AI and tourism: The reality

Happy World Tourism Day 2026! The theme of this year’s celebration, ‘Digital agenda and AI to redesign tourism’ has sparked my interest. It is said that, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay.” This is reiterated in many conversations and spaces and has led me to think about its pros and cons in relation to tourism amidst this year’s focus. Research has shown that the use of AI in tourism is not new; it has been and continues to be the backbone of reservation systems to increase efficiency in booking services, particularly air travel, hotel accommodation, and restaurant as well as for yield management in these sectors. The AI-generated voice on the other side of the telephone communication is so designed to provide relevant information and, if not able to, may connect the caller to a live agent. Being able to provide first responses is efficient and time-saving, thus cost saving as this eliminates human responses. The downside of this is that it simultaneously reduces the number of employees needed in this area, leading to the ultimate question: Will AI displace jobs in tourism? The automated system also provides consistency in responses and reduces human biases, errors, and emotions. Providing good customer service is also one of the advantages of AI-generated responses as they are usually polite and instantaneous. As a service industry, tourism is intangible as it can only be experienced; it is inseparable because its service delivery cannot be separated from the service provider. It is perishable because revenue lost at any given time cannot be replaced, and variable because the quality of the service varies depending on who provides it as well as when, where, and how it is delivered. This is why the nature of tourism is frequently studied within the contexts of the four characteristics of service. The use of AI could possibly reduce the service gap challenges faced by tourism businesses. There is now the need to update the literature within the context of the use of AI and the relationships with service delivery and customer expectations and satisfaction. Websites also have chat boxes or virtual assistants which are available 24/7 to provide real-time responses, adding to the convenience of using these facilities. Conversely, one of the major drawbacks with the use of AI in tourism is the resulting reduction of human interaction and engagement. Tourism is a service industry which highly relies on people to create the travel experiences from the point of reservation to leaving the destination. This is a major motivation for travel and the actual travel experience also involves cultural interaction and exchange. Not having people delivering the service is likely to create a service gap. This is especially so for the aging travel market which is accustomed to having human engagement and a preference for telephone conversations with real people; receptionists checking them in other than them doing so alternately using websites and kiosks; someone pushing their wheelchairs in the airports other than utilising an AI-programmed wheelchair; and using a taxi service with a driver and not an AI-operated cab. Another limitation of AI is that it lacks emotional intelligence and may not be able to solve unique issues faced by individuals as well as emergencies. AI lacks human judgement, which is critical to the dynamic nature of all spheres of tourism operations. AI can also be biased in its response and may display preference for one destination over another, resulting in unfair choices. This would counteract the thrust of tourism in providing fairness. While engaging with AI, the system is simultaneously collecting data regarding potential customers, their location, psychographics, among other data. AI can also connect databases between and among airlines, hotels, travel intermediaries, and other services within tourism and compile the big data set. Not only does AI collect data, but as an analytical tool, it analyses data for predictions in terms of trends, supply and demand, target markets, among other pertinent areas. This leads to another growing concern which is the risk of cybersecurity. Data protection and privacy are at risk as personal and travel data can be breached and misused. AI continues to evolve in tourism and is advancing at a rapid pace. It has the capacity to solve real issues faced by tourism legislators and operators and help them to make timely decisions that are critical to their destinations and operations respectively. It also reduces communication barriers as visitors need not be challenged with foreign languages because there are AI-aided translation tools that can be used. AI is also being used to manage tourist destinations in terms of monitoring visitor flow, establishing carrying capacity, and developing environmental and climate resilience management systems. These are common issues faced by tourism destinations which are usually categorised as the negative impacts of tourism. Destinations such as Italy uses AI systems to count visitors in real-time, Spain uses it to predict visitor volumes, Saudi Arabia employs advanced AI to monitor crowd movements and safety risks during massive gatherings, the Netherlands (Amsterdam) uses AI systems to analyse crowd density patterns in real time, and Thailand utilises an AI platform to gather data on visitor behaviour and distribution of resources across different regions. Indonesia is currently utilising an AI-driven urban planning and disaster management system to track environmental data to efficiently allocate the required resources. In addition, AI plays a dual role in creating blueprints of smart destinations as well as inventing amenities for smart destinations. For example, AI is being used in France to redesign their ground transportation and traffic system which is inclusive of the railway and buses. AI implementation is costly. Some tourism destinations will be challenged in having these systems. Likewise, some tourism businesses will be left behind as they do not have the capital to invest in AI technologies as well as maintain them. The cost of training employees to use these technologies can be exorbitant. Tourism businesses can also be gravely disrupted if there are technical issues, particularly with the airline industry, in which every minute lost or any unoccupied seat due to system failure has a corresponding loss of revenue due to the perishable nature of tourism. Despite the downsides of AI, the conversation that it is here to stay is supported. It is one of those uncontrollable macro-environmental factors. AI will also continue to evolve; therefore, reimagining tourism development in all its sectors employing these technologies is crucial. What is also critical at this juncture is the responsible use of AI to protect and preserve the nature of tourism as a people-centric industry, ensuring a balance between human beings and AI technologies. I now ponder on this year’s World Tourism Day theme in relation to Jamaica as well as the rest of the Caribbean, particularly in the areas of urban planning, climate resilience, disaster management, visitor flow, traffic management, and forecasting. Professor Gaunette Sinclair-Maragh is a researcher on sustainable tourism development in the School of Advanced Management, College of Business and Management, at University of Technology, Jamaica.