The news. Mews, which sells an operating system for hotels, has released survey data from more than 3,200 travellers in eight countries. 89% want either a balanced mix of AI and human service, or AI working only behind the scenes on repetitive tasks. Humans were preferred over AI at all nine touchpoints tested. It is the vendor's own survey, so read it as a vendor's map, but the detail is worth the read.
Where people still win
The surprise is the taxi. Arranging one is the most automatable task on the list, and 44% of guests still chose a human, against 28% who chose AI. Room service came closest to an even split, at 50% human and 23% AI. Where judgement or trust is involved, the gap opens wide: 72% want a person at the bar and restaurant, 66% at the front desk welcome and 58% at check-in and key.
The people side runs deeper than preference. 75% of guests say good hospitality depends on human staff, whatever the technology behind it. 67% would worry about staff losing their jobs to AI. And 59% believe AI should take over repetitive tasks so that staff have more room to build trust with guests.
Mews founder Richard Valtr summed it up: "Guests are telling us exactly where they want AI and where they don't."
Read the sample before the headline
Two cautions. The eight countries are France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US, so there is not one Gulf or Egyptian traveller in the sample. And the conclusion Mews draws, that hotels need unified systems to use AI well, is also what Mews sells. Neither makes the touchpoint ranking wrong. Both are reasons to test it on your own clients before you build on it.
Why it matters for the agency
The line Mews draws for hotels is the right line for a travel desk. The client should meet a person at the moments that carry trust: the first conversation, and the day something goes wrong. AI belongs in the work the client never sees.
On the desks I ran, a large part of the day was that unseen kind of work: checking rates, chasing confirmations, matching paperwork with hotels. That is where I would put AI first. It is also the part this survey says guests are happy to hand over.
If your clients voted on every touchpoint of your desk, which ones would they keep human?
Source: Mews — 89% of guests want AI working behind the scenes, not running the front desk, Mews finds.