Seyed Mohsen Haji Saeed, the head of the tourism working group of the Strategic Council of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, believes that the future of tourism is not only dependent on artificial intelligence but is also unimaginable without it. He states: "Until a few years ago, when we talked about technology in tourism, we mostly meant online booking, online sales, and digital marketing. But today, artificial intelligence is gradually playing an important role in the decision-making process of tourists."
A Transformation in the Tourist Decision-Making Process
Haji Saeed explains that artificial intelligence, as a cognitive scaffold, simplifies the process of thinking, comparing, and choosing for tourists. He adds: "This does not mean that tourism professionals should only work with smart tools, but it will create a new form of division of labor between humans and machines."
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Increasing the Value of Human Skills
Furthermore, Haji Saeed points out that part of the tasks related to information searching, data processing, and initial travel program design is rapidly being assigned to artificial intelligence. However, in contrast, the value of skills that are deeply human will increase. Skills such as judgment, creativity, empathy, and problem-solving in unforeseen situations will be crucial in the future.
He specifically mentions the profession of tour guides: "The guide of the future is not someone who tries to retain more information from artificial intelligence in their memory. Rather, they must be able to transform information into meaning, meaning into narrative, and narrative into human experience."
The Necessity of Artificial Intelligence Literacy in Tourism
Haji Saeed emphasizes that artificial intelligence literacy must become one of the basic skills of the human workforce in tourism. He states: "A person must know how to ask the right questions, distinguish correct information from incorrect, and be aware of issues such as privacy and data security."
Ultimately, he stresses that the main issue today is not "human or artificial intelligence," but rather "a human who knows how to use artificial intelligence correctly." In his view, the future of tourism depends on the smart combination of human and machine capabilities, and many competitive advantages will arise from this interaction.
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