Don't Get Tourists Wrong! Conceptualising Artificial Intelligence Bias in the Smart Tourism Domain

This chapter introduces the problem of algorithmic bias in Artificial Intelligence applications from the perspective of the tourism and hospitality domain and smart tourism. It uses typical scenarios of tourist experience to examine different manifestations of AI bias in tourism and hospitality, and proposes a framework to understand its global implications, with specific reference to smart tourism. Adopting a narrative literature review approach, the chapter synthesises a wide array of studies on AI bias and consumer experiences, particularly in smart destination contexts. The chapter anticipates bias influence on typical tourist experiences, from incidences during pre-travel, during travel/on-site and post-travel phases, from the perspective of tourists and tourism providers. It reveals that most biases originate from AI use in online platforms, impacting tourists’ information searches and decision making, and also affecting the marketing operations of tourism providers. The chapter conceptualises the overall effect of AI on tourist experiences and outlines broader social impacts, managerial implications and effects on technology. This study is the first to address bias in AI applications and their implications in the tourism and hospitality context with a specific reference to smart destinations.