- Adobe sees major growth in AI referrals to travel sites
- Rich, structured content is the best way to ensure AI engine visibility
- Hotels lead the way, airlines fail to be fully accessible to LLMs
Combined traffic analysis and market research led Adobe to see a 194% year-over-year increase in traffic to U.S. travel websites, and an even more astonishing 2,215% increase since it began tracking AI referrals in October 2024.
Data suggests that AI is being used for purposes far greater than research, as its use cases span planning, recommendations, packaging, and even budgeting.
While 86% of travelers believe AI has improved their trip planning experience, it’s clear that consumers are finding better recommendations, producing more personalized itineraries and having access to cheaper prices, making it a go-to for financially savvy consumers.
AI Traffic to Travel Sites Reveals Important Trend
While AI traffic still converts about 28% worse than traditional traffic, Adobe says this is changing and the gap has closed by almost 70% since October 2024. Now, AI-referenced users spend 70% more time on websites, are 21% more engaged, and have 41% lower bounce rates, which could translate into higher purchase intent.
With this in mind, travel sites must capitalize on this new type of traffic by optimizing pages for LLMs. Adobe says “rich, structured content” is due to the success hotel websites have already seen, but airline websites are lagging behind.
Adobe used its own AI Content Visibility Checker metrics to reveal that hotels and car rental companies perform better on homepage and product pages, but even then, about a third of content remains unreadable by AI.
“As consumer adoption of AI tools accelerates, brands need to ensure their digital presence is not only engaging for humans, but also fully accessible to machines,” the company summarized.
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