AI and authenticity in tourism, hospitality: Why human stories still matter

With arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) and auto­ma­tion on the rise across many sec­tors of the glob­al eco­nomy, how can travel, tour­ism, and hos­pit­al­ity brands bene­fit while stay­ing true to them­selves and the exper­i­ences they offer? 

It’s Anishka Narula-Nielsen’s second “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [You too can share.]

Dawn of the AI age

Like it or not, we’re liv­ing at the begin­ning of the age of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) and auto­ma­tion. AI already per­son­al­ises guest exper­i­ences, auto­mates book­ings, and optim­ises everything from pri­cing to house­keep­ing schedules. 

But while tech­no­logy is trans­form­ing the tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity space, one truth remains unchanged: people remem­ber how they felt more than what they paid. In a world filled with smart tech­no­logy and pol­ished plat­forms, authen­ti­city stands out as a key differentiator. 

A power­ful way to express this is through storytelling.

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What AI is great at and where it falls short

There’s no doubt about the oper­a­tion­al advant­ages that arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) brings to tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity. With tools like real-time chat­bots and per­son­al­ised upselling, AI (poten­tially) enhances guest exper­i­ence and increases busi­ness effi­ciency. It helps per­son­al­ise recom­mend­a­tions for trav­el­lers, auto­mate ser­vices to reduce wait times, and ana­lyse data to pre­dict cus­tom­er beha­viour and optim­ise pri­cing, among oth­er benefits.

AI already plays a crit­ic­al role in rev­en­ue man­age­ment, refin­ing pri­cing strategies and fore­cast­ing demand with impress­ive accur­acy. Its integ­ra­tion into oper­a­tion­al met­rics like prop­erty reviews and Net Pro­moter Scores (derived from the ubi­quit­ous sur­vey ques­tion “How likely are you to recom­mend …”) sig­nals a broad­er shift toward a data-driv­en, cus­tom­er-focused approach.

Mod­ern cus­tom­er exper­i­ence plat­forms no longer just respond to guest needs, they anti­cip­ate them. These sys­tems learn from beha­viour, syn­chron­ise across depart­ments, and offer seam­less ser­vice that feels per­son­al, even though it’s powered by code.

In lux­ury hotels, AI can be used to enhance, but not replace, human inter­ac­tion. When imple­men­ted thought­fully, it enriches guest exper­i­ences while pre­serving the warmth of hos­pit­al­ity. Front desk staff are now ‘exper­i­ence officers’ using AI to handle routine check-in tasks so they can focus on per­son­al­ised greet­ings and mean­ing­ful engagement.

In con­trast, budget hotels are integ­rat­ing AI in check-in and check-out sys­tems at self-ser­vice kiosks or apps to reduce the need for front desk staff, cut­ting costs, and stream­lin­ing oper­a­tions for these establishments.

That said, the cost of imple­ment­a­tion is a major con­cern, par­tic­u­larly for smal­ler hotels. Bey­ond ini­tial invest­ments, AI requires staff train­ing, ongo­ing main­ten­ance, and a rethink­ing of oper­a­tion­al culture. 

Align­ing AI with a brand’s val­ues also demands care­ful con­sid­er­a­tion, ensur­ing innov­a­tion enhances rather than erodes the essence of hospitality.

While AI does offer con­sist­ency and scalab­il­ity, it does not replace the human touch, and can­not rep­lic­ate emo­tion­al con­nec­tion. And that’s where a brand’s true edge lies.

Con­tents ^

What’s missing? Human stories

Arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) can imit­ate a pro­cess, but it can’t rep­lic­ate a feel­ing. It can auto­mate a reply, but it can’t offer a heart­felt connection.

Dur­ing my PhD research on tour­ism social enter­prises, the dis­tinc­tion was clear. 

Social enter­prises don’t focus on tech­no­logy, pro­cesses, or effi­ciency. They thrive because they have a deep­er pur­pose. They show that suc­cess in tour­ism is about cre­at­ing mean­ing­ful con­nec­tions and they tell stor­ies rooted in cul­ture, com­munity, and care.

Also read Anishka’s ‘A force for good: What can glob­al travel & tour­ism learn from social enter­prises?’

Storytelling allows tour­ism social enter­prises to:

• Show­case their com­mit­ment to their envir­on­ment by shar­ing inspir­ing stor­ies about their eco-friendly ini­ti­at­ives and the people involved in them;
• High­light their con­nec­tions with loc­al com­munit­ies by weav­ing togeth­er stor­ies that illus­trate their sup­port for loc­al causes and part­ner­ships, cul­tiv­at­ing a sense of belong­ing and shared respons­ib­il­ity; and
• Build emo­tion­al trust with their audi­ence through authen­t­ic stor­ies that res­on­ate on a per­son­al level, allow­ing cus­tom­ers to relate to the brand’s val­ues and mis­sion, ulti­mately cre­at­ing deep­er con­nec­tions and loyalty

In a digit­al-first world, this kind of engage­ment is vital. Data can help pre­dict what cus­tom­ers want, but storytelling builds the why; the emo­tion­al bridge between brand and traveller.

Con­tents ^

Social media is more than marketing

Today’s trav­el­lers decide long before arrival wheth­er they trust a brand. Much of that decision is shaped online. Social media isn’t just a pro­mo­tion­al tool but an exten­sion of the guest exper­i­ence. It sets expect­a­tions and cre­ates first impressions.

Social media should­n’t be used to cur­ate per­fec­tion. Lever­aging social media most effect­ively involves telling real stor­ies about:

• People — your team and com­munity — and what they care about;
• Your behind-the-scenes efforts toward sus­tain­ab­il­ity; and
• The chal­lenges of run­ning a small pur­pose-led business 

When brands are trans­par­ent, per­son­al, and pur­pose­ful, trust follows.

Con­tents ^

Where AI and storytelling meet

This “Good Tour­ism” Insight isn’t about reject­ing tech­no­logy. On the con­trary, it’s about integ­rat­ing it with inten­tion; remain­ing mind­ful of your why. Arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) can help you do what you do, but your stor­ies tell people why you do it.

The brands that thrive will main­tain a clear sense of iden­tity rooted in place, people, and pur­pose. They will use AI and digit­al plat­forms to stream­line oper­a­tions and to help dis­trib­ute their authen­t­ic, mis­sion-driv­en stories. 

Think of a small eco­lodge that uses AI for book­ings but shares its refor­est­a­tion efforts online. Or a tour com­pany using auto­ma­tion for guest fol­low-ups, while spot­light­ing guides who share their own stor­ies on social media. Tech­no­logy handles the sys­tems; the brand focuses on story and connection.

Search “GT” for con­tent related to ‘storytelling’

Tail­or­ing AI to meet the vary­ing needs of guests — across micro-seg­ments, prop­erty types, and regions — will become even more import­ant. But it’s not just about tech upgrades. Pre­par­ing the work­force is equally import­ant. Teams must adapt to a data-driv­en envir­on­ment while main­tain­ing the emo­tion­al intel­li­gence that lies at the heart of hospitality.

For smal­ler and inde­pend­ent oper­at­ors, even simple AI tools like auto­mated guest mes­saging can make a mean­ing­ful dif­fer­ence. When applied thought­fully, these tools enhance effi­ciency without com­prom­ising brand iden­tity or the per­son­al touch that sets them apart. 

Man­aging the rap­id pace of AI’s evol­u­tion while main­tain­ing ser­vice con­sist­ency takes a thought­ful, stra­tegic approach. It is not just about innov­a­tion. It’s about inten­tion; mak­ing sure the tools we use serve the people and places that make travel meaningful.

Con­tents ^

AI can’t replace authenticity

How we dis­trib­ute and deliv­er tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity products will con­tin­ue to evolve — and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) will become even more embed­ded in oper­a­tions — but let’s nev­er for­get what our industry really offers: exper­i­ences, emo­tions, memor­ies, and connection.

In a world in which tech­no­logy is every­where, authen­ti­city is your advant­age. Ask yourself:

• What’s the story only my brand can tell?
• How am I lever­aging tech­no­logy to help tell the story and build trust?
• Is my digit­al pres­ence con­sist­ent with my val­ues in the real world?

Let’s face it: Today’s trav­el­lers aren’t look­ing for smart sys­tems. They want some­thing real.

Con­tents ^

What do you think? 

In a com­ment below, share your own thoughts about arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) and auto­ma­tion in tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity, and why authen­t­ic storytelling still mat­ters. 

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About the author

Anishka Narula-Nielsen is a tour­ism con­sult­ant and research­er spe­cial­ising in social enter­prises’ role in sus­tain­able tour­ism development.

Com­mit­ted to “shap­ing a tour­ism industry that pri­or­it­ises people, place, and pur­pose”, Dr Narula-Nielsen recently foun­ded Roots and Routes Con­sult­ing, which helps tour­ism and hos­pit­al­ity busi­nesses “refine their strategies for long-term suc­cess and sustainability”.

Pas­sion­ate about “cre­at­ing mean­ing­ful impact”, Anishka provides “stra­tegic insights that enhance guest exper­i­ences, stream­line oper­a­tions, and integ­rate respons­ible tour­ism practices”.

She is based in Lon­don, UK.

Featured image (top of post)

AI and authen­ti­city in tour­ism, travel, hos­pit­al­ity: Why human stor­ies still mat­ter. A Gem­ini-gen­er­ated image.

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