The travel industry is entering a new phase. AI is becoming one of the ways investors judge whether a travel business can grow efficiently, protect its margins, and stay competitive over time.
The funding signals are already shifting. TNMT data shows that between 2020 and 2024, the share of AI startups in Travel and Mobility Tech matched or even beat the cross-industry average. In other words, travel is not falling behind the broader startup market. McKinsey also notes that AI startups received about 10% of travel VC funding in 2023, rising to around 45% in the first half of 2025. That jump points to a clear change: investors are no longer treating AI in travel as something for the future. They are starting to see it as part of the core operating model.
Why AI matters now
Travel is an industry full of fragmented workflows. A single trip can involve booking flights, hotels, local transport, activities, insurance, payments, contacting customer support, and making last-minute changes. For travelers, this creates friction. For travel companies, it adds up to operational costs.
AI can make a visible difference in the fragmented workflows. It can help travelers make decisions faster, surface more relevant products, and handle repetitive customer questions. For investors, the key is not whether a company “uses AI.” The real question is whether AI actually improves revenue, conversion, service quality, or cost structure.
The funding data already shows that the share of travel VC funding going to AI startups rose from about 10% in 2023 to roughly 45% in the first half of 2025. The investors are now looking for companies that use AI to change how travel products are distributed, sold, and operated day-to-day.
For example, Qubit notes that AI trip-planning tools can drive a 15% to 25% increase in cross-sell. It links personalization directly to revenue. A smarter recommendation engine is not just a prettier interface. It can help travel companies sell more relevant products at the right moment.
The rise of AI-native travel brands
A new type of travel company is also becoming easier for investors to spot: the AI-native travel agent or digital concierge.
McKinsey’s work on agentic AI describes systems that can understand traveler intent, compare options, and support users throughout the journey. Valtech points to companies such as MindTrip, Roam Around, Vacay, and GuideGeek as early examples of conversational, assistant-led travel discovery.
These companies sit close to the traveler’s decision-making process. That is why some AI-native travel startups can look more attractive than traditional peers. Qubit suggests that startups with embedded AI may earn valuation premiums of up to 30%. The logic is straightforward: investors are looking for companies with a new interaction model.
Still, not every AI travel assistant will turn into a strong business. Trip planning is easy to demo but hard to monetize. The real test is whether these products can move from inspiration to booking, support, retention, and measurable revenue. Investors will care less about the chatbot itself and more about whether the AI layer creates a defensible commercial advantage.
What this means for smaller travel brands
This shift creates both pressure and opportunity for smaller travel agents, tourism operators, and travel entrepreneurs.
Large companies can build internal AI systems or buy them. Smaller teams usually cannot. They often work with limited budgets and no dedicated engineering team. For them, “AI readiness” cannot mean a large transformation project. It has to mean practical tools that can be deployed quickly and tied to clear business outcomes.
This is where platforms like Atoms AI can make a difference. Instead of asking smaller operators to build AI systems from scratch, Atoms AI helps them create internal tools, launch landing pages, and add AI-powered customer service, without heavy engineering resources.
For a small travel business, the value is concrete. It might mean building a landing page for a new tour package, setting up an AI assistant to answer common customer questions, creating an internal dashboard for bookings, or launching Google Ads campaigns without hiring a full growth team. Atoms AI’s integrated ad agents can help run and optimize Google Ads, turning high-intent search traffic into a more consistent acquisition channel.
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Alex Chenglin Wu is the founder and CEO of DeepWisdom, launched by OpenManus, a VC-backed AI coding startup. The team is also behind MetaGPT and MGX. Its corporate website is: https://foundationagents.org/
DeepWisdom collaborates with Xiangru Tang, a PhD at Yale, primarily on co-authoring research papers. Also, the company conducted the Foundation Agent Survey with Xiaoliang Qi at Stanford: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01990
OpenManus is a VC-backed AI coding startup about to launch a vibe coding product to the global market: ATOMS. This ground-breaking product revolutionises business processes and helps build the AI economy.
Atoms deliver results that are 45% better than those of top proprietary tools, at up to 80% lower cost.
Atoms has reached No. 1 on Product Hunt! https://www.producthunt.com/products/atoms-5
On January 14th, Cathay Capital officially announced leading the current round of financing for DeepWisdom for Atoms, which has completed Series A and Series A+ financing, totalling $31 million.
On April 20th, Google Ads Agent (aka Adrian) was launched from its vibe coding solution, Atoms. This feature closes the final gap in the solo entrepreneurship stack, growth, for budget-constrained solo entrepreneurs, super individuals, and small business owners.
