The tourism industry is being pulled into artificial intelligence faster than many businesses fully understand it, and industry leaders warn that without clarity, the risks could outweigh the opportunity.
Source: Cape Town Tourism
At the recent Demystifying AI in Tourism event, hosted by Cape Town Tourism at the Century City Conference Centre, industry leaders came together to explore how AI is shaping tourism today. Rather than a distant future concept, AI is already influencing how businesses operate, and while adoption is moving quickly, understanding is still catching up.
AI adoption starts with understanding
Nazareen Ebrahim, South African communications and AI ethics practitioner, opened the session by emphasising the importance of understanding AI before implementation. She outlined a practical framework for adoption based on four pillars:
• AI literacy
• AI policy
• AI ethics
• AI governance
Without these, businesses risk making decisions they don’t fully understand, with real-world consequences. “AI is not just a tool; it exists in a wider ecosystem,” she said, noting its impact extends beyond efficiency into trust, labour, and information integrity.
She explained that ethics is about care and awareness, understanding how decisions affect people, businesses, and experiences. In tourism, misuse of AI, whether through misleading content, over-automation, or loss of authenticity, can affect how destinations are perceived and trusted.
AI is already embedded in tourism
Sipho Mtombeni, government affairs and public policy manager, Google South Africa, highlighted that many businesses underestimate how deeply AI is already embedded. “People think they’re not using AI, but they are,” he said, pointing to everyday tools like email, maps, and recommendation systems.
Traveller behaviour is also driving the shift:
• 73% expect personalised experiences
• 58% feel overwhelmed by too much information
This creates both a gap and an opportunity for AI to filter, personalise, and simplify travel. Mtombeni stressed that adoption needs to have a clear purpose. Most businesses don’t need AI for the sake of it; they need a clear use case.
From chatbots to agentic AI
A key discussion point was agentic AI: systems that do more than answer questions and can actively carry out tasks. AI can now:
• Plan itineraries
• Make bookings
• Complete transactions
This shifts AI from assistance to autonomy, changing how travellers interact with destinations and services. For tourism businesses, this brings efficiency but also strategic questions around control, customer relationships, and data ownership.
Making AI practical
Michelle Geere, CEO, AdBot, demonstrated how AI can be applied immediately. Rather than presenting AI as complex or inaccessible, she focused on practical use cases for workflows, marketing, and customer engagement. AI, she said, delivers on three levels:
• Speeding up processes
• Improving output quality
• Enabling new ways of working
The session also noted a common challenge: many businesses are still experimenting rather than fully integrating AI. Adoption doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need clear intent and practical use.
Human experience remains the core of tourism
A panel discussion with industry and government stakeholders added perspective. The panel included Nazareen Ebrahim, an AI ethics practitioner, Aslam Levy, e-Government team lead, Kevin Silver, CEO, Macrocosm and Sulaiman Fredericks, acting chief X‑formation officer, Cape Town Tourism.
South African TV and radio presenter Tracey Lange moderated the panel. While perspectives varied across ethics, policy, and implementation, the consistent message was that AI should support tourism, not replace it.
Panel members explored the tension between fast-moving technology and slower industry understanding, noting that many organisations are still figuring out where AI fits into broader strategy.
A key concern was the risk of treating AI as a strategy on its own, instead of a tool to improve business outcomes and visitor experiences.
The discussion also reinforced that tourism is, at its core, a human industry. Travellers go to destinations for culture, connection, and lived experiences, elements that technology can enhance, but cannot replace.
The balancing act is clear:
• Leverage AI to improve efficiency and personalisation
• Preserve authenticity, trust, and human connection
What this means for tourism businesses
As AI evolves, the sector faces both a challenge and an opportunity. To remain competitive, businesses need to:
• Move past hype and focus on practical, use-case-driven adoption
• Build understanding across ethics, governance, and policy
• Use AI to enhance, not replace, the traveller experience
• Make technology meet real customer needs, not trends
The session made one thing clear: AI is not a future disruption; it is already here. The real differentiator will not be who adopts it fastest, but who understands it best.
