Where each generation sits
Squaremouth published survey data on 15 September 2026 that separates AI attitudes in travel planning by generation. The release is titled "Gen Z Are the Most Skeptical of AI-Powered Travel Planning, New Data Shows", and it carries a St. Petersburg, Florida dateline.
38.0% of Gen Z respondents strongly agreed that AI is integral to how they travel. Gen X sits at 55.7%, Millennials at 52.7%, and Boomers at 45.5%.
The spread between the top and the bottom of that set is 17.7 percentage points. Gen Z holds the lowest strong agreement of the four groups.
The number at the other end of the scale
31.0% of Gen Z strongly disagreed that AI is integral to their travel experience. Millennials sit at 24.6%, Boomers at 21.2%, and Gen X at 18.4%.
Gen Z therefore holds both the lowest strong agreement and the highest strong disagreement in the set.
Usage moved further than trust
The release reports that travellers who said they never used AI to plan a trip fell from 63.1% in 2025 to 27.6% in 2026. On those two values the share who had used it went from 36.9% to 72.4%.
Trust did not travel with usage. 16.7% of travellers reported high or complete trust in AI for tasks such as entering payment information or buying tickets, and 36.5% reported average trust.
What travellers want the tool to do
Squaremouth asked how travellers want AI used by travel insurance companies. 71.2% want plain-English summaries of what each plan covers, and 50.7% want a chat feature that answers coverage questions.
Jacquelline Mondelli, Chief Marketing Officer at Squaremouth, said travellers still want to make the important decisions themselves. She said they show more interest in AI that helps them understand their options than in AI that decides for them.
A second survey in the same week
Travel Market Report reported on 16 September 2026 on the Squaremouth data alongside a study by the tour operator Explore Worldwide. Explore polled North Americans over 50 who travel internationally at least once a year.
11% of that group said they would be very confident using AI to choose a destination and book a vacation, and 29% said they would be somewhat confident. Of the 60% who lacked confidence in AI for trip planning, 51% cited accuracy concerns, 39% expected generic information, and 38% cited a lack of personalisation. 58% said it was extremely or very important that someone who had visited the destination reviewed their itinerary.
Two figures to handle with care
The September release publishes no sample size, no fielding dates and no response count.
The 44% trust figure that circulates alongside this data belongs to an earlier Squaremouth release, dated 21 October 2025. That wave surveyed more than 2,500 travellers and asked whether they trust AI as much as traditional sources. The September 2026 release reports 16.7% high or complete trust and 36.5% average trust.
Travel Daily reported the September data on 18 September 2026 under a headline about travellers being least likely to use AI to plan a holiday. Squaremouth asked respondents whether they agree that AI is integral to how they travel, which is a narrower item.
The read for a daytime rate
The split does not set a daytime rate. It sets the channel a daytime offer travels through, and the copy that carries it.
71.2% want a plain-English summary of what a product covers. Write the window, the start and end hours, and the inclusions on the day-use page in those terms.
Gen X at 55.7% and Millennials at 52.7% clear half on strong agreement that AI is integral to how they travel. Gen Z at 38.0% and Boomers at 45.5% sit below it. Keep a staffed booking route open for the groups that score lower.
The figures measure attitudes rather than bookings, so no measured booking effect sits behind them. Read them as a channel decision, and hold the daytime offer inside the property's own pickup until its own numbers move.