Shanghai, China – A recent trip revealed a glimpse into the future of travel: a seamless experience where one traveler completed an entire hotel stay—from check-in to room service—without interacting with a single person. This isn’t science fiction; it’s a preview of how technology is poised to redefine tourism, according to consulting firm McKinsey and Co., promising to erase common travel frustrations like long lines and miscommunications.
The Rise of the Robot Concierge
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AI, robotics, and automation are rapidly changing the hospitality landscape.
The traveler, a PhD candidate at Griffith University, detailed checking into a Shanghai hotel using a mobile phone, having luggage delivered by a porter robot, unlocking the room with a digital key, and then requesting lighting and restaurant recommendations from an AI assistant. This level of automation isn’t isolated. Increasingly, travelers are turning to AI chatbots—like ChatGPT or TripAdvisor’s “my trips”—to plan their vacations, and destinations are employing “smart tourism” initiatives to manage visitor flow.
‘Killing Our Business’
The impact of this shift is already being felt. The Instagram account of Guide to Lofoten, a Norwegian tour company, recently posted a stark message: “This is how ChatGPT is killing our small local business.” The owners expressed concern over lost income and visibility, as potential customers increasingly rely on ChatGPT for information, bypassing their website. “We know we’ll have to adapt — but it still hurts to watch something you’ve been building for years collapse like a house of cards in less than a year,” they wrote.
Dr. Marianna Sigala, professor of marketing and director of the International Hotel School at the University of Newcastle, confirms the trend. “There’s no question people are turning to generative AI to plan their holidays—everything from choosing a destination, comparing prices, to planning a daily itinerary,” she says. “The impact is huge. It affects consumers and when consumers are affected immediately you realise companies will have to readapt because they cannot continue doing and selling what they used to.” She compares this disruption to the impact of the steam engine or Booking.com’s rise in the early 2000s, which democratized travel planning.
The Road Less Travelled
Professor Adrien Palmer, writing in The Conversation, notes that technology has historically fueled both tourism and overtourism. While it’s too early to definitively assess AI’s long-term impact, he suggests that AI-powered itineraries could potentially steer tourists away from overcrowded hotspots, or even reduce the need to travel altogether through immersive virtual reality experiences.
An example of this is the “digital twin” of St. Peter’s Basilica, unveiled last year. Created with AI technology analyzing vast amounts of photographs and video, the digital twin offers virtual access to the iconic landmark.
However, the quality of AI-generated travel plans hinges on the questions asked. As Sigala points out, “The power of AI depends first of all on the quality and the quantity of the data that it has been trained on, and it’s being trained continuously … and secondly it depends on what you ask it. If we ask stupid questions we get stupid answers.”
Marketing researcher Joseph Mellors’ analysis of ChatGPT revealed a tendency to favor the most popular destinations. “By asking sharper questions, shifting their timing, checking footprints and seeking local voices, travellers can use AI as a tool for discovery rather than congestion,” Mellors writes in The Conversation. “Every prompt is a signal to the system about what matters.”
Beware the Hallucination
Travelers should also be aware of “AI hallucinations”—instances where chatbots generate misleading information based on patterns rather than facts. The BBC recently reported on two tourists who nearly hiked into the Peruvian mountains in search of a nonexistent canyon suggested by an AI chatbot before being stopped by a local guide.
Despite the increasing automation, a human touch remains important. Mengni Fu, a PhD candidate at Griffith University, surveyed over 1,000 people in China and Australia about their views on technology in tourism. The results showed a preference for technology augmenting tasks, not replacing workers entirely, though Australian respondents expressed greater job security concerns. Even in China, where tech adoption is higher, people still valued human interaction in service settings. “Sometimes we still need that human warmness, we still need to talk with humans,” Fu says.
“Smart cities” are leveraging big data—from traffic patterns to hotel bookings—to understand tourist movement and manage crowds. Destination apps are being used to suggest alternative routes and attractions, aiming to distribute visitors more evenly. The emergence of technologies like live translation earbuds also promises to break down language barriers.
Ultimately, whether these advancements lead to streamlined travel or fundamentally alter the tourism experience remains to be seen. As Sigala reflects, “Something is lost, but something is won.”
