Your New Personal Travel Agent
Imagine having a travel expert on call 24/7 who knows you love historical architecture, prefer vegetarian food, and want to find a quiet beach away from the crowds. That's essentially the promise of AI-powered trip planning. A growing number of Indian
travellers are now using artificial intelligence tools to move beyond simple flight and hotel bookings. They are using AI as a creative partner to brainstorm destinations, build detailed day-by-day itineraries, and discover experiences they might never have found otherwise. According to a 2026 report from Agoda, 68% of Indian travellers are likely to use AI to plan their next trip, highlighting a significant shift in how vacations are conceptualised. This isn't just about efficiency; it's about making travel deeply personal again.
From Vague Ideas to Vivid Itineraries
The real magic of using AI is its ability to translate a vague desire into a concrete plan. You can give a chatbot a prompt like, “Plan a 7-day romantic getaway in South India for under ₹60,000, focusing on scenic nature, good coffee, and less-touristy spots.” Within seconds, it can generate a potential itinerary complete with suggested towns, driving routes, and types of activities. These tools analyse vast amounts of data to suggest geographically optimised routes, saving you travel time between attractions. They can also cater to specific needs, such as a preference for a relaxed pace or identifying eco-friendly accommodation options. This is particularly useful for complex or multi-destination trips, turning hours of research across dozens of websites into a single, streamlined conversation.
The AI Travel Toolkit
Getting started is easier than you think. General-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini are powerful tools for initial brainstorming and itinerary building. The key is to be specific with your prompts. Include your travel dates, budget, who you're travelling with, your interests, and any must-haves or deal-breakers. Beyond these general tools, a new category of India-focused AI travel planners is emerging, such as Jaboi and Eia by Alike. These platforms often have a better understanding of Indian contexts, like train routes, vegetarian food filters, and budgets in rupees, which global tools might miss. Some even offer features like AI co-pilots for road trips that can help with fuel stops and offline maps for low-connectivity areas.
Why You Still Need a Human Touch
While AI is a revolutionary planning tool, it’s not infallible. One of the biggest risks is that AI can provide outdated or incorrect information, a phenomenon often called “hallucination.” An AI might confidently recommend a restaurant that closed two years ago or suggest unrealistic travel times between two points in a traffic-prone city. These tools lack the nuanced, on-the-ground experience of a human. They don't understand the 'vibe' of a place or the emotional context of a trip, such as celebrating a special occasion. Recent data shows that while many travellers use AI for initial discovery and research, final decisions are still heavily influenced by reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations from other people.
