Professor Mimi Li, Associate Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCDTT) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was invited to deliver a keynote address at the 100th International Conference of the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea (TOSOK), held in Seoul. The Tourism Sciences Society of Korea, established in 1972, is the largest and oldest academic organisation dedicated to tourism research in the country.
In her presentation, Prof. Li presented findings on the application of artificial intelligence in tourism marketing, with a focus on the differences between Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong travellers. She noted that Hong Kong tourists still predominantly rely on search engines, word-of-mouth, and online travel agencies (OTAs) for information search and booking. In contrast, Mainland travellers prefer mobile applications that offer user-generated content and travel guides, and tend to book through these platforms and social media channels. Citing survey data, Prof. Li reported that nearly one-third of respondents have used AI as a source of travel information, and over 70% of Mainland tourists make their travel decisions within one week prior to departure. The integration of AI with booking platforms, she observed, facilitates more spontaneous travel.
Prof. Li also outlined emerging market characteristics. She observed a shift from product-based purchasing to the acquisition of “emotional value,” with tourists increasingly motivated by experiential and affective factors. Generative AI, she noted, is transforming information acquisition from active keyword-based search to recommendation-led discovery. Consequently, marketing strategies now address not only human decision-makers but also algorithms and AI agents. Search engine optimisation (SEO), she argued, is gradually being supplemented by generative engine optimisation (GEO), requiring destinations to be interpretable, visible, and recommendable by AI systems.
Beyond content creation, AI is being deployed to assist with workflow management, enabling marketers to track search trends, platform dynamics, and situational contexts in order to perceive user needs and adapt destination attributes into scenario-specific content. This is further integrated with SEO, GEO, and social media channels. Prof. Li projected that future interaction pathways will evolve towards a model of “destination/hotel – destination agent – tourist agent – tourist,” with agent-to-agent (A2A) interactions emerging as a new phenomenon.
Concluding her keynote, Prof. Li offered three cautionary observations for academic research. She advised scholars to be aware of the bandwagon effect and to revisit traditional determinants of tourism behaviour; to identify what is genuinely novel in the AI-driven transformation; and to critically reflect on the challenges posed by AI as a research collaborator.
In her presentation, Prof. Li presented findings on the application of artificial intelligence in tourism marketing, with a focus on the differences between Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong travellers. She noted that Hong Kong tourists still predominantly rely on search engines, word-of-mouth, and online travel agencies (OTAs) for information search and booking. In contrast, Mainland travellers prefer mobile applications that offer user-generated content and travel guides, and tend to book through these platforms and social media channels. Citing survey data, Prof. Li reported that nearly one-third of respondents have used AI as a source of travel information, and over 70% of Mainland tourists make their travel decisions within one week prior to departure. The integration of AI with booking platforms, she observed, facilitates more spontaneous travel.
Prof. Li also outlined emerging market characteristics. She observed a shift from product-based purchasing to the acquisition of “emotional value,” with tourists increasingly motivated by experiential and affective factors. Generative AI, she noted, is transforming information acquisition from active keyword-based search to recommendation-led discovery. Consequently, marketing strategies now address not only human decision-makers but also algorithms and AI agents. Search engine optimisation (SEO), she argued, is gradually being supplemented by generative engine optimisation (GEO), requiring destinations to be interpretable, visible, and recommendable by AI systems.
Beyond content creation, AI is being deployed to assist with workflow management, enabling marketers to track search trends, platform dynamics, and situational contexts in order to perceive user needs and adapt destination attributes into scenario-specific content. This is further integrated with SEO, GEO, and social media channels. Prof. Li projected that future interaction pathways will evolve towards a model of “destination/hotel – destination agent – tourist agent – tourist,” with agent-to-agent (A2A) interactions emerging as a new phenomenon.
Concluding her keynote, Prof. Li offered three cautionary observations for academic research. She advised scholars to be aware of the bandwagon effect and to revisit traditional determinants of tourism behaviour; to identify what is genuinely novel in the AI-driven transformation; and to critically reflect on the challenges posed by AI as a research collaborator.
| Topics | Research |
|---|---|
| Research Units | Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism |
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