Research from Booking.com for Business has revealed which AI features command the highest trust and interest levels among professional travellers. Olivia Palamountain reports

A new survey from Booking.com for Business has found that more than half of business travellers embrace autonomous agents to plan and book trips.

What is more, a massive 89% trust AI systems that provide ultra-personalised travel recommendations. Real-time language translation services and automated expense tracking and reporting tied for second place in trust rankings, each earning confidence from 88% of respondents.

Language translation services help travellers break down communication barriers for smoother interactions, whilst automated expense tracking proves especially valuable for business travellers by automatically categorising budgets into areas such as food, travel and accommodation.

Meeting and event coordination ranked fourth with 87% trust, followed by travel itinerary planning and optimisation, and travel risk assessment and mitigation tools, both at 83%. Health and wellness monitoring applications and enhanced cyber protection each earned 78% trust from business travellers.

When examining which features generate the most interest, automated expense tracking and reporting topped the list with 47% of business travellers wanting to learn more about applications that streamline financial management during trips.

The desire for optimised travel experiences proved evident, with 45% of professionals seeking AI-driven solutions to plan and execute their itineraries efficiently. The research noted these applications prove especially useful for travellers visiting unfamiliar destinations.

AI's role in facilitating meeting and event coordination also gained prominence, with 45% of business travellers showing interest in technologies that simplify the organisation of professional gatherings.

Health and wellness monitoring applications attracted 42% interest, whilst enhanced cyber protection drew 35% interest from respondents. Notably, ultra-personalised travel recommendations (despite being the most trusted feature) generated interest from only 31% of travellers, suggesting this technology may already be widely understood or adopted.

Real-time language translation services and travel risk assessment tools completed the interest rankings at 28% and 30% respectively.

The findings suggest business travellers are increasingly comfortable with AI handling complex travel arrangements, particularly when it comes to personalisation and practical administrative tasks like expense management.