AI is no longer a future trend for attractions. It's already shaping how guests find venues, get answers to their questions, and decide where to spend their time and money.
ROLLER’s 2026 Pulse Report, based on responses from 1,500 attraction guests across the US, UK, and Australia, shows that guests are already comfortable using AI to plan their visits.
If you're still deciding whether AI belongs in your guest experience, this is your sign that guests have already made that decision for you. Here's what we learned about how guests are using AI, what they expect from it, and what operators need to do to keep up.
Guests are already comfortable with AI
The biggest shift in this year's report is how quickly AI has gone from novel to normal in the guest journey. 54.07% of guests have already used an AI assistant to help plan or book a visit. Another 34% haven't used AI yet but are interested in trying it, meaning nearly 9 in 10 guests are either already using AI or open to it.
Comfort levels are even higher than usage. 69% of guests say they'd feel comfortable using an AI assistant to book tickets, which tells us the demand for AI experiences is actually running ahead of what most venues are currently offering.
Key takeaway:
The question isn't whether your guests will use AI. Most already are and the rest are ready to. The real question is whether your venue will be one of the experiences that meets them there. Operators that move first will set the bar for everyone else.
AI is reshaping how guests discover your venue
Search engines are still the most common starting point for discovery: 44.33% of guests say they start their research on a search engine when looking for a new attraction. But the discovery journey is fragmenting fast. 28.87% start on social media, 14.53% on a review platform, and 7.73% are already starting their search with an AI assistant.
What matters even more is what happens after the search. 82.07% of guests would use an AI-generated summary as part of their decision-making. 43% of guests would check the venue's site afterwards, and 39.07% would be happy to use the summary alone. The AI summary is increasingly the first impression your venue makes, often long before a guest visits your website.
Key takeaway:
AI summaries draw from your website, your listings, and your reviews. If those sources are outdated, inconsistent, or wrong, the summary will be too, and you won't know it happened until the booking never shows up. Hours, pricing, activities, and address need to be accurate and consistent across every platform AI pulls from.
Speed is the new baseline
Guests have gotten used to instant responses everywhere else in their lives, and they expect the same from your venue. 43.47% of guests expect a response from an attraction's chat function instantly (within seconds), and another 38.13% expect a reply within a minute. Combined, 81.60% of guests expect near-immediate replies.
A response that arrives "only" a few minutes later might feel fast to your team. But in the guest's head, they've already searched for an alternative, asked the question elsewhere, or booked with a competitor down the road.
Key takeaway:
AI assistants and chat tools deliver the speed guests now expect, answering inquiries 24/7 without requiring your team to be glued to a screen. If your current support model relies on staff being available, your guest experience is already lagging behind expectations.
Trust comes from accuracy and human backup
The 2026 Pulse Report found that 31.33% of guests say their biggest concern about using an AI assistant is incorrect or misleading information. Accuracy starts with where your AI gets its information. An AI assistant that's built into your booking platform can pull live data straight from the source (your up-to-date hours, pricing, and availability) instead of relying on outdated FAQs or static content.
84% of guests say it's very or extremely important that an AI assistant can escalate them to a human staff member when needed. Guests want AI to be fast and easy, but they also want to know a real person is there if they need one. The fix isn't replacing human support with AI, it's building AI as your first line, with a clear handoff to a human as the safety net.
Key takeaway:
Make sure your AI assistant can hand off to a real person seamlessly. Guests are more willing to engage with AI when they know they can talk to a human if needed. When done right, that actually increases AI usage, not the other way around.
Final thoughts
The operators who recognize that guests are ready, and even eager, to use AI tools will earn an outsized share of the bookings, attention, and loyalty in 2026. The shift is happening in real time, and the gap between venues that meet guests where they are and venues that don't will only widen from here.
Want even more insights into what guests want from venues in 2026? Download your free copy of the 2026 Pulse Report now.
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