Can artificial intelligence-supported virtual tourist experiences improve tourist wellbeing?

Abstract

Personal wellbeing has become one of the major concerns of modern societies; and, as such, the tourism sector has much to contribute. The overarching objective of the present study is to progress toward greater knowledge of the capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) to support tourist experiences in the pre-stay phase and, thus, contribute to tourist wellbeing. To this end, in this study, (a) a virtual tour of a tourist destination was designed, featuring an intelligent tour guide–chatbot that interacted with participants and answered their questions related to the tour; (b) the theoretical framework of the Experience Economy (referring to entertainment, esthetics, education, and escapism dimensions), Diener’s Subjective Wellbeing model (hedonic wellbeing), and Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing model (eudaimonic wellbeing) were applied; and (c) the effect of the AI-supported virtual tourist experience on hedonic wellbeing (including cognitive and affective components) and eudaimonic wellbeing was analyzed. The results show that the AI-supported tourist experience contributes significantly to tourists’ hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. The findings of this research make useful contributions to both the literature and the professional sector.