Turizam i vještačka inteligencija: konceptualno razumijevanje

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an important transformative factor in the tourism industry and offers revolutionary innovations to address numerous challenges in this sector. Although the level of adoption of these technologies is not uniform across the complex tourism industry system, the possible impacts of AI are becoming increasingly tangible and there is a need to analyze the potential opportunities, challenges and risks it poses. To understand how AI can foster innovation and sustainability in tourism, it is important to acknowledge the specific characteristics of the tourism sector. Tourism is a complex service-based system dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, operating in a global tourism economy structured by a smaller number of large companies. In this context, entrepreneurship and digitalization play a key role in the innovation of the sector, which often integrates local knowledge and other resources with global market connections. This suggests, above all, that the public sector often plays an important role as a partner and facilitator for innovation, implementing policies that promote the development of new business models. The extent to which AI will impact and transform the tourism sector with its specific characteristics remains uncertain, therefore there is a growing interest from researchers from different scientific disciplines to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon. This includes providing a better understanding of the complex digital environment with a focus on tourism as well as the key components of artificial intelligence systems including relevant national and international principles and guidelines for artificial intelligence. Many applications related to artificial intelligence have already been adopted in the tourism sector, with additional innovation opportunities to support its sustainability and inclusiveness. The analysis of existing applications and potential of AI in tourism shows the diversity of implemented and planned AI applications with the potential to provide a measurable contribution in all segments of the tourism industry value chain. This paper aims to analyze key aspects of AI in the tourism sector, and to offer a conceptual framework for further theoretical and empirical analysis. The aspects that are the subject of the analysis are brought to the general application of AI in tourism, such as tourisam planning and management, tourism geography, and innovation.