Towards a new generation of smart tourism cities–GenAI-enabled aerotainment
Lázaro Florido‐Benítez, J. Andrés Coca‐Stefaniak
Abstract
This article adopts a futures-based approach to explore the marketing of smart cities as tourism destinations with a specific focus on the role generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can play in this process. Building on the novel concept of aerotainment, which advocates a holistic approach to urban destination management merging airports, theme parks, regional visitor attractions and tourism cities, the future impacts of GenAI on the planning and management of visitor experiences are discussed critically. A novel framework for the development of GenAI-enabled smart tourism cities - the urban tourism destination pyramid - is posited and discussed, including the use of tools such as digital twins and GenAI to monitor and predict future customer behaviour. • Adopts a futures-based approach to explore the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on the visitor economy of smart cities. • Builds on a novel perspective to the strategic marketing of smart cities – aerotainment – combining airports, urban tourism and visitor attractions. • Proposes a new framework for the development of GenAI-enabled smart tourism cities – the urban tourism destination pyramid. • Discusses critically the use of tools such as digital twins and generative AI to monitor and predict future customer behaviour in smart tourism cities.