Chinese Outbound Travel, Travel Innovations, Agentic AI and Airlines: Ask Skift's Most Popular Questions
Here are three of the most common questions our answer engine Ask Skift 2.0 has fielded recently and a brief summary of the responses it gave.
How is Chinese Outbound Travel Evolving in 2025?
A growing percentage of Chinese travelers are going abroad for the first time. China Trading Desk's second-quarter survey revealed that 44% of Chinese travelers are making their first international trips, up six percentage points from the previous quarter.
Chinese travelers are also, in general, finalizing their travel decisions closer to departure time. A survey by China Trading Desk in April found roughly 77% of bookings made by Chinese travelers are within one month of the trip and 46% are within two weeks.
In addition, booking trends reveal a growing diversification in outbound travel preferences. Although locations such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea remain the most popular outbound destinations for Chinese travelers, Skift reported in April that data from online travel platform Fliggy revealed a year-over-year doubling of booking volumes to Iceland, Morocco, Norway, and Georgia.
What Are the Latest Innovations in Travel Apps and Platforms?
Google rolled out a new "AI Mode" for Search in May, an update that enables users to ask nuanced, multi-part travel questions — such as "Things to do in Nashville this weekend with friends, we're big foodies who like music but also more chill vibes and exploring off the beaten path."
Google's AI can also access Gmail and past search data to suggest more personalized travel recommendations and even build itineraries from a traveler's bookings.
Skift reported in May that Kayak launched a new AI-powered trip planner called Kayak.ai. The user can initiate a travel search and save flight and hotel options to book later and share them with others. The chatbot also has access to ChatGPT and its web search function for questions beyond Kayak's flight and hotels.
And Apple announced in June that digital passports — which can be used when age and identity verification are required — would be coming to the iPhone's digital Wallet starting this fall.
Apple is also integrating live translation into the apps for Messages, FaceTime, and Phone, and the company said AI can generate spoken translation between two people speaking different languages during calls on the Phone app — even if one of those people isn't using an iPhone.
What Are the Key Trends Observed in the Adoption of Agentic AI Within the Airline Industry?
Agentic AI is increasingly being deployed at the heart of customer-facing tools. Qatar Airways has launched an AI-powered travel agent that assists with booking and trip planning while Delta has unveiled an AI-powered assistant on its app called Delta Concierge that can provide proactive trip planning and passport and visa notifications.
United Airlines' Connection Saver AI system automatically provides passengers updates about delays and connections. Skift reported in March that more than half of United's customers who experienced a cancellation in the fourth quarter resolved their issues through the carrier's automated solutions or self-service.
Airlines — including Southwest Airlines and Ryanair — have also used AI to automate marketing campaigns and ancillary revenue management, optimizing everything from personalized offers to operational messaging. And IAG is utlizing AI to aumoted the scheduling, maintenance, and reporting for Vueling, one of the airlines it owns.
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