Summer 2025 Goes AI: Here’s How Your Vacation Is Changing

We’re closing in on summer 2025. 

Families are starting to pack up the minivans and hit the road. Roller coasters are rumbling back to life. Flights are getting full, and hotels are booking up. 

All very routine this time of year…

Yet, a positive shock to the system is rapidly changing the game for these seasonal sojourns.

Get ready for shorter lines, smoother flights, quick and painless check-in processes. You might work on your trip itinerary for 30 minutes – but feel like a full travel agency hand-crafted it for you. 

That’s because the world’s biggest hospitality, leisure, and entertainment businesses are turning to AI to improve their operations. 

This year, your summer vacation may be noticeably better than any before.

Welcome to the first true AI Summer.

The AI Shift From Backend to Center Stage

Since its inception, the AI Boom has been heavily confined to infrastructure and more obvious use cases. 

The real money-making was tied up in Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs, data center upgrades, and enterprise workflows.

But as we enter the age of “Downstream AI,” that story is changing dramatically.

Everyday companies – like restaurants, hotels, airlines, retailers, and theme parks – can now finally reap the rewards of integrating AI into their operations.

And this may show up in a big way on your vacation this summer…

AI-Augmented Theme Parks, Anyone?

If you have any theme park travel planned, chances are you’ll see AI being used in real life to enhance your experience. 

Six Flags (SIX), for example, is using AI for crowd control, dynamic pricing, even drowning prevention at its water parks. It has also rolled out a digital wallet with AI loyalty integration. That may sound a little boring… until you realize it means more spend per guest, more return visits, and better monetization.

Disney (DIS) is doing a lot of that, too – but it’s going even further. 

In partnership with Nvidia and Google DeepMind, Disney is building AI-powered robots to make its park characters more lifelike and engaging. It’s using open-source physics engines (code-named Newton) to teach robotic actors how to move, emote, and react in real time.

We hope you don’t mind a robotic Mickey…

Because this once-sci-fi tech is rolling out this summer. And it promises to boost park efficiency, wow factor, and guest spend.

Smarter Stays: AI in Hotels, Airlines & Booking Platforms

No theme park visits planned? No worries – you may still see AI live at your hotel or on your booking site. 

Both Hilton (HLT) and Marriott (MAR) are using AI to optimize room pricing, personalize your stay, run concierge chatbots that actually work; even refine energy usage, reduce overstaffing, and drive more direct bookings (cutting out the Expedia middleman).

Meanwhile, you can forget travel agents. Booking.com (BKNG) now has an AI assistant that can plan your whole trip end-to-end in seconds. It’s like having a luxury concierge in your pocket; one that can find and book hotels and activities, all for free. And that means higher conversion rates and happier customers.

More AI Upgrades Right at Home, No Voyage Required

Now, maybe you don’t have any summer travel planned at all. We get it; life’s pretty expensive as-is nowadays.

So, instead of dropping thousands on a getaway, just relax, put your feet up, and order in…

Because AI can come to you. How about a pizza?

Domino’s (DPZ) is using AI voice assistants to automate ordering. No more fighting against the background noise of a busy restaurant to be heard on the phone. It’s just you and a highly intelligent bot, getting your order in fast and error-free. Domino’s AI also helps its restaurants to optimize delivery routes, forecast demand, and cut food waste. Lower labor costs + higher throughput = better margins.

But pizzerias aren’t the only neighborhood staples getting an AI upgrade… 

UPS (UPS) is using it to optimize its own delivery routes, predict delays, and reduce fuel costs. Every minute saved per truck could mean millions in annual savings. 

At CVS (CVS), AI is helping to detect fraud, fulfill prior authorizations at the pharmacy, and personalize care plans. 

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is having the tech review contracts, detect fraud, even pilot robo-advisors. 

As AI quietly powers everything from deliveries to dining, a new era is forming, stretching beyond silicon chips and GPUs into the real-world businesses reshaping how we spend our money and time.