Google Expands AI Travel Planning and Booking Features in Search

Google is broadening its AI-powered travel capabilities in Search with three new updates designed to guide users through planning and booking trips directly inside the platform. The changes include the introduction of Canvas for travel planning on desktop, a global expansion of Flight Deals, and extended agentic booking features that connect users to reservation partners in real time.

The rollout continues Google’s long-term strategy to keep more user activity, particularly high-value travel queries, inside its own ecosystem rather than directing traffic to third-party publishers or booking sites.

New AI Travel Tools in Search

Canvas Travel Planning

Google’s new Canvas feature allows users to generate complete travel itineraries within AI Mode’s side panel on desktop. After entering trip requirements and selecting “Create with Canvas,” users receive AI-assembled plans that integrate flight and hotel information, Google Maps data, and relevant web content.

Canvas is currently available in the United States for users enrolled in the AI Mode experiment through Google Labs.

Global Expansion of Flight Deals

Flight Deals, which uses AI to recommend affordable destinations based on natural-language inputs, is now rolling out to more than 200 countries and territories. The tool originally launched in the United States, Canada, and India and is designed for flexible travelers seeking cost-efficient options.

Google’s approach mirrors a broader industry move toward personalized travel discovery, where AI systems interpret intent rather than relying on explicit filters.

Agentic Booking Capabilities

Google is also extending agentic booking—AI-driven assistance that surfaces real-time availability across reservation platforms for restaurants, events, and local services. Users can view curated options and follow direct links to partner sites to complete bookings.

Restaurant booking launches this week across the U.S. and does not require Google Labs access. Event ticketing and local appointment booking remain limited to U.S. Labs participants for now.

Analysis: A Shift Toward End-to-End Travel Journeys in Search

The new features mark another step in Google’s long-running effort to handle entire user journeys—particularly those tied to commercial intent—within its own interface.

By consolidating research, price comparison, itinerary creation, and booking pathways, Google reduces the need for users to visit publisher sites or travel platforms. This mirrors similar moves in shopping, local search, and entertainment discovery, where Google has shifted toward vertically integrated experiences.

For travel publishers and booking providers, the shift raises familiar concerns: reduced organic traffic, reliance on Google’s presentation of data, and limited visibility into user behavior inside AI Mode.

What Comes Next

Google confirmed it is working with industry partners on direct flight and hotel booking inside AI Mode but did not provide a release timeline. If implemented, such capabilities could further centralize the travel transaction pipeline within Google Search.

A key question going forward is whether Google will introduce analytics or attribution tools to help travel businesses understand when bookings originate inside AI Mode. Without such data, measuring the impact of Google’s AI-driven travel workflows on traffic and conversions will remain challenging.

As AI-assisted search continues to reshape user behavior, Google’s expanded travel tools signal increasing consolidation of discovery, planning, and booking functions under a single platform.