# Beyond the Hype: How Destinations Are Adopting AI

**Publisher:** Group NAO  
**Published:** 2025-01-01  
**Category:** Destinations, NTOs & DMOs  
**Type:** Survey  
**Access:** Free  
**Official source:** https://groupnao.com/works/beyond-the-hype  
**Canonical:** https://tourismintel.ai/reports/beyond-the-hype

## At a glance
- Nearly all destination marketing professionals use AI tools, but only 16% of organisations have a formal AI strategy.
- Over half of surveyed professionals engage with AI weekly, primarily for content creation, translation, and data analysis.
- Access to technology is not the barrier; destinations with clear governance frameworks outperform those with advanced tools alone.
- Most AI deployment remains internal; few destinations have implemented visitor-facing or purpose-driven AI applications.

## What the report covers
Group NAO's survey of 311 destination professionals across 157 organisations in Europe and North America examines AI adoption patterns in the travel industry. The report compares 2023 and 2025 data to track evolving use cases, strategic maturity, and barriers to effective implementation. It identifies the gap between widespread tool adoption and structured governance as the central challenge facing destination marketing and management organisations.

## Key findings
Nearly every destination marketing professional now uses AI tools, with more than half doing so weekly. Common applications include content writing and editing, translation, image generation, and data analysis. Despite this penetration, only 16% of organisations surveyed report having a formal AI strategy, pointing to a fundamental disconnect between experimentation and intentional deployment across the sector.

Current AI use remains largely informal and operationally focused. Individuals and teams experiment independently, learning through trial and error without shared frameworks or contingent largely on personal initiative. Few destinations have implemented AI-driven solutions for visitors, partners, or residents, and even fewer have defined how AI supports strategic objectives such as sustainability, accessibility, or service quality enhancement.

The report identifies governance and strategic intent as the primary drivers of AI maturity, rather than technological sophistication. Destinations reporting highest confidence and capability have clear internal frameworks, shared guidelines, and leadership treating AI as a strategic asset. Those advancing most rapidly prioritise how risks are addressed, how learning spreads across the organisation, and how experimentation connects to defined purpose.

The sector stands at a critical transition point. Continued informal experimentation risks fragmentation and missed opportunities, while moving forward requires deliberate focus on strategy, clear direction-setting, and ensuring organisational alignment. The report emphasises that effective AI adoption depends on treating technology as a strategic tool for strengthening local capacity and enhancing visitor experiences rather than as a personal productivity hack.

## Key numbers
| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Organisations with formal AI strategy | 16% | Observed; survey of 157 destination organisations, Europe and North America, 2025 |
| Professionals using AI tools | Nearly all / nearly every | Observed; survey of 311 destination professionals, 2025; exact percentage not stated in source |
| Survey sample size | 311 professionals across 157 organisations | Geography: Europe and North America; methodology: international survey, 2025 |

## Why it matters
**DMOs & destinations** — The survey reveals that strategic AI adoption requires governance and intent, not advanced technology alone. Destinations lacking formal AI strategies risk fragmentation and unrealised value. Establishing clear frameworks, shared guidelines, and leadership alignment is essential to move from experimental adoption to purposeful deployment that strengthens capacity and visitor experience.

**Hotels & hospitality** — The report shows most destination-level AI remains internal and operationally focused. Hotels and hospitality providers can expect limited AI-driven visitor-facing tools from destination organisations currently. Understanding this gap presents opportunities for properties to differentiate through their own guest-centric AI implementations while advocating for coordinated destination-level strategies.

**Travel tech & distribution** — Technology vendors face a market where tool adoption outpaces strategic demand. Destinations prioritise governance frameworks and integration over feature richness. Vendors addressing governance, compliance, knowledge sharing, and purpose-aligned implementation may differentiate more effectively than those emphasising advanced capabilities alone.

## Methodology and limits
Group NAO surveyed 311 destination marketing and management professionals across 157 organisations in Europe and North America. The report compares data collected in 2023 and 2025 to track evolution. The survey examined AI use cases, confidence levels, strategic direction, and perceived barriers. This brief is based on the publicly available summary; the full report details are accessible via the project website.

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© Group NAO for the original report. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel (https://tourismintel.ai). Read the original: https://groupnao.com/works/beyond-the-hype