IHG Hotels & Resorts has launched a dedicated app inside ChatGPT and confirmed plans to roll out conversational AI search across its own digital channels, in a move that reflects how quickly travellers are turning to artificial intelligence to plan and book their trips.
The new app allows ChatGPT users to search, compare and explore IHG’s portfolio of more than 7,000 hotels across over 100 countries. The chatbot recommends properties based on a traveller’s stated preferences, surfacing real-time availability, pricing, interactive maps and amenities, taking guests from initial discovery through to comparison in a single conversation. Once a hotel is chosen, users are directed to IHG’s own booking channels to complete their reservation, keeping the transaction firmly within the group’s direct ecosystem.
The launch comes as more than half of US travellers now use AI to plan trips, according to research from Phocuswright, a figure that has more than doubled since 2024 and represents what the analyst describes as the fastest behavioural shift in travel in a decade. For corporate buyers, however, trust in AI recommendations remains a significant hurdle, suggesting hotel groups still have work to do to convince managed travel programmes.
IHG also confirmed that conversational search will soon arrive on IHG.com and the IHG One Rewards app, allowing travellers to find hotels using natural language rather than fixed search fields and keywords. The group says the technology will understand the intent and context behind a query, smoothing the path from inspiration to reservation.
Jolie Fleming, chief product and technology officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “Guest expectations are evolving quickly, and we’re evolving with them. With more than one million guests staying with us every night around the world, we’re using AI to make the travel experience more seamless from planning and booking through to their stay. Pairing AI with the warmth of human hospitality ultimately helps us deliver a more exceptional live experience, one that feels personal, responsive and connected to each guest in the moment.”
The announcement, detailed in full by the group, is the latest step in IHG’s AI-led technology strategy and follows other recent digital booking initiatives, including the launch of a LINE MiniApp in Japan that lets users book IHG stays without leaving the messaging platform. It also lands amid a wider industry debate, explored at this year’s TravelTech Show, over whether AI is overtaking social media as the dominant force in travel discovery.
