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For the best part of a decade, travel companies have behaved like proud parents showing off photos of their children. Only instead of kids, it was mobile apps.

“Have you downloaded our app yet?” became the industry’s equivalent of “Would you like to see little Johnny’s soccer trophies?”

Well, little Johnny may have just left home.

New research released ahead of this week’s TravelTech Show in London suggests travel’s long love affair with mobile booking apps is cooling rapidly as the industry races headlong into the brave and occasionally bewildering world of artificial intelligence.

The figures are striking.

Just seven per cent of travel operators are now integrating mobile booking apps or mobile-first innovations into their platforms, down dramatically from 30 per cent in 2025.

That’s not a gentle decline. That’s a cliff.

The findings, drawn from TravelTech Show’s annual survey of travel operators and buyers, point to an industry that has already ticked the “mobile app” box and is now turning its attention and investment budgets towards AI.

And plenty of money is heading in that direction.

Almost two-thirds of travel operators (64 per cent) plan to increase AI investment during the next 12 months, up from 52 per cent last year. The objectives are familiar to every travel executive trying to squeeze more value from every customer interaction: improve customer experience, drive loyalty, boost conversions and reduce costs.

In short, make more money while spending less. Accountants, as always, remain delighted.

The numbers suggest AI is already moving well beyond chatbot status.

Today, 43 per cent of operators are using AI as a booking assistant. Tomorrow, many expect it to become something much bigger.

Industry observers increasingly believe Agentic AI systems capable of making decisions and completing transactions on behalf of travellers could fundamentally reshape how holidays, flights and accommodation are bought.

That possibility raises an uncomfortable question for many travel brands.

If an AI assistant can search, compare, recommend and complete a booking within seconds, how important does a standalone app remain?

TravelTech Show Sales Manager Thauan (Ty) Albuquerque believes the answer will depend on whether apps continue to provide meaningful value.

“As AI and GEO-search continues to bear influence across customer browsing and booking journeys, it will be interesting to see how it also influences the future landscape of apps and mobile booking integration across the travel sector,” Albuquerque said.

“Operators need to strike the balance between more unified systems and rapidly evolving customer behaviours. Proving how and where they add value in the customer booking journey will be essential if apps are to keep pace with advancing AI solutions.”

While operators ponder the future of apps, travellers are already voting with their wallets.

Consumers increasingly expect flexibility in payments, and travel companies are responding.

The survey found adoption of multiple payment gateway options increased from 24 per cent to 27 per cent over the past year.

Virtual credit card integration recorded even stronger growth, rising from 17 per cent to 24 per cent.

Mobile wallets and one-click booking solutions also edged higher.

The trend is hardly surprising.

Travellers now order dinner, hail taxis, buy concert tickets and transfer money with a couple of taps on their phones. Waiting for cumbersome payment screens while booking travel increasingly feels as outdated as printing paper airline tickets, although many seasoned travel agents may still have a nostalgic soft spot for those little carbon-copy masterpieces.

But while technology promises simplicity, delivering it remains anything but simple.

Travel operators identified high transaction fees as the single biggest challenge facing booking and payment platforms, with 21 per cent of respondents citing them.

Integration complexity followed at 17 per cent, while user experience limitations accounted for a further nine per cent.

Anyone who has ever attempted to connect reservation systems, payment gateways, customer databases, loyalty platforms and accounting software will understand precisely why.

Travel technology can occasionally resemble an elaborate game of digital Jenga. Remove the wrong block and the entire structure threatens to collapse.

Payments giant Stripe believes even more disruption is on the horizon.

James Lemon, Stripe’s Global Industry Lead for Hospitality, Travel and Leisure, said innovation across travel payments is accelerating rapidly.

“2026 has seen an explosion of innovation across the travel ecosystem, fuelled by financial services, payment technology and AI,” Lemon said.

“Travellers are changing the way they discover, search, book and pay for travel, and the industry is preparing for agentic commerce playing out across new AI channels.”

Lemon also highlighted growing sophistication in virtual cards and emerging treasury technologies.

“Virtual cards are becoming more sophisticated and programmable, while innovative treasury tools and stablecoins are giving companies new ways to manage money digitally,” he said.

“Over the next few years, these will complement virtual cards in meaningful ways that are better for travellers, better for intermediaries, and better for suppliers. The most innovative travel companies are already moving fast to understand and adopt these software-first approaches to payments and money management.”

The message emerging from this year’s TravelTech Show is clear.

Mobile apps are not dead.

Far from it.

But for an industry famous for chasing the next shiny object, AI has unquestionably become travel technology’s newest first-class passenger.

And unlike some airline upgrades, this one appears unlikely to be oversold.