At the recent AST Webinar, Tinu Mathur, Barbara Kitane, Danti Yuliandari, and Rhea Vitto Tabora discussed why credible sustainability communication starts long before the message—in operations, alignment, and proof that can stand up to scrutiny.

The Irreplaceable Travel Advisor: Human Empathy in the Era of AI

For two decades, the online travel booking experience ran on a reliable, if imperfect, arrangement. Discovery flowed through Google. Brands and OTAs converted traffic into bookings. Influencers, media, travel advisors, and tour operators were compensated at every link in the chain. Whoever was closest to the customer held what mattered most: the data and sometimes also the relationship.

That architecture is now being dismantled faster than the industry could have anticipated. 

Phocuswright reported that 33% of travelers typically use Generative AI ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for trip research, compared with just 6% in the second half of 2024.

AI travel planning tools like Travo, Layla, and Navan Edge can generate itineraries in seconds, on demand. Agentic tools like OpenAI Agent Mode and Claude Cowork can now search, select, and handle most of the booking process without the traveler visiting a single website.

The AI disruption, however, causes an equally impactful and consequential dimension. A peer-reviewed study published this year found that AI recommendation systems show a strong, consistent bias toward already-popular hotspots such as Kyoto, Bali, or Phuket. 

Can a single menu really advance ten UN Sustainable Development Goals? In our latest webinar, Anna Lees, Heidi Spurrell, and Chef Sandy Keung proved it’s not only possible—it’s already happening in kitchens. From dramatic carbon and water savings swapping beef for tempeh, to Chef Sandy’s TCM and 24 Solar Terms approach that makes sustainability feel personal and natural for guests, to carbon labeling and waste reduction, this session is packed with honest insights and actionable ideas you can start using immediately.

Impact-led tourism is not a value exercise. At its most rigorous, it is a different theory of value creation. It is one that counts community capability, cultural continuity, and local ownership as assets on the balance sheet, not costs to minimize.

It is about recruiting, developing, and trusting people to lead. 

The businesses and destinations that have internalized this are building something the market cannot easily replicate: teams who believe in what they do, guests who notice the difference, and communities that have a stake in the outcome rather than a seat at the service counter.