If AI Doesn't Know Your Tourism Business, Will Travellers Ever Find You?

I recently spent part of a day at home with the flu stretching my brain with Tourism New Zealand's webinar on AI and travel discovery, and then not long afterwards sat through another excellent session at the Tourism Export Council conference from Tomahawk looking at how tourism businesses can create stronger content and scale it across multiple channels.

I am still very much on my own learning journey when it comes to AI and tourism marketing, but both sessions reinforced something I have been thinking about a lot lately.

This isn't really about becoming an AI expert.

It is about becoming easier to find, easier to understand, easier to trust and, ultimately, easier to recommend.

And increasingly, that recommendation might not come from a travel agent, a friend or even a Google search result. It may come from an AI platform that has already researched your business before the traveller ever reaches your website.

That is quite a shift.

How Is AI Changing The Way Travellers Discover Tourism Businesses?

For years, most of us have thought about online visibility largely through the lens of Google.

• How do we rank higher?

• How do we improve SEO?

• How do we get more people onto our website?

Those things still matter, and despite all the noise around AI, yes, you absolutely still need a website.

But the way travellers are researching is changing.

Instead of typing a few keywords into a search engine, they are increasingly asking much more detailed questions of tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Perplexity.

Rather than searching for "Taupō activities", they may ask:

"We are visiting Taupō in July with two children aged eight and ten, we love being outdoors and want something memorable that is suitable for first-time visitors. What would you recommend?"

That is no longer just a search. It is a conversation.

And the AI platform is doing much of the research and filtering before the traveller ever arrives on your website.

Why Are AI-Driven Travellers So Valuable?

One point from the Tomahawk presentation that really stood out to me was the quality of the audience coming through AI-driven discovery.

These travellers are often further down the decision-making funnel.

They have already done a lot of research, narrowed down their options and are looking for something that fits a specific need, which means they can be much more intentional and higher value than someone casually browsing.

In other words, fewer tyre-kickers.

That makes visibility in AI recommendations increasingly important, because while overall website traffic may reduce, the visitors who do arrive may actually be much more qualified.

So the question is not simply, "How do I get more traffic?"

It is becoming, "How do I make sure my business is part of the shortlist?"

What Is The 'Disappearance Gap' And Why Should Tourism Operators Care?

Tourism New Zealand shared that organic traffic to newzealand.com has dropped significantly year-on-year, not because people have stopped planning holidays, but because AI is increasingly answering questions before travellers ever click through to a website.

They described this as the disappearance gap. People are still searching. They are just disappearing before they reach your website.

That means a traveller may already have gone from twenty possible businesses to three before they ever visit one operator's site.

If AI does not understand your business well enough to include it in that shortlist, you may have lost the opportunity before the traveller even knew you existed.

How Does AI Decide Which Tourism Businesses To Recommend?

This was probably the most useful framework from the Tourism New Zealand webinar because it makes the whole process feel a lot less technical.

Before AI confidently recommends a business, it effectively needs to move through four stages.

1. Can AI Find Your Tourism Business?

If your important information is hidden inside PDFs, sitting on an old website, missing from key listings or difficult for search engines to crawl, you are making the job harder before it even starts.

Your website still matters enormously, but so do the other places where your business appears online.

2. Can AI Understand What Your Tourism Business Actually Does?

This is where I think tourism businesses sometimes get a little too carried away with marketing language.

We love phrases such as:

"Creating unforgettable memories."

"Authentic local experiences."

"Warm hospitality."

They sound nice, but they do not tell anyone what you actually sell.

Compare that with:

"Guided white-water rafting trips on the Tongariro River for families, first-time rafters and adventure travellers."

That tells AI, and more importantly a human visitor, exactly what the experience is, where it happens and who it is suitable for.

Clear beats clever.

3. Can AI Trust Your Tourism Business?

This is an area Tourism New Zealand highlighted as a weakness for many operators.

Most tourism businesses already have trust signals.

• Qualmark.

• Sustainability certifications.

• Awards.

• Safety credentials.

• Reviews.

• Years in business.

The problem is that we often display these visually and assume that is enough. AI needs those signals written into the content as well.

• Do not just show a Qualmark badge.

• Say that your business is Qualmark Gold accredited.

• Do not simply display an award logo.

• Explain what the award was for.

• Do not assume that people know your safety credentials.

• Spell them out.

• Trust needs evidence.

  
  

4. Would AI Confidently Recommend You?

This is where everything comes together.

AI may be able to find you and understand you, but if the information about your business is inconsistent, vague or poorly supported, it may still hesitate.

And that hesitation matters. Because if another operator is easier to understand and has stronger evidence available online, they may be the one that gets recommended instead.

Why Consistency Across Your Website, Google, OTAs And RTO Listings Matters

One of my favourite slides from the Tourism New Zealand webinar showed six key business facts across multiple channels.

• Business name.

• Region.

• Experience category.

• Traveller fit.

• Trust signals.

• Booking pathway.

Then it compared those facts across the website, newzealand.com, Regional Tourism Organisation listings, Google Business Profile, OTAs and reviews.

It was such a simple exercise, but incredibly revealing.

A business might have a great website, an old description on newzealand.com, no clear traveller fit on its RTO listing, a different business name on an OTA and missing trust signals on Google.

None of those things on their own seem disastrous. Together, though, they create uncertainty. And uncertainty makes AI less confident. Sometimes the answer is not more content. Sometimes the answer is simply better alignment.

Why Tourism Businesses Need To Own Their Story

This was probably the strongest addition for me from Tomahawk.

So much of the content travellers consume about destinations and tourism businesses is not actually created by the businesses themselves.

It comes from bloggers, Influencers, Reddit, Facebook groups, Reviews, Travel agents,

OTAs.

That content absolutely has value, because people trust people, but there is also a risk if you rely entirely on other people to tell your story.

If you are not creating your own useful, authoritative content, then everyone else is effectively deciding how your business is described.

The good. The bad. And occasionally the completely wrong.

Tourism businesses have an enormous amount of knowledge sitting inside them, and this is where I think we sometimes underestimate ourselves.

• You know the best time of day to visit.

• You know what families struggle with.

• You know what first-time visitors misunderstand.

• You know the questions people ask before they book.

• You know what to pack.

• You know where people get stuck.

That knowledge is your content.

Should Tourism Businesses Use AI To Create Content?

Yes, but this is where some common sense is needed.

AI makes it incredibly tempting to ask for ten blog topics, generate ten articles, paste them onto your website and congratulate yourself on having a content strategy.

That is not a content strategy. That is just volume.

As Tomahawk put it, volume without a system is noise.

Generic AI-generated content adds very little value because AI platforms can already create generic information themselves.

What they need from businesses is something different.

• Experience.

• Opinion.

• Specific knowledge.

• Real examples.

• Local insight.

• Useful information that only someone who knows the product, destination or audience well can provide.

AI can absolutely help you research, structure, edit and repurpose that content. But the expertise still needs to come from you.

How Do You Find The Right Tourism Content To Create?

This was another practical piece of advice from Tomahawk that I really liked.

Do not start by asking AI:

"Give me ten blog topics."

Start with the questions your customers are actually asking.

• Look at your emails.

• Listen to phone enquiries.

• Read reviews.

• Look at Facebook groups.

• Explore Reddit.

• Ask your guides and frontline staff what visitors ask every day.

• Where are travellers confused?

• What are they nervous about?

• What are they trying to compare?

• What misinformation keeps appearing?

Those are much stronger content opportunities than a generic list of SEO keywords.

The important part is making sure the topic also aligns with your own expertise and your target visitor.

There is very little point writing a brilliant article about travelling New Zealand with toddlers if your business specialises in premium adult adventure experiences.

Your content should sit where your expertise and your customer's questions overlap.

How To Write Tourism Content That AI Can Quote

One of my favourite lines from the TNZ presentation was:

Forget the acronyms. Write content that can be quoted.

There is an increasing amount of discussion around SEO, AEO and GEO.

Most tourism operators do not need another acronym.

What matters is creating content that is easy to understand and easy to use. That means content that is clear, well structured, specific, trustworthy and consistent.

• Use proper headings.

• Name actual places.

• Name the type of visitor you are speaking to.

• Be specific about times, seasons, ages, locations and experience types where they matter.

• Write your credentials into the text.

• Answer the question directly.

In other words, make it easy for someone to lift one paragraph from your website and understand exactly what you mean.

Why One Strong Tourism Blog Can Be More Valuable Than Ten Average Ones

This is where the two presentations really joined together for me.

You do not necessarily need to produce huge volumes of original content. You need to create stronger core content and then use it more intelligently.

A well-researched article could become:

• a shorter blog,

• an Instagram carousel,

• a Facebook post,

• a Reel,

• a LinkedIn article,

• an email series,

• a YouTube video,

• Pinterest content,

• audio,

• or even talking points for your team.

The key is not simply copying the same thing everywhere. Each platform has its own format and audience behaviour. The core idea stays consistent, but the delivery should change. That is a much smarter approach than trying to continually invent completely new content for every channel.

Why Your Customer Database Still Matters In An AI World

This was another good reminder from Tomahawk.

In the rush to talk about AI, social media and algorithms, we sometimes forget one of the most valuable marketing assets any business owns - its database.

Clean, first-party customer data gives you a direct connection with people who have already shown an interest in your business, and no platform algorithm sits between you and them.

A strong piece of content can easily become a short email series, helping a potential visitor plan their trip, understand the best time to visit, solve logistical questions and eventually move towards booking.

AI may help people discover you.

Your own database helps you keep the relationship.

Why Reviews Matter Even More For AI Visibility

Reviews have always mattered for social proof, but they now play another role. AI platforms are reading them too.

If people consistently describe your business as family-friendly, highly organised, safe, locally owned, knowledgeable or great for first-time visitors, those descriptions help build an external picture of your brand.

Of course, the opposite is also true.

That makes actively managing your reviews and encouraging genuine customer feedback even more important.

They are not just influencing the next traveller.

They may also be influencing how AI understands your business.

What Should Tourism Operators Do First?

The biggest risk with all of this is feeling like you now need to change everything. You do not. Start small.

Pick one or two questions you would genuinely like your business to be recommended for.

Then look at your website and your wider online presence and ask:

• Can AI find us?

• Can it clearly understand what we offer?

• Does it have enough evidence to trust us?

• Is our information consistent?

• Are we answering the questions our actual customers ask?

Once you have that foundation right, then start building content around those questions.

Final Thoughts: Good AI Marketing Is Still Good Marketing

The more I learn about AI and tourism marketing, the more I keep coming back to the same conclusion.

Good AI marketing is actually just good marketing.

• Understand your customer.

• Know what problem you solve.

• Communicate clearly.

• Build trust.

• Share useful expertise.

• Stay consistent.

• Tell your own story.

None of that is new.

What has changed is how important those fundamentals have become, because travellers are no longer necessarily coming directly to your website to figure out who you are.

AI may be doing that work first.

So perhaps the question every tourism business needs to start asking is no longer simply:

"Can people find us online?"

It is:

"Would AI understand us well enough, and trust us enough, to recommend us?"

That feels like a very good place to start.