Intelligent systems in tourism: A Social Science Perspective

Intelligent systems sense their environment and learn from the actions they implement to reach specific goals. They are increasingly used to support tourist information search and decision making as well as work processes. In order to model the tourism domain, these systems require a profound understanding of its nature. Looking at existing literature in tourism, this paper discusses critical gaps in the knowledge of the field to be filled so that intelligent system design can be informed and impacts understood. Specifically, it discusses the need to better conceptualize technology in tourism research and argues for a focus on uses and interactions. It challenges simplistic views of tourist information search and decision-making processes and calls for more research on potential impacts.