Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Tourism Planning: A Hetero-Intelligence Methodology Proposal

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18089/tms.2024SI04

Abstract

This study explores the growing significance of Large Language Models (LLMs) in tourism, for their current and potential applications. It aims to achieve two primary objectives: first, to develop a novel hetero-intelligence framework merging human and artificial intelligence (AI) to address contemporary sustainability challenges in tourism; second, to validate this framework by applying it to sustainable tourism planning, assessing LLMs' capabilities and limitations. The research employs a hetero-intelligence performance test, contrasting human intelligence and AI contributions in sustainable tourism planning with overtourism as a proxy challenge. Results showed that hetero-intelligence could effectively address sustainability issues in tourism, provided human and AI strengths and weaknesses are understood. LLMs proved useful in diagnosing and proposing solutions for sustainability-related issues. However, a rigorous methodological framework is essential to ensure unbiased outcomes. The research offers practical guidelines for applying this approach and significantly contributes to epistemological and empirical dimensions, providing valuable insights for researchers and tourism planners. The study calls for more empirical research to validate the methodology and explore ethical and legal dimensions, extending hetero-intelligence applications to broader sustainability challenges in tourism.

Author Biographies

  • Rocío Yñiguez-Ovando, Universidad de Sevilla

    Rocío Yñiguez holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Seville (1989), a Bachelor's degree in Law from UNED (2002), and a Ph.D. from the University of Seville (2001). She has been an Associate Professor at the University of Seville since 2013, teaching undergraduate, master's, and doctoral courses. Her association with the University of Seville began in 1993 as a part-time professor.

    Dr. Yñiguez has published 24 scientific articles in indexed journals, with most of them appearing in Q1-ranked journals. Her research primarily focuses on Energy Economics, Environmental Economics, and Innovation in Teaching. She has also co-authored four book chapters with well-regarded publishers. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Yñiguez leads the research group on Economic Theory and Political Economy at the University of Seville. She is also a board member of the Chair of Economics of Energy and Environment at the University of Seville-Red Eléctrica de España (www.eee-tech.org).

     

  • Eva Maria Buitrago-Esquinas, Universidad de Sevilla

    Eva Mª Buitrago-Esquinas holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics (University of Seville, 1993) and a Ph.D. (University of Seville, 2009). She has been an Associate Professor at the University of Seville since 2015, teaching undergraduate, master's, and doctoral courses. Her association with the University of Seville began in 1993 as a part-time lecturer.

    Dr. Buitrago-Esquinas has published 18 scientific articles in indexed journals, most of which are in Q1-ranked journals. She has co-authored 15 books and 15 book chapters with reputable publishers. Her research focuses primarily on tourism, institutional quality, social integration, ICT (social networks), and innovation in teaching. In her research endeavours, she leads the Research in Applied Economics group at the University of Seville, where she has directed and participated in nearly a dozen research projects.

  • Miguel Puig-Cabrera, Universidade do Algarve

    Miguel Puig-Cabrera holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Seville (Spain), a Degree in Tourism, a Master's degree in Economics and Development and a second Master's degree in Tourism Management and Planning.  He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being (CinTurs) of the University of Algarve (Portugal). His research focuses on Tourism and Quality of Life, Smart Development of the Territory, Poverty Alleviation, Socioeconomic Inequalities, and Sustainable Development Goals. He has received several national research awards in Spain. He has research and teaching experience in several Spanish and Latin American universities.

    He is presently working on several EU-funded research projects and is a Co-principal investigator in the Sustainable Horizons Project – Sustainability Horizons – European Universities Designing the Horizons of Sustainability (https://www.widera.education/).

  • Margarida Custódio Santos, Universidade do Algarve

    Margarida Custódio Santos holds a PhD in Tourism, a Master's Degree in Management and Development in Tourism, a Degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor's in Tourism Information. Currently, she serves as the director of the Postgraduate Course in Digital Marketing at the School of Management, Hospitality, and Tourism – University of the Algarve, and previously held the position of director for the degree in Tourism. Additionally, she is currently responsible for the Research Line in Tourism, Territories, and Environment at the CINTURS Research Centre.

    Since 1999, she has been a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Coordinating Professor at the University of the Algarve, teaching various courses in Tourism and Marketing at the undergraduate, master's, and PhD levels. Margarida has been invited as a keynote speaker at several conferences in Spain and Portugal. She has actively participated in research projects funded by the EU, supervising Master's and PhD students, as well as post-doctoral research stays. Margarida has authored numerous articles on topics such as destination image, collaborative strategies between tourism destinations and tour operators, destination competitiveness, and, more recently, her research has focused on sustainability in tourism.

  • José António C. Santos, Universidade do Algarve

    José António C. Santos is a Coordinating Professor at the School of Management, Hospitality and Tourism, and an Integrated Researcher of CINTURS at the University of the Algarve. He holds a PhD, a Master’s and two Bachelors, and has extensive working experience in international environments. Concerning research, he has been actively involved in advancing research in his field and serving the research community as a researcher, editor, supervisor, conference organiser, keynote speaker and reviewer. As a researcher, he publishes regularly in Scopus-indexed journals, was the local PI of an EU-funded project and a member of 4 other EU-funded projects. Concerning supervisions, he supervised nearly 40 students, including Master's dissertations, PhD theses, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral research stays. As a conference organiser, he has been the Chair of the seven TMS Algarve conferences organised to date. He has been invited as a keynote speaker at international academic conferences in several countries. As a reviewer, he serves on the Editorial Board and/or has reviewed papers for nearly 40 academic journals, including some of the top-tier journals in Tourism and Hospitality. Presently, he is conducting research in Sustainability in Tourism and Hospitality, Event Management, Gastronomy and Tourism, and Heritage Interpretation.

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Published

25.06.2024

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Vol. 20 No. SI (2024): Social Media and Digital Transformation

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Special Issue "Social Media and Digital Transformation"

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How to Cite

Yñiguez-Ovando, R., Buitrago-Esquinas, E. M., Puig-Cabrera, M., Santos, M. C., & Santos, J. A. C. (2024). Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Tourism Planning: A Hetero-Intelligence Methodology Proposal. Tourism & Management Studies, 20(SI), 45-59. https://doi.org/10.18089/tms.2024SI04

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