Marnie Wilking, chief information security officer at Booking.com, has warned that the arrival of generative AI and its use by scammers to create more sophisticated phishing emails is behind an increase in travel scams of up to 900 per cent in the last 18 months.

Speaking at the Collision technology conference in Toronto, Ms Wilking said that the increase in travel scams, using phishing emails containing fake booking links and made to look like they’re from Booking.com and Airbnb, started shortly after ChatGPT was launched.

Ms Wilking called for the industry and customers/travellers and hotels to use two-factor authentication, and an additional check, such as inputting a security code, to combat phishing and credential stealing.