Planning a holiday used to mean scrolling through travel websites, asking friends for recommendations or calling a travel agent.
Increasingly, it can start with a simple question typed into an artificial intelligence tool.
Give AI your budget, destination, travel dates and interests, and within seconds it can produce an itinerary, suggest accommodation, recommend restaurants and activities and help compare options.
For South African travellers, artificial intelligence is beginning to change not only how holidays are planned but how destinations are discovered.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille highlighted this shift during the launch of Tourism Month in Durban, saying AI is already becoming part of the travel journey.
“Artificial intelligence is already influencing how travellers search for destinations, develop itineraries, compare experiences, translate information and make travel decisions,” De Lille said.
Global research suggests this is more than a passing trend
An Accenture survey of 18,000 consumers across 14 countries found that 80% of travellers are using AI tools for travel purposes, while more than half are willing to allow AI to manage their travel planning and bookings.
A November 2024 Statista survey found that one of the main reasons consumers use AI-based travel tools is to create itineraries tailored to their personal interests.
More than 40% of travellers globally are already using AI to plan trips, while more than 60% are open to doing so.
Younger travellers are leading the shift, with research across the US and Europe finding that 62% of Millennials and Gen Z travellers had used AI for travel planning, compared with 35% among older generations.
For South Africa, this presents a significant opportunity
De Lille said AI could help smaller tourism businesses reach audiences beyond their immediate geography.
“Imagine a small tourism operator in Limpopo whose experience can be discovered by a family sitting in Germany or India,” she said.
The same applies domestically. A traveller could ask AI to find an affordable weekend getaway, a family-friendly destination or a lesser-known cultural experience within driving distance of home.
This could put smaller accommodation providers, restaurants, tour operators and attractions in front of travellers who may never have discovered them through traditional searches.
“Technology should lower barriers to participation and not create new ones,” De Lille said.
AI is not without its limitations
An itinerary can look convincing while containing outdated prices, incorrect opening hours or recommendations that do not actually suit the traveller.
Travellers still need to verify availability, pricing and booking information before spending money.
This is where travel professionals remain important.
Rather than replacing travel agents, AI could become another tool they use to research destinations, compare options and personalise trips, while human expertise remains crucial when travellers need advice, problem-solving and destination knowledge.
For South Africans watching their holiday budgets, AI could also help compare options and build trips around a specific amount of money.
“Affordability matters. Accessibility matters. Awareness matters. And the relevance of the experiences we offer matters,” De Lille said.
But while AI may influence where people travel and how they plan, the minister believes technology should not replace the human experience.
“Tourism remains a human business,” she said.
“Technology may help someone discover South Africa. AI may help them plan their itinerary. A digital platform may help them make a booking. But what they remember will often be a person.”
For South African tourism, that may be the real opportunity.
AI can help travellers discover more, plan faster and potentially make better-informed choices.
But when the algorithm sends a traveller somewhere, it is the people, places and experiences waiting at the destination that will determine whether they want to come back.
zamandosi.cele@nationalmg.co.za