Are AI images misleading travellers?

Are you being lied to by accommodation operators using Artificial Intelligence? 

One in five hotel photos on major booking platforms show indicators of being AI-generated or AI-enhanced, a new survey in Europe shows.

An analysis of 25,550 images used by hotels to advertise their rooms, facilities, restaurants and amenities reveals mass deception.

The study was conducted by Berlin-based marketing agency ABCD Agency in partnership with German forensic AI verification provider ContentGuard.me.

Hotel photos are one of the most decisive factors when booking accommodation online. But the report indicates  that the imagery travellers rely on is no longer just traditionally retouched but increasingly created or altered using artificial intelligence.

In a sample of 100 randomly selected hotels each across seven destinations a total of 25,550 hotel photos were analysed in May 2026. Among those popular European summer holiday destinations like Crete, Mallorca, Sicily and Alanya.

The result: approximately 19% of all images - a total of 4,778 photos - contained at least one signal typically associated with AI generation or AI editing.

These signals can appear in technical markers such as file metadata, or as visual anomalies within the image itself - including inconsistencies, irregular pixel patterns or detail errors.

When hotel photos are AI-optimised or AI-generated, expectations can be distorted in critical ways: including room size, furnishings and views. 

These enhanced images set expectations that reality often cannot meet. The result: disappointment on arrival, complaints and a long-term erosion of trust in both platforms and hotels that depend on credible visual content.

Jens Kramosch, deepfake expert and founder of ContentGuard.me explains: “Hotel photos have always been retouched to some degree. But AI takes this to a completely different level. When images are no longer just polished but fundamentally altered, it risks crossing the line from marketing into deception. Travellers need to look more closely and platforms need to start labeling AI-edited content transparently.”

Robin Wilfert, founder of ABCD Agency, warns: “When you book a trip, you're buying a promise. The photos that travelleds use to choose a hotel are the most important part of that promise. AI must not be allowed to create a gap between what's shown and what's real.”

Supermarket chains lied to their customers

Australians are familiar with the big supermarket chains being "economical with the truth" when it comes to the prices of their weekly specials.

It turn out that Coles and Woolworths are also happy to lie to their customers about their commitment to selling cage-free eggs.

Australia’s leading animal protection organisations this week united to urge Woolworths and Coles to honour long-standing commitments to go cage-free by the end of 2025.

An open letter has been sent to Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell and Coles CEO Leah Weckert ahead of the supermarkets’ upcoming Annual General Meetings on October 30 and November 11, respectively.

Approximately 5 million hens continue to be farmed in battery cages in Australia rather than free ranging (above).

The supermarket giants first committed in 2013 to phasing out cage eggs from their supply chains, pledging that by 2025 all shell eggs and egg ingredients in own-brand products would be cage-free.

Earlier this year, however, both companies walked back those commitments - with Coles delaying its target to 2030 and Woolworths leaving the timeframe open ended.

Australian Alliance for Animals Policy Director Dr Jed Goodfellow said the move undermines consumer trust and prolongs unnecessary animal suffering.

“Woolworths and Coles were rightly applauded when they made their cage-free commitments, and they’ve enjoyed years of positive publicity for the decision,” Dr Goodfellow said.

“To turnaround now, at the 11th hour, and say ‘sorry we can’t do it,’ is deeply disappointing - and it’s being met with growing frustration from consumers,

“Battery cages are cruel and outdated. They confine hens to a space smaller than an A4 sheet of paper and cause the highest rates of disuse osteoporosis, fatty live disease, and bone breakages of all egg farming systems,

“Modern cage-free systems, including fully indoor barn systems, can produce a reliable, affordable supply of eggs, without inflicting this level of suffering,

“Breaking these promises means millions more hens will continue to live in misery for longer,

“We urge customers and shareholders alike to raise their concerns with the supermarkets about this backward step – and we call on their leadership to uphold their promises to customers and Aussie hens."

A copy of the letter can be found here: http://allianceforanimals.org.au/ourwork/open-letter-to-coles-woolworths-cage-free-promise