AI travel planning in Japan: I used ChatGPT and Booking.com to build a Fukuoka itinerary

I asked two AI tools to plan a three-day Fukuoka itinerary focused on architecture, craft and design. The recommendations were impressively specific – but real-world logistics still needed a human check. Advertisement Experiences AI travel planning in Japan: I used ChatGPT and Booking.com to build a Fukuoka itinerary I asked two AI tools to plan a three-day Fukuoka itinerary focused on architecture, craft and design. The recommendations were impressively specific – but real-world logistics still needed a human check. Would you use AI travel planning for your next trip? (Illustration: CNA/Jasper Loh) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. By Luo Jingmei By Luo Jingmei 16 Feb 2026 06:12AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST I arrived at Craft Inn Te in the afternoon. Lined along a quiet street in Yame, about a half-hour’s drive from Fukuoka City, the modern ryokan is housed in a restored 150-year-old former residence and merchant store, with two suites themed around local crafts – bamboo weaving and Kurume Kasuri indigo dyeing.I stayed in the latter, where I admired old timber rafters, shoji screens, earthen walls, tatami floors and contemporary indigo-stained furniture. In the pantry, there was assorted drinkware by Kyushu artisans, ranging from an impossibly thin glass to a rainbow-hued receptacle. This, I thought, was exactly the kind of accommodation I love. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Craft Inn 手 [té] (@craftinn_te) I didn’t get here via my typical travel research methods, which usually involve bookmarking articles, scrolling through Instagram and zooming in and out of Google Maps. Instead, I found Craft Inn Te through Artificial Intelligence (AI) – specifically, a combination of Booking.com’s AI Trip Planner and ChatGPT – as part of an assignment on the growing use of AI for travel planning. A digital concierge for itinerary planning, one question at a time. (Photo: iStock/Wanan Yossingkum) Booking.com’s in-platform AI Trip Planner produces tailored destination ideas, property suggestions and itineraries within seconds, complete with pricing and booking links. “User feedback has been very encouraging. Travellers appreciate how the AI Trip Planner saves time, simplifies choices and feels intuitive – especially when exploring unfamiliar destinations,” said Anthony Lu, Booking.com’s regional director for Southeast Asia and Greater Asia.He advised that the best way to use the AI Trip Planner was to feed it questions the way one would naturally plan a trip, as it was designed to be conversational and flexible. AI-powered features such as Smart Filters allow travellers to describe their ideal property in their own words, while Property Q&A asks targeted questions about a property to “further streamline the process, helping travellers go from inspiration to booking in one smooth experience.”LACK OF TRUST IN AIDespite increased use, research has shown that not everyone is embracing the trend. In a survey of 37,000 respondents across 33 countries for Booking.com’s The Global AI Summit, 91 per cent were open to using AI for travel planning, yet only six per cent fully trusted it – with most users checking to confirm the suggestions.“Many worry that AI could embed or amplify bias in travel-related services by excluding certain demographics or making the experience less inclusive,” the report noted. John Toomey, Marriott International’s Chief Commercial Officer, Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC), highlighted younger travellers as key users.“More conservative travellers often prefer the reassurance of human recommendations or traditional booking channels. That said, even among those travellers, I foresee greater adoption in the near future as AI tools become more intuitive, reliable and integrated into trusted platforms,” he said. John Toomey, Marriott International’s Chief Commercial Officer, Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC). (Photo: Marriott International) I belong to the latter category, which made me ideal for this assignment. I based my itinerary on my interest in architecture, design and craft. Fukuoka was the destination of choice because I was keen to explore a less crowded Japanese city and dive into its postmodern architecture.To level up the complexity, I brought along my husband. His preoccupation was music, so that fed into my prompts. I entered the same prompts into both the AI Trip Planner and ChatGPT, curious to see whether the suggestions would differ.TRYING OUT THE TECH – AI TRIP PLANNERMy first prompt: “Plan a three-day travel itinerary in Fukuoka, based on modernist architecture and works of Japanese modernist architects, craft and design; also suggest accommodations and activities.”“That sounds like a fascinating focus for your trip to Fukuoka!” was the first reply. Already, it felt promising; the