How Social Media and AI Work together to Discover Travel

For a while, there have been individual debates about how artificial intelligence (AI) can change travel inspiration and how social media is ingrained in the travel planning process.

However, it is unclear how society and AI work together as the discovery process evolves over the long term.

There are currently two discovery paths, according to Adrian Villabruna, co-founder of Videoreo.

“Someone goes and searches for Barcelona. They will find local creators who know about Barcelona. That’s the way to socialize. Another way to say in a 2025 Phocuswire Studio panel interview.

But they were able to come together, according to Judith Eyck, chief operating officer of HolidayPirates Group.

“What I find very interesting is that AI comes to the inspiration phase,” EYCK said.

She is currently looking at two “teams.” One focuses on the creator side, and the other focuses on AI. “I want to bring these teams more together.”

Eyck said he imagines the process of travelers talking to agents that take social media history into account when generating recommendations.

“What I’m predicting is that my agent has one day been ‘working 60 hours this week. You’ve saved a lot of Instagram photos and reels about the mountains. Here’s a basic and beautiful trekking to Albania,” she said. “I think it’s a good combination of places you can go with discovery. It’s about bringing together AI and creators. That’s something I haven’t seen yet.”

Furthermore, AI can bring context to the table, and social brings inspiration.

“We believe that working with creators with user-generated content is actually a path forward, but AI can help you make your decisions easier,” she said. “I want to bring creation, social media and AI together… I want to learn ChatGpt from what I store on my social platform, so I can provide better recommendations.”

Some brands are looking for ways that two technologies can work together, including Expedia’s Trip Matching feature, which allows them to generate bookable itineraries based on Instagram content, and Tourradar’s Moments Feature.

However, when companies try to bring together society and AI, there can be hiccups.

Villabruna said she is looking at the challenges that arise from initiatives such as Expedia’s travel matching. “Creators are not compensated. I don’t think that will work if the creators are left behind.”

Executives also mentioned brand visibility, video bookings and ensuring ways for destinations to increase discoverability and benefits from first-party data.

Check out their full conversation with Phocuswire senior reporter Morgan Hines below.