Abta has reported a sharp rise in the number of people using artificial intelligence for holiday inspiration, according to the UK trade association's latest consumer findings.

The headline is simple, and it lands squarely on the discovery end of the funnel. Travelers are increasingly turning to AI tools — software that generates recommendations and answers from prompts — before they ever reach an agent, a tour operator's site or a metasearch page.

Why does this matter for sellers of travel?

Inspiration is where demand is shaped. If AI chatbots and assistants now sit at the first touchpoint, the brands that surface in those answers gain a distribution advantage. The ones that don't, quietly lose share of the consideration set.

For agents and operators, the practical risk is disintermediation at the research stage — the customer arrives already primed with a destination, a hotel shortlist or an itinerary the machine wrote. The sale still happens somewhere. The question is whether it happens with you.

Abta's own position has been consistent: the trade body treats AI as a shift to monitor rather than a threat to panic over. Its consumer research tracks how booking behavior evolves, and a "sharp rise" in AI-led inspiration suggests the shift is no longer marginal.

What should the trade do with this?

The obvious read: sellers should make sure their inventory, content and pricing are legible to the AI systems that increasingly answer the "where should I go?" question. Structured content is the new shop window.

The second read is more sobering. A consumer inspired by a chatbot may book anywhere. Converting inspiration into revenue still depends on service, packaging and trust — the things agents have always sold.

Abta says it will continue tracking AI use in its ongoing consumer research. Expect the numbers to keep climbing.