![\"AI](\"https:\/\/www.breakingtravelnews.com\/images\/sized\/images\/uploads\/operator\/Panel_Juniper_Summit-300x0.JPG\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n
Artificial Intelligence is shifting power in travel distribution away from visibility and toward trust, redefining how travelers discover, evaluate and book experiences.<\/p>\n
Rather than eliminating intermediaries, AI is reshaping where value \u2014 and control \u2014 sits across the travel ecosystem. As travelers increasingly rely on AI assistants to plan trips, the industry is moving from a search-driven model to one where algorithms decide what gets seen \u2014 and what gets sold.<\/p>\n
That shift was at the center of discussions during the panel \u201cAI, Personalization & the Future of Distribution in Travel Experiences\u201d, held at the Juniper Summit in the Palma Convention Center.<\/p>\n
Moderated by Rub\u00e9n Guti\u00e9rrez, the session brought together executives from Civitatis, TUI Musement, Juniper Group, NexusTours, Bridgify and Transferz.<\/p>\n
AI becomes the new gatekeeper<\/p>\n
As AI intermediates the discovery process, traditional visibility is losing relevance. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer about who appears first in search results, but about who AI trusts,\u201d said Andr\u00e9s Spitzer, CEO at Civitatis.<\/p>\n
He noted that as AI increasingly mediates discovery and decision-making, companies must rethink how they make themselves \u201clegible\u201d to algorithms, while continuing to strengthen brand equity in parallel.<\/p>\n
In this environment, companies must ensure their content is structured and accessible to AI systems, while simultaneously building strong brands and delivering consistently high-quality products. Without these elements, even the largest inventories risk becoming invisible.<\/p>\n
Spitzer emphasized that this shift elevates the importance of product quality and verified user feedback. With more than five million reviews on the platform, he argued that real customer experiences are becoming a key input for both human and algorithmic trust.<\/p>\n
Distribution is still the weakest link<\/p>\n
Despite years of innovation, distribution remains one of the most fragmented areas of the travel value chain.<\/p>\n
Fernando Santos from TUI Musement argued that the industry continues to focus too heavily on one-time conversions, rather than engaging travelers throughout their journey. \u201cAI allows us to deliver the right product to the right customer at the right time \u2014 not just once, but multiple times,\u201d noted Santos, highlighting the role of AI in contextualizing offers across different touchpoints.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Fernando Santos mentioned that while AI is transforming how products are created \u2014 from demand forecasting to resource allocation \u2014 the experience itself remains unchanged. \u201cThe delivery will remain intrinsically human. That\u2019s what customers are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
From a demand perspective, David Rebolledo, Omnichannel Director at NexusTours, highlighted how AI is reshaping how travel expertise is accessed and applied at scale. \u201cWhat used to require specialist knowledge can now be delivered through AI, making it easier for travelers to make better decisions with less friction.\u201d Rebolledo added that this shift is also changing user expectations, with travelers increasingly expecting instant, tailored responses rather than navigating traditional interfaces. \u201cThe goal is to reduce friction and help travelers understand in real time what they can expect, so they can book with more confidence and less effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
From scale to relevance<\/p>\n
The rise of AI is also challenging another long-standing industry assumption: that scale alone creates competitive advantage – even with broad global coverage and fast access to new supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to give travelers a library; we want to give them the right book\u201d said Amit Shamni, Co-Founder and CEO at Bridgify. \u201cAs an industry, our job is to make sure the right product is actually there when the customer clicks\u201d<\/p>\n
As AI-driven interfaces replace traditional browsing, distribution is shifting from catalog-based models to intent-driven curation, where relevance and context determine what gets surfaced to the traveler.<\/p>\n
This is accelerating the adoption of dynamic bundling, connecting experiences, transport and events into a single, more valuable proposition.<\/p>\n
Interfaces are disappearing<\/p>\n
Alongside distribution, user behavior is also changing rapidly.<\/p>\n
Travelers are moving away from browsing and toward interacting directly with AI through chat and voice. The expectation is no longer to navigate options, but to receive immediate, tailored answers.<\/p>\n
As Spitzer noted during the session, once users become accustomed to interacting with AI, \u201cit becomes very hard to go back\u201d to traditional interfaces.<\/p>\n
From a business perspective
Jaime Sastre, CEO of Juniper Group, framed AI not as a single-layer improvement but as a structural shift across three levels of the ecosystem. \u201cAt the supplier level, AI will help reduce costs and improve operational efficiency,\u201d he explained. \u201cAt the distribution level, it will accelerate connectivity by making integrations faster and more scalable. And at the orchestration layer, it will unlock new ways of connecting products across the ecosystem, particularly through cross-selling and contextual recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sastre emphasized that the industry is still in an experimental phase. \u201cThe future is not written. What we are seeing today is based on what we have tested and learned so far, but it is up to the industry to define how this evolves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Desiree Kats, Head of Partnerships at Transferz, cautioned that AI-driven transparency is increasing competitive pressure in commoditized segments such as ground transportation. \u201cWhen all options are visible side by side, differentiation becomes harder and pricing pressure increases,\u201d she said. At the same time, she argued that AI is raising expectations around integration and service quality on the B2B side, where seamless workflows and reliable connectivity can become key factors in retaining partners. \u201cCompanies that integrate AI into their operations are better positioned to stay competitive, even if they are not the cheapest option,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The rise of agent-to-agent distribution<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, panelists expect a structural shift in how travel is bought and sold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the next two to three years, 15% to 20% of bookings could happen through AI agents, chatbots or voice,\u201d said Shamni.<\/p>\n
If that prediction holds, distribution will increasingly move away from human interfaces toward machine-to-machine interactions, further reinforcing the importance of structured data and trusted sources.<\/p>\n
Trust becomes the ultimate differentiator<\/p>\n
As AI takes on a greater role in decision-making, trust is emerging as the defining factor in travel distribution.<\/p>\n
Spitzer summed it up clearly: \u201cWe don\u2019t sell experiences \u2014 we sell memories. And those memories need to be real, repeatable and trustworthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a landscape increasingly mediated by AI, competitive advantage will belong to companies that can consistently deliver trusted, high-quality experiences \u2014 not only to travelers, but to the algorithms shaping demand.<\/p>\n
Closing the session, Rub\u00e9n Guti\u00e9rrez called for greater collaboration across the industry. \u201cWe are still operating in a fragmented ecosystem, and we are losing too much energy on inefficiencies,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we work together and focus on transparency and integration, the opportunity to grow is enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n