Abstract
Sociologist John Urry’s Tourist Gaze (1990) defined the visual phenomenon through which tourists consume places. While the original theory predates social media, general audience Virtual, Augmented, and Extended Reality (VR/AR/XR), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the theory remains applicable to visitor expectations at tourism sites. Urry and his later collaborators (2002, 2011) posit that the media that visitors have consumed prior to traveling has a direct impact on their expectations upon arrival at a place, and that some sites may not live up to the expectation that promotional media inspires. AI is the newest technology to “make waves” in the tourism industry, though for different reasons. Using its capabilities to develop visitor profiles, schedule and reserve, perform customer service, create itineraries, and provide cultural and language translations, the tourism industry was an early adopter of AI, particularly exploiting its efficiencies and streamlining through its processes. Yet, AI has also presented a challenge for the Tourist Gaze, as tourism sites that rely on visual imagery or aesthetic experience to draw in new visitor. In the wake of generative AI, computers can create previously-unimaginable and landscapes and magical worlds, presented as realistic places, leaving real spaces underwhelming in comparison. This paper presents the contextual development of AI as the newest challenge to the Tourist Gaze, positing the evolving role of tourism in the 21st century computer era, posing the questions: Now that we can construct anything, what is beauty tourism for? With the technology to experience places virtually, is travel necessary for tourism?
Presenters
Kristin BarryAssociate Professor, Architecture, Ball State University, Indiana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Changing Dimensions of Contemporary Tourism
KEYWORDS
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Virtual Tourism, Tourist Gaze
