Aug 2026· Journal of Tourism Futures· pp. 1-23· 0 citations· 75 references
TL;DR
A new framework for GAI-driven SGE is presented, highlighting three central aspects: personalization, real-time support and contextual relevance, and its difficulty in replicating the emotional connections, cultural understanding and narrative immersion that human guides provide.
Abstract
This paper explores how generative AI (GAI) may complement, extend or selectively assume information-based functions traditionally associated with human tour guiding in self-guided tourism experiences (SGE). It presents a new framework for GAI-driven SGE, highlighting three central aspects: personalization, real-time support and contextual relevance.
To map the relationship between GAI, on-site information-seeking behavior and SGE, we adapted a structured approach based on MacInnis' (2011) framework for explicating (descriptive) conceptual contributions.
By utilizing GAI's features, the study shows how GAI may improve tourist independence and convenience. The paper also evaluates the limitations of GAI, particularly its difficulty in replicating the emotional connections, cultural understanding and narrative immersion that human guides provide. Through a comparison with traditional guided tours, the research discusses the consequences of adopting GAI for tourists, service providers and destination management organizations (DMOs). Ethical issues, including data privacy concerns and the potential for cultural inaccuracies, are also explored, along with proposed strategies for responsible implementation.
This work lays the groundwork for future studies and real-world applications, offering insights into how GAI may make tourism more adaptable, inclusive and sustainable. While the paper focuses on how GAI may support or selectively assume specific information-based functions of guiding, we recognize that tour guiding is also a form of embodied, relational, and regulated labor that extends beyond the scope of this conceptual framework.
Drawing on Gestalt theory and cognitive load theory, this paper takes an exploratory qualitative approach to understanding users’ perceptions and expectations of GenAI-enabled mobile apps for tourism. Methodologically, 27 users of travel apps were interviewed using semi-structured interviews to evaluate visual and functional aspects of a conceptual app design. Results showed that users have service quality expectations, visual appeal, and enjoyment, driven by intuitive navigation, visual consistency, and cognitive load. Visual design was found to be an aesthetic attribute, with expected enjoyment related to simplicity, interactivity, and clarity. Findings suggest that users assess such technologies and form expectations based on the anticipated interplay among visual, functional, and interactive elements. This paper bridges perceptual and cognitive approaches to inform tourism research by showing how conceptual app designs can evoke user expectations early in innovation processes. Results offer a theoretically grounded guide to GenAI-enabled tourism app designs that align with user expectations, enabling experience transformation in emerging tourism markets.
Kareem M. Selem· Information Systems Frontier...· 0 citations
This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) explores visitor motivation, on-site image, satisfaction, and overall experience within heritage tourism, focusing particularly on India’s ASI-protected monuments. The review combines results from more than 50 studies listed in Scopus and points out important reasons why people visit, such as learning about culture, feeling nostalgic, and having emotional connections, and shows how these reasons relate to tourist satisfaction and the image of the destination. The analysis reveals significant theoretical fragmentation, limited attention to emotive factors like existential authenticity, and the frequent exclusion of Indian ASI sites in mainstream research. While the field is shifting toward data-driven models like PLS-SEM, there remains a lack of longitudinal and mixed-method research designs. The review provides practical recommendations for policymakers, emphasising improved heritage interpretation, digital engagement, and site infrastructure. Advocating for interdisciplinary approaches, it encourages integrating psychological, technological, and cultural perspectives, aligning research with heritage policy and sustainability goals, and advancing both scholarly understanding and practical heritage management.
S.P. Bansal, R. Kaundal, Suman Sharma et al.· Enlightening Tourism: A Path...· 0 citations
Understanding the components of the online representation of eco-lodges and their influence on visitors' mental image is essential for explaining tourists' perceptions and behavioral responses. One important aspect of this process is the role of place-based representation in shaping tourists' destination image. Tourists' travel decisions are often influenced by their cognitive and affective perceptions of a destination, which are increasingly formed through digital media. This study investigates how the online representation of Iranian eco-lodges contributes to the formation of tourists' destination image. Eco-lodges have emerged as one of the most significant attractions within nature- and culture-based tourism, attracting visitors who extensively rely on online visual content when exploring and selecting travel destinations. Employing a qualitative research design based on conventional content analysis, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 tourists who had initially discovered an Iranian eco-lodge through online platforms and subsequently selected it as their accommodation. Data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Content analysis identified four major dimensions of place-based representation: (1) architectural representation, (2) representation of symbolic and experiential meanings, (3) representation of activities and events, and (4) modes of representation. The findings indicate that place-based representation extends beyond the depiction of physical and architectural attributes by communicating multiple layers of human–environment and human–nature interactions, thereby enriching the meaningful experience of place. Such multidimensional representations play a significant role in constructing tourists' destination image through virtual media. The findings provide practical implications for architects and tourism professionals by offering a deeper understanding of how online place representation shapes visitors' perceptions of eco-lodges. They also provide guidance for eco-lodge managers in developing more effective digital content and place-marketing strategies
Faezeh Tavasoliara· The Journal of Landscape Arc...· 0 citations
This study examines the transformative role of social media in tourist destination selection. Using a mixed-methods approach combining content analysis of 1,872 Xiaohongshu posts, fieldwork, and semistructured interviews, it investigates how social media mechanisms influence tourist decision making. Theoretically, the study draws on the concepts of the “digital gaze” and “visual hegemony” to account for a shift from traditional cultural appreciation to the pursuit of aesthetic symbols. The findings reveal a clear divergence between officially promoted sites and social media hotspots. Visually driven, experiential content on Xiaohongshu tends to overshadow traditional historical narratives. The results suggest that the platform functions as a “decision-making engine,” narrowing tourists’ experiential agency through algorithmic curation. This study contributes to tourism research by proposing a framework for understanding tourism dynamics in emerging urban contexts and offers strategic insights for policymakers seeking to align official narratives with tourist practices.
Xinyu Li· Tourism Culture & Commun...· 0 citations
Urban heritage destinations play a crucial role in sustainable city development yet understanding of how tourists perceive these sites remains fragmented. This study presents a systematic literature review of 95 peer-reviewed articles from Scopus and Web of Science, following PRISMA guidelines and adopting an integrative approach. The review examines tourists’ perception dimensions, dominant theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, and key influencing factors. Findings conceptualize perceptions as a four-part system encompassing cognitive appraisals, affective responses, experiential meaning-making, and social co-presence. Four recurring theoretical frameworks are identified: authenticity-based meaning-making, value-satisfaction-loyalty chains, experience- and emotion-centred perspectives, and behavioural-intention frameworks. Survey-based quantitative designs, particularly SEM/PLS-SEM, dominate the field, while qualitative and mixed-methods studies remain limited. Influencing factors span visitor characteristics, destination attributes, situational conditions, and digital mediation. Persistent gaps include single-lens modeling, limited cross-context understanding of authenticity, and scarce longitudinal or integrative studies on social and technology-mediated interactions, highlighting avenues for future research. The review further reveals persistent gaps, including single-lens modelling, limited cross-context understanding of authenticity, insufficient integration of social and technology-mediated interactions, and limited attention to temporal dynamics. By synthesizing current knowledge and identifying future research directions, this study contributes to a more integrated understanding of tourist perception formation in urban heritage destinations.
Fan Feng, Firuza Begham Binti Mustafa· Arab world geographer· 0 citations
Tourism e-commerce livestreaming (TEcLS) involves the real-time online broadcasting of travel products or services to engage potential customers, facilitating virtual shopping experiences and promoting tourism offerings. While previous studies have mainly examined the advantages of
TEcLS over conventional marketing and its impacts on customer intentions, little attention has been paid to how tourists perceive value at different stages of the tourism e-commerce livestreaming process. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring tourists’ perceived value of tourism
livestreaming, particularly among those who have actually purchased and experienced tourism products in Hainan, China, through tourism livestreaming. A phenomenological qualitative approach was adopted in this study to explore tourists’ perceived value across the pretrip, on-site, and
posttrip stages. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted to understand tourists’ motivations, experiences, meanings, and desirable outcomes of this platform. Three main themes emerged: (a) key drivers for purchasing TEcLS, (b) tourist engagement with TEcLS, and (c) future trends and
challenges for TEcLS. Findings suggest that price discounts, flexible returns, livestreamers’ charisma, information sharing, and impulse buying enhance consumers’ intentions to purchase travel products through tourism livestreaming. Participants also reported more enjoyable on-site
travel experiences, including hassle-free redemption of travel products, deeper local immersion, and the benefit of efficient algorithmic targeting that helped them locate relevant information at their destination. However, some reported discrepancies between the livestreamed content and their
actual experiences. The study highlights that the future of tourism livestreaming will be shaped by trends in personalization, streamer expertise, and visual appeal while addressing challenges related to AI and order manipulation. These findings offer valuable insights for tourism livestreaming-based
marketing strategies and product development.
Yang Zhan, Yunseon Choe, B. Ferreira et al.· Tourism Review International· 0 citations
A new method, called CW-Net, translates the reasoning process of an autonomous vehicle’s AI system into understandable concepts that explain its behavior.
