Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism
In today’s world, where artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping our lives, the tourism industry is no exception. AI is already playing an important role in how travellers plan their journeys, influencing decisions about where to stay, what to see, and where to go. This transformation raises an important question: who benefits from these changes, and who gets to decide?
Given the growing role of AI in tourism, this year’s World Tourism Day theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” highlights the need to understand and shape this transformation. On 27 September 2026, World Tourism Day will be celebrated in San Salvador, El Salvador, with a programme designed to be seen rather than simply heard about. Ministers and industry leaders will come together to demonstrate AI working live rather than merely discussing it, showing how it can support sharper decisions for governments, businesses, and travellers, create new skills for the tourism workforce, and open new ways for destinations to be discovered.
This year is particularly significant because El Salvador is not only hosting World Tourism Day on AI, but is also co-chairing the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva. The theme therefore goes beyond simply recognizing a technological transformation. It calls on the tourism sector to actively respond to and help shape the technology that is already redesigning it.
UN Tourism (2026) WTD 2026 Concept Note. Available at: https://pre-webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2026-07/WTD2026_Concept%20Note_EN.pdf (Accessed: 23 August 2026).
Courtesy of UN Tourism
António Guterres
United Nations | The Secretary-General
World Tourism Day celebrates the many ways tourism connects cultures and enriches lives.
This year, it also asks what kind of future we want for tourism. The theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” reflects one of the defining transformations of our time.
AI is changing how travellers choose destinations, how the industry operates, and how travel experiences are designed. It can strengthen small businesses, improve services and create new opportunities. Yet left unchecked, it can funnel tourists to the same few places and platforms, leaving many worthwhile destinations behind.
Technology must serve humanity. Tourism workers, local communities and emerging destinations must help shape what comes next. This requires investing in digital skills, widening access to technology, and ensuring innovation benefits the people and places that make tourism possible.
Let us build a digital future for tourism that is open, inclusive and human – and harness these new tools to drive sustainable development for all.
UN Tourism (2026) World Tourism Day 2026. Available at: https://www.untourism.int/world-tourism-day-2026 (Accessed: 23 August 2026).