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Where do we begin?
“Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism“
Welcome! This page gathers expert perspectives from across the travel sector to answer our biggest questions about AI in this people-centric industry. Explore our topics below to build your own verdict on AI.
This page discusses 5 key topics:
AI & Consumer Travel Planning Behaviour: How is consumer using AI to plan their trips? How should businesses & destinations adapt?
AI & DMO: What changes should destination management organisations make to catch up with AI era?
AI & Sustainability: Can AI be used for good things that’s not just business optimisation?
AI & Tourism Workforce: Is AI really going to takeover this people-centric industry? How should the workforce prepare themselves?
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The content on this page are 100% from our experts and their great minds.
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Starting a conversation on AI & Tourism Workforce…
Andrew Chan , ACI HR
I’m seeing more automation in customer service, reservations, marketing and administration, while robotics is moving into real-world environments. As an example, just this week Singapore’s LTA began trialling Olly, a humanoid robot at one of its MRT stations. Olly can interact with passengers, provide assistance and walk with them to a platform.
Now imagine the same technology in a hotel. A robot could greet guests, provide directions, answer routine questions, deliver items to rooms or assist with check-in, while AI handles much of the conversation behind it. We’re already seeing some of these functions deployed in hotels and I believe this will move much faster than many people expect.
That doesn’t mean hotels will become people-free, but it does mean they may need fewer people doing basic tasks and more people focused on service, relationships and complex situations. Workforce planning needs to prepare for that reality now, or organisations will find themselves behind not only the competition, but market expectations.
Mochamad Nalendra, Wise Steps Consulting
AI should not necessarily be seen as a threat to job security among tourism SMEs and informal workers. Tourism remains a highly people-oriented industry, where human interaction, emotional connection, local knowledge and authenticity are important parts of the visitor experience.
For many community-based and informal tourism workers, such as tour guides, local transport providers, souvenir sellers, food vendors and homestay operators, AI can function more as an augmentation tool than a replacement for human workers. A tour guide, for example, can use AI to enrich knowledge, prepare itineraries or translate information, while a small restaurant or homestay can use it for marketing and customer communication.
The bigger risk may be a digital divide between workers who can access and use AI and those who cannot. Therefore, workforce planning should focus on reskilling, basic AI literacy and responsible use of technology, while strengthening uniquely human capabilities such as hospitality, storytelling, empathy and relationship-building.
Andrew Chan , ACI HR
The tourism jobs I see most likely to change are those involving repetitive, predictable tasks. We are already seeing AI transform customer service, administration, marketing, reservations and some revenue functions. Add robotics to that equation and the impact becomes even greater.
The challenge, I believe, is particularly significant for entry-level jobs. These roles have traditionally been where young people and graduates learn the industry. Future tourism professionals will need AI and digital skills, but also commercial judgement, creativity and the ability to handle situations that technology cannot.
The career ladder itself will need to change to accommodate how new entrants learn the fundamentals of the industry.
Mochamad Nalendra, Wise Steps Consulting
I believe the most significant transformation will not necessarily be the replacement of frontline tourism workers, but the redefinition of how they perform their jobs. Marketing and content creation will probably be among the first and most visible areas, particularly for tourism SMEs and community-based businesses. AI can help create promotional materials, understand target markets and improve digital visibility.
I also see significant potential in customer communication, administrative and back-office functions, market intelligence, and tourism product development. AI can help SMEs analyse customer reviews, identify market trends, develop itineraries and improve business decisions without requiring large teams or specialised resources.
Andrew Chan , ACI HR
As AI and robotics take over more routine work, I believe the value and need for genuine human skills will increase. A hotel robot may be perfectly capable of delivering extra towels to a room. AI can answer a guest’s question instantly. But what happens when that guest is upset because their room isn’t ready, their flight has been cancelled or something has gone seriously wrong? That is where human judgement, empathy and ownership still matter.
Hospitality is ultimately about how you make people feel, the impression you leave and not simply how efficiently you process their requests. Communication, emotional intelligence, relationship building, leadership, creativity and problem-solving will therefore become even more important. Cultural awareness will also remain critical in a region as diverse as Asia Pacific.
I believe adaptability will become one of the most valuable career skills and people cannot assume the job they start in will look the same five or ten years later. My advice is pretty simple and direct: don’t compete with AI at the things it does best. Learn to use it and become exceptional at the human skills it cannot easily replicate.
Mochamad Nalendra, Wise Steps Consulting
I would prioritise six areas of competency: AI literacy, digital and data literacy, critical thinking, digital marketing and content creation, human skills, and responsible AI use.
For tourism SMEs and community-based businesses, AI literacy does not mean becoming a technical AI expert. It means understanding what AI can and cannot do, knowing how to use AI tools effectively, and being able to verify and critically evaluate their outputs. Data literacy will also become increasingly important as businesses use customer information, visitor trends, online reviews and digital analytics to support decision-making.
At the same time, human skills may become even more important as AI adoption increases. Empathy, communication, hospitality, storytelling, cultural understanding and relationship-building remain central to authentic tourism experiences.
Finally, workers need awareness of responsible AI, including data privacy, misinformation, intellectual property, cultural sensitivity and the ethical use of community knowledge. The future tourism worker needs to be AI-literate, digitally capable, critically minded, and deeply human.