For decades, travel marketing followed a fairly predictable path. Consumers dreamed about a trip, searched for flights, compared hotels and eventually booked.

The funnel was not perfect, but it was recognizable. That model is changing quickly.

Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how consumers discover, plan and book travel. At the same time, experiences — concerts, sporting events, festivals, food, culture and once-in-a-lifetime moments — are increasingly becoming the reason people travel in the first place. For Hilton , that creates both an opportunity and a challenge: how to remain a trusted travel brand when the front door to the journey may no longer be a traditional search engine, travel site or direct booking path.

Mark Weinstein, Hilton’s Chief Marketing Officer, sees AI as more than another marketing tool. He sees it as the beginning of a new ecosystem.

AI Is Still In The Very Early Innings

Weinstein believes the conversation around AI has matured. The industry has moved from debating whether AI matters to asking how it can transform business, improve efficiency and reshape customer engagement.

“It’s gone from, you know, is it a thing, actively fighting and resisting, to now talking about the implications of it,” Weinstein said.

But he also cautions that much of the conversation is still too narrow. Generative AI is getting most of the attention, while the larger implications of agentic AI — systems that may eventually act on behalf of consumers — are still emerging.

“I do think, as a marketer, we’re going to be in a world for the rest of my career, at least, where you have two different marketing missions,” Weinstein said. “One is marketing to humans, and one is marketing to the agents.”

That is a major shift for travel brands. In the past, brands had to persuade consumers directly. In the future, they may also need to influence the AI systems that help consumers make decisions.

The risk is that AI could reduce travel decisions to the most rational and commoditized variables: price, location and availability. That may be useful, but it does not fully capture why people choose one hotel brand over another.

As Weinstein put it, AI is “not intelligent, it’s just finding patterns.” If AI concludes that travel decisions are only about proximity and price, brands lose the emotional and trust-based dimensions that make them valuable.

Trust Becomes More Important, Not Less

In an AI-powered travel world, trust may become even more important than it is today.

Consumers may use AI tools for inspiration, planning and comparison, but Weinstein believes most people are not yet ready to hand over the entire travel decision. They may ask AI to help build an itinerary, narrow choices or find options, but the human still wants to make the final call.

That creates an important role for established brands.

Hilton’s challenge is not just to show up in AI-driven discovery, but to make sure the brand’s meaning shows up correctly. If an AI agent is evaluating options, it needs to understand that travelers do not make decisions based only on functional variables. Loyalty, past experiences, brand affinity, safety, recognition and confidence matter.

“The key for us is making sure that as the agent looks at the corpus of information that’s out there, it doesn’t distill down decisions to the very rational,” Weinstein said. “The irrational becomes part of the decision-making, which is people’s affinity for the brands in their lives.”

That idea is particularly important in travel, where the cost of a bad decision is high. A consumer may take a chance on an unknown product in a low-stakes category. A family vacation, business trip or international stay is different.

A hotel is not just a room. It is part of the promise of the trip.

The Travel Funnel Is Less Linear

Another major shift is that travel planning is becoming less linear.

Historically, consumers often started with transportation. They booked a flight, then found the hotel and built the rest of the trip around it. Today, more consumers are starting with the experience.

They want the football ticket, concert seat, Formula 1 access, food festival, cave tour, cultural moment or exclusive event first. Once that scarce experience is secured, the rest of the trip gets built around it.

Weinstein described this as a rational and emotional shift.

“The most scarce item is the thing that you need to secure first,” he said. “In a time 20 years ago, that was the flight. Now the problem is, can I get the concert ticket I want? Can I get the F1 ticket I want? Can I get the football ticket I want?”

That changes the role of hotel brands. The hotel may no longer be the first decision, but it remains central to whether the trip works. If consumers are determined to attend an event or experience, they may be willing to stay farther away, adjust transportation or consider different lodging formats.

The trip is anchored by the experience. The hotel helps make the experience possible.

The Experience Economy Is Reshaping Travel

The rise of experience-led travel is not just a post-pandemic trend. It reflects a broader change in consumer behavior.

People increasingly want trips that produce memories, stories and social currency. Some want the iconic moment their friends have already posted. Others want the rare experience no one in their circle has had.

Weinstein said consumers are looking for “the Instagrammable, repeatable moment that all my friends have had, or the never-been-done-before that nobody else in my family or my circle has ever experienced before.”

That creates opportunities for hospitality brands that can move beyond the room without losing sight of the importance of the stay. Hilton does not need to become something other than a hotel company. But it does need to understand that the hotel is part of a larger journey.

The stay and the experience are increasingly intertwined.

Loyalty Still Matters In An AI World

Even as travel becomes more emotional and AI-enabled, Weinstein believes loyalty remains central.

Hilton Honors is not just about points. It is about value, recognition and confidence. The rational benefit of earning points or redeeming for a free night is still important. But the emotional benefit may be just as powerful.

“There’s nothing more than mom or dad being the hero because they get upgraded in front of their kids at that important trip,” Weinstein said.

That is where loyalty becomes more than a transaction. It becomes part of the emotional architecture of the trip. Members want value, but they also want to feel known, recognized and cared for.

In an AI-driven marketplace, loyalty programs may also help brands signal preference and trust. If a consumer has a relationship with Hilton, that relationship should matter when AI tools help evaluate future travel choices.

Marketing To Humans And Machines

For travel marketers, the next era will require a broader playbook.

Brands will still need storytelling, content, partnerships, creators and emotional resonance. But they will also need to make sure their value is legible to machines. That means the internet’s broader ecosystem — social platforms, reviews, creators, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest and other signals — becomes even more important.

Weinstein said Hilton can no longer assume it controls the front door.

“The funnel’s gone,” he said. “We no longer have the ability to assume we can control where the front door’s going to come from.”

That may be the most important takeaway. AI will not eliminate the need for brands. It will likely raise the bar for brands to be clearer, more trusted and more emotionally relevant.

For Hilton, the future of travel marketing is not simply about better technology. It is about making sure trust, loyalty and brand meaning carry forward into a world where both humans and AI agents influence the journey.

The hotel stay still matters. But how travelers get there — and why they choose one brand over another — is being rewritten.