Travel Predictions 2025–2026 -> Travel Predictions 2026 – Travel on your terms (Booking.com)
Explore Worldwide – Travel Trends 2026 -> Travel Trends 2026 (Explore Worldwide) (exploreworldwide.eu)
SmartFlyer – 2026 Travel Trends -> 2026 Travel Trends Report (SmartFlyer) (SmartFlyer)
Expedia Group – Unpack ’26 -> Unpack ’26 – consumer-facing hub (expedia)
Skyscanner – Travel Trends 2026 -> Skyscanner Travel Trends hub (Skyscanner)
Forbes – IA y viaje 2026 -> How AI Will Reimagine Travel In 2026: From Dreaming To Doing (Forbes)
