The role of travel inspiration in shaping tourism futures: effects of artificial intelligence-based technologies and tourists’ need-for-cognition Carrasco García, Patricia María Polo Peña, Ana Isabel Frías Jamilena, Dolores María Travel inspiration Artificial intelligence AI Chatbot Intelligent virtual environment IVE Need-for-cognition Experimental design Tourism futures The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research of this article: Grant TED2021-1320788-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR; PID2019-110941RB-100 funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain and A-SEJ-462-UGR20, funded by the Consejería Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad of Junta de Andalucía. Purpose – This work progresses toward a deeper understanding of the role of travel inspiration in shaping tourism futures – in terms of how such inspiration is affected by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent virtual environments (IVEs) in virtual destination tours, coupled with certain personal characteristics of the tourist. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment is conducted, based on two factors: (1) a virtual destination tour using three levels of technology sophistication: one control version (featuring 2D static images), another with AI (intelligent chatbot) and another in an IVE (intelligent chatbot and VR with 3608 images); and (2) the participants’ need-for-cognition (NfC) (low vs high). Findings – The results show that: virtual tours delivered via an AI format or an IVE exert a positive and significant influence on travel inspiration; tourist NfC significantly influences travel inspiration; and NfC moderates the effect of AI on travel inspiration. This moderating effect disappears when an IVE is used. Originality/value – The findings extend and support the extant literature on inspiration and future tourism. Taking an original experimental approach, this study offers a new perspective that deepens our understanding of some of the factors that may trigger travel inspiration. The experiment analyzes the impact of AI and an IVE (within a virtual destination tour), together with NfC, on travel inspiration. The results thus provide a solid basis for destination managers to design effective strategies for developing future-oriented tourism offers, characterized by the growing relevance of smart technologies and personalized experiences. 2025-12-18T08:07:29Z 2025-12-18T08:07:29Z 2025-11-21 journal article Published version: Carrasco-García, P. M., Polo-Peña, A. I., & Frías-Jamilena, D. M. (2025). The role of travel inspiration in shaping tourism futures: effects of artificial intelligence-based technologies and tourists' need-for-cognition. Journal of Tourism Futures. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-10-2024-0228 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/108926 10.1108/JTF-10-2024-0228 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Emerald