Mews Survey: Travelers Want AI to Track Room Rates, Not Plan Itineraries

Guests are comfortable with AI doing routine work for them, but most want to keep control of personal decisions, according to a new Mews survey with implications for how hotels deploy automation.

Mews surveyed 3,250 travelers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US in July 2026. Results were published on 15 October 2026.

Key findings

• Routine tasks: 63% would use AI to monitor room-rate drops and 56% for real-time translation.
• Personal tasks: 44% would use AI to plan an itinerary and 41% to personalize their room.
• Control: 57% would rather stay in control of their trip than hand decisions to AI acting on their behalf.
• Data sources: travelers are more comfortable with AI using information shared directly with a hotel, such as stated preferences (61%) and past stay history (56%), than data collected about them, such as online behavior (43%) or external and social data (34%).

Country differences

US travelers are most comfortable with AI using past stay history (63%). Spain is most swayed by data transparency (72%) and has the most positive overall attitude to AI (58%). UK travelers rate in-stay personalization least important (30% versus a 40% average). Italian travelers are most likely to expect check-in with no front desk (58% versus 42% average).

In every country surveyed, travelers were less willing to have AI act during a stay than to help them plan ahead.

What Mews recommends

Josef Starýchfojtů, CPTO of Mews, said leaders should first know "whether guests want a task done for them or want to be part of it," adding that getting this wrong makes even good AI feel intrusive. Mews advises hoteliers to automate administrative work, personalize based on what guests tell them directly, and decide deliberately which moments should stay human.