AI could make holiday planning easier for overwhelmed travelers

Researchers at the University of Surrey found that generative AI serves as cognitive scaffolding for overwhelmed travelers by taking over coordination tasks and redistributing mental effort without stripping away decision-making control. Published in the Journal of Travel Research, the findings show that AI helps users initiate, navigate, and complete complex trip itineraries they might otherwise abandon. For faculty in hospitality, marketing, and psychology, this highlights how AI tools can reduce choice overload and create more cognitively inclusive consumer decision journeys.

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