Making tourism smart in the age of artificial intelligence

Abstract

The development and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the major socio-economic, political and environmental issues facing the world today. It has also become a major issue in tourism. This editorial posits that tourism research needs to engage with AI and related new technologies at more than the level of business applicability and consumer perception and use, as important as they are. Rather we argue that different orders of the effects of AI need to be engaged with in tourism studies if researchers are to make a substantial contribution to making tourism smart, i.e. fully understanding its impacts, advantages, disadvantages, and long-term implications for business, destinations, consumers, society and the environment. Then all orders of effect need to be examined.