From planning a dream vacation to paying for it, two powerful shifts are redefining the way people travel: the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the growing popularity of flexible payment options. musafir.com, the region’s leading online travel platform, believes these forces will shape the future of travel and that success will come from combining technology with the human touch.
Across the industry, AI is moving from being a back-end enabler to the traveller’s starting point. Instead of endless browsing through dozens of tabs, younger travellers are increasingly turning to conversational AI tools for curated itineraries, visa advice, and destination comparisons. Global studies show that over 60% of UAE residents already use AI for trip planning, while 68% rely on it for bookings. Analysts warn that traditional search-driven traffic could decline sharply as travellers shift to “asking” AI rather than “searching” online.
For musafir.com this shift is already underway. The company’s WhatsApp bot is designed to make leisure travel planning faster and easier. It can instantly answer queries—such as checking visa requirements based on nationality and travel duration, or sharing detailed day-by-day itineraries and plans for various packages. To reassure customers, the bot can also automatically share Google reviews when questions about service quality arise, and it intelligently routes conversations to the right team. And when the request is more complex or requires a personal touch, the bot seamlessly transfers the chat to musafir.com’s human travel advisors—delivering both efficiency and the reassurance of expert guidance.
Alongside the power of AI, affordability is also being redefined. At musafir.com, there is a growing preference for flexible payment options such as ‘Travel Now, Pay Later’ (TNPL), particularly among Millennials and Gen Z who value experiences without the burden of upfront costs. Long-haul family trips to destinations across Europe and Asia are especially popular for installment-based bookings, supported through partnerships with fintech platforms and local banks.
“Travel aspirations are stronger than ever, and flexible payments are making them more achievable,” said Raheesh Babu, COO of musafir.com. “When you combine that with the personalisation AI promises, it’s clear the industry is headed toward smarter, more accessible travel experiences.”
“We believe the future of travel is a hybrid mode where AI delivers speed, transparency, and customisation, and human experts add empathy, contextual judgment, and cultural insight. At musafir.com, we’re already making that future real: from AI-powered itinerary generation and smart ticketing engines to our WhatsApp bot, document-scan visa assistant, and dynamic corporate travel dashboards all working behind the scenes. Meanwhile, our travel specialists step in where experience, judgment, and personal care matter most. In this way, we make travel simpler, smarter, and truly personal while constantly innovating and bringing new aspects to it”, says Vishal Arora, Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) of musafir.com.
As the UAE positions itself as a global hub for AI innovation, musafir.com sees the convergence of these two trends AI-driven travel planning and flexible financing as the foundation of the next chapter in travel. In this vision, travellers won’t just browse websites; they’ll have intelligent copilots guiding their decisions, supported by human expertise and payment solutions that make journeys easier to afford.
“Travellers don’t just want information they want insight. They don’t want complexity they want clarity,” added Babu. “The future of travel is AI-powered, human-supported, and financially flexible. At musafir.com, we’re building toward exactly that.” -TradeArabia News Service