World Tourism Day on 27 September 2026 is being held this year under the theme ‘Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism’. The focus is on how digitalisation and artificial intelligence are transforming tourism – and who has a say in shaping this transformation and who benefits from it. Digital platforms and AI increasingly influence which destinations gain visibility and what information travellers receive. UN Tourism emphasises that the rules governing this development need to be set now – and that the window of opportunity will not reopen. ‘Technology must serve humanity. Tourism workers, local communities and emerging destinations must help shape what comes next,’ says António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Tourism Watch has already critically examined the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in tourism in the analysis Digital Trends in Tourism – Between Algorithms and Exploitation The contributions show that digital technologies do not automatically lead to more sustainable tourism development. Among other issues, they examine the impacts of digitalisation on tourism workers, the influence of social media on destinations, misinformation and representation in the context of digital travel guides and generative AI, the environmental impacts of digital technologies, as well as digital developments that can create new risks for child protection.