NEW YORK, USA – The travel industry is entering a decisive new phase in which artificial intelligence, social media and connected technology will fundamentally reshape how trips are discovered, booked and managed, according to executives speaking at RateHawk Futurecast, the company’s flagship event marking its 10th anniversary.

Bringing together senior leaders from RateHawk, TikTok, Lufthansa City Center, Travelport and MakeMyTrip, the discussion centered on how travel businesses can remain competitive amid accelerating technological change, evolving consumer expectations and continued geopolitical uncertainty.

Opening the event, Astrid Kastberg, Managing Director of RateHawk, said that the pace of disruption across the travel sector continues to accelerate, creating both opportunity and uncertainty. She argued that long-term success will belong to companies capable of adapting quickly while maintaining confidence in their strategic direction.

Generation Z Is Redefining Travel Discovery

Panelists agreed that Generation Z is already reshaping travel demand through digital-first behavior. Rather than relying on conventional advertising, younger travelers increasingly trust authentic recommendations from creators, communities and fellow travelers across social media platforms.

Siiri Palisaar, Senior Director of Sales Steering at Lufthansa City Center, said travel advisors must actively participate in digital ecosystems by creating original content and engaging customers where they spend most of their time online.

Despite the growing influence of algorithms, Palisaar argued that professional travel advisors are becoming more—not less—valuable. As consumers face an overwhelming number of travel options, advisors equipped with richer customer data can deliver highly personalized recommendations and help travelers navigate increasingly complex choices.

APIs and AI Become the Industry’s New Infrastructure

Executives identified application programming interfaces (APIs) as one of the most important building blocks for the next generation of travel distribution.

Sinéad Reilly, Senior Director of Global Enterprise Sales at Travelport, said that combining APIs with cloud computing and artificial intelligence will enable more standardized, connected and personalized travel content while reducing fragmentation across booking systems.

Ilya Kravtsov, Chief Commercial Officer of Emerging Travel Group, predicted growing demand for API-based solutions as travel businesses increasingly outsource complex supplier integrations in favor of technology partnerships that allow them to focus on customer acquisition and service. He also revealed that the company is beta testing a Demand Shift intelligence platform designed to identify emerging travel trends and demand patterns before they become mainstream.

Agentic AI Moves From Experimentation to Execution

Artificial intelligence emerged as the central theme of the conference, with speakers emphasizing that businesses should begin implementing AI immediately rather than waiting for the technology to mature.

Felix Shpilman, President and CEO of Emerging Travel Group, encouraged companies to automate routine workflows incrementally, learn through practical deployment and expand successful applications over time.

Kravtsov stressed that while agentic AI will increasingly handle research, routine decision-making and operational tasks, human professionals will remain indispensable in situations requiring judgment, empathy and contextual understanding.

The message closely mirrors broader industry research. According to recent Phocuswright analysis, 61% of travel companies are already experimenting with or scaling agentic AI, while 2026 is increasingly viewed as the industry’s transition from AI experimentation to operational deployment. Research also suggests that AI-powered travel planning has entered mainstream consumer behavior, with more than half of active travelers now using AI during trip planning or booking.

Industry Outlook

The Futurecast discussions reinforce a growing consensus across the travel sector: competitive advantage will increasingly depend on integrating AI, cloud technologies and APIs into everyday operations while strengthening—not replacing—the human expertise that travelers continue to value.

Released alongside the event, RateHawk’s joint white paper with PhocusWire outlines ten structural trends expected to shape the global travel industry over the coming decade, including agentic AI, social-first travel discovery, technology partnerships, resilient distribution networks and personalized customer experiences.