Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
AI-powered travel concierges promise frictionless journeys and radical personalization — yet trust remains their biggest failure. Only a tiny fraction of travelers are willing to let AI book autonomously. Why? Because today’s systems optimize transactions, not relationships. They know preferences, but not people. They recommend highlights, but miss meaning. As AI assistants in hospitality and travel race toward mainstream adoption, this session asks a more uncomfortable question: what is fundamentally missing in the algorithm? The answer lies beyond data and automation — in context, community, cultural intelligence, and human judgment. This session explores why current AI travel tools remain fragmented, siloed, and culturally shallow — and what it takes to evolve them into trusted companions rather than smart booking engines. We examine how hyper-personalization must expand beyond individual taste profiles to include local co-creation, community knowledge, ethical design, and shared value creation. Drawing on perspectives from technology, hospitality, and academia, the session challenges hotels, platforms, and destinations to rethink their role in an AI-mediated future. The core message is clear: trust is not coded — it is designed, governed, and earned. Those who fail to move beyond the algorithm risk becoming invisible in the next generation of travel experiences.
Moderator & Interviewer:
Dr. Jessika Weber-Sabil
Professor of Digital Transformation for Cultural Tourism
Breda University of Applied Sciences
Panel:
Klaas Koerten
Researcher Robotics
Hotelschool The Hague
Nicholas Hall
CEO
Digital Tourism Think Tank
Laurenz Schwarzhappel
Co-Founder & CEO
Global Living Apartments
Claire Robinson
Co-founder & Co-CEO
Region Lovers
Katerina Volchek
Professor
Deggendorf Institute of Technology
AI-powered travel concierges promise frictionless journeys and radical personalization — yet trust remains their biggest failure. Only a tiny fraction of travelers are willing to let AI book autonomously. Why? Because today’s systems optimize transactions, not relationships. They know preferences, but not people. They recommend highlights, but miss meaning. As AI assistants in hospitality and travel race toward mainstream adoption, this session asks a more uncomfortable question: what is fundamentally missing in the algorithm? The answer lies beyond data and automation — in context, community, cultural intelligence, and human judgment. This session explores why current AI travel tools remain fragmented, siloed, and culturally shallow — and what it takes to evolve them into trusted companions rather than smart booking engines. We examine how hyper-personalization must expand beyond individual taste profiles to include local co-creation, community knowledge, ethical design, and shared value creation. Drawing on perspectives from technology, hospitality, and academia, the session challenges hotels, platforms, and destinations to rethink their role in an AI-mediated future. The core message is clear: trust is not coded — it is designed, governed, and earned. Those who fail to move beyond the algorithm risk becoming invisible in the next generation of travel experiences.
Moderator & Interviewer:
Dr. Jessika Weber-Sabil
Professor of Digital Transformation for Cultural Tourism
Breda University of Applied Sciences
Panel:
Klaas Koerten
Researcher Robotics
Hotelschool The Hague
Nicholas Hall
CEO
Digital Tourism Think Tank
Laurenz Schwarzhappel
Co-Founder & CEO
Global Living Apartments
Claire Robinson
Co-founder & Co-CEO
Region Lovers
Katerina Volchek
Professor
Deggendorf Institute of Technology
