Guide to Discoverability in the AI Era: Visibility and Tools for Tourism
At a glance
- 34% of Quebec travellers used AI for travel inspiration in 2024, up from 6% in 2023—a five-fold increase in one year.
- Generation Z shows strongest AI adoption: 59% plan to use AI-based virtual assistants for travel organisation.
- 47% of all Quebec travellers expect to use AI assistants for future trip planning.
- Discoverability—ensuring visibility in AI-generated results—now essential; traditional search engine visibility insufficient.
- On-page and off-page GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) strategies, structured data, and authentic content are core to AI-era competitiveness.
What the report covers
This guide, authored by Quebec's AI in Tourism Working Group, addresses how travel businesses and destinations can maintain competitiveness as AI reshapes traveller behaviour and discovery. It covers AI interaction patterns, how generative models recommend destinations, and practical strategies for content optimization, data structuring, and authority-building. Aimed at DMOs, hoteliers, and travel-tech operators, the guide emphasises proactive adaptation to AI systems like ChatGPT, virtual assistants, and voice search.
Key findings
AI adoption among Quebec travellers accelerated sharply. According to the EY Future Travel Behaviors Observatory and Transat Chair, 34% of Quebec travellers used AI for travel inspiration in 2024, compared to just 6% in 2023. Looking forward, 47% of all travellers anticipate using AI-based virtual assistants to organise trips, with adoption highest among Generation Z at 59%.
Generative AI systems decide visibility based on content interpretation, not keyword matching. Unlike traditional search engines, AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend destinations by synthesising user preferences against rich knowledge bases drawn from books, articles, online databases, and trusted sources. This means tourism businesses must ensure their information is easily understood and structured by machine-readable formats, not simply indexed by crawlers.
Voice and conversational search require fundamentally different content approaches. Voice queries are typically phrased conversationally—'What is the best hotel near Quebec City?'—and occur frequently on mobile devices. Tourism content must adopt natural language, direct answers to frequent questions, and layered structure (FAQ sections, short paragraphs, clear hierarchies) to be extracted and cited by AI agents and voice assistants.
Discoverability strategy integrates on-site and off-site optimization. On-page tactics include Schema.org structured data, mobile responsiveness, content categorisation, and site speed. Off-page strategies—quality backlinks from travel media, partnerships with travel associations and OTAs, claimed profiles on TripAdvisor and Google Business, and user-generated content—build authority and trustworthiness that AI systems weigh when ranking sources and recommendations.
Authentic engagement and traditional marketing practices remain foundational. Public relations, influencer partnerships, user-generated content campaigns, and review management amplify credibility signals that AI algorithms interpret as quality and relevance. These methods, combined with modern GEO practices, sustain both human discovery and AI-driven recommendation.
Key numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Quebec travellers using AI for travel inspiration | 34% (2024) |
| Quebec travellers expecting to use AI assistants for trip planning | 47% (forecast) |
| Generation Z planning to use AI-based virtual assistants for travel | 59% (forecast) |
Figures as published in the source; forecasts and survey results are labelled as such in the note.
Why it matters
DMOs & destinations
As AI systems become primary discovery channels, destinations invisible or poorly interpreted by these systems risk losing market share. Discoverability—not just visibility—determines whether a destination appears in AI recommendations. DMOs must audit content, structure data with Schema.org, and cultivate media partnerships and reviews to ensure recommendation by AI agents used by 47% of future travellers.
Hotels & hospitality
Hotels relying solely on OTA rankings or traditional SEO may be overlooked by voice assistants and generative AI tools that 59% of Gen Z will use. Adopting natural-language FAQs, claiming and completing Google Business and review-site profiles, and gathering authentic guest content ensures visibility to AI systems. Content structured for machine interpretation—not keywords—now determines bookability.
Travel tech & distribution
Platforms aggregating or selling inventory must optimise data quality and schema compliance to remain visible in AI-generated itineraries and recommendations. Travel-tech operators competing with ChatGPT and Perplexity require superior data structure, real-time information accuracy, and partnerships that amplify authority signals. GEO strategies are now table stakes for API-driven distribution.
Methodology and limits
This guide is a practitioner resource compiled by Quebec's AI in Tourism Working Group, not a primary research publication. It synthesises findings from the EY Future Travel Behaviors Observatory and Transat Chair (specific 2024 survey details not disclosed in the public excerpts). The guide does not report a sample size, margin of error, or detailed research design. Percentages are presented as observed 2024 data or traveller intentions. The brief is based on the publicly available PDF; full survey methodology is not disclosed within the source text.
Official source
The report is © IA Tourisme. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel — it quotes only figures published in the source and never reproduces the document.
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