In celebration of World Tourism Day on 27 September, we’re highlighting members with extensive experience across the tourism industry. Discover their stories, explore their perspectives on AI in tourism, and learn how they are embracing new opportunities and developments.
Bespoke England Tours is a London-based luxury DMC and tour operator specialising in tailor-made experiences across England and the wider UK. Its offerings include bespoke day trips to destinations such as Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath, as well as multi-day tours across the UK. The company provides private driver-guides and luxury Mercedes vehicles, giving clients a comfortable, personalised way to explore the UK.
1. How is your organisation currently using AI or digital technology to improve the tourism experience?
At Bespoke England Tours, we use AI across both the visitor experience and our day-to-day operations. We use an AI digital telephone assistant and an AI chatbot on our website to help prospective customers get information and support quickly, including outside normal office hours. Behind the scenes, we use AI to help answer emails, draft bespoke proposals, research itineraries, and manage other administrative tasks. This lets our team respond more efficiently while spending more time on personal service and trip planning.
We are also developing and piloting AI-hosted tours in partnership with tourism technology specialist Autoura. Our first project, an AI-enhanced Stonehenge tour, offers location-based commentary in 17 languages and allows visitors to ask questions about subjects that particularly interest them.
We do not see AI as a replacement for professional guides or human service. We use it to improve responsiveness, accessibility and personalisation while supporting our team in delivering the high standards expected from a premium inbound operator.
2. What opportunities do you see for AI to transform the way visitors experience the UK?
AI can make visits to the UK far more personalised, accessible and interactive. Instead of every visitor receiving the same fixed commentary, an AI-powered experience can adapt to individual interests, language, age and level of prior knowledge. A visitor fascinated by architecture, literature or military history could explore those subjects in greater depth, while families could receive explanations designed to engage younger travellers.
AI can also bring lesser-known places and stories to life. Britain has an extraordinary depth of history, but many locations lack guides or interpretation in multiple languages. Used responsibly, AI can help visitors understand these places in their own language and ask questions as they explore.
The greatest opportunity is not simply automation. It is combining knowledgeable tourism professionals, carefully researched content and technology to offer visitors greater choice and personalisation without losing the authenticity and human warmth that make travel memorable.
3. How can UK inbound businesses use AI to become more sustainable while still delivering a great visitor experience?
AI can help inbound businesses plan more efficiently and use their resources better. It can support intelligent route planning, reduce unnecessary mileage and waiting time, improve vehicle and guide allocation, and help businesses match capacity more closely to demand. These operational improvements can reduce emissions and costs while also creating a smoother experience for visitors.
Technology can also encourage a better geographical and seasonal spread of tourism. Personalised recommendations can introduce travellers to lesser-known destinations, alternative visiting times and local businesses rather than repeatedly directing everyone towards the same congested attractions. This could help reduce pressure on tourism hotspots while allowing more communities to benefit from inbound tourism.
Digital itineraries, tickets and visitor information also reduce reliance on printed materials and allow updates to be communicated instantly. However, sustainability should not come at the expense of convenience or quality. The most successful applications will make the responsible choice easier and more attractive for the visitor.
4. What do you think are the biggest challenges or considerations for tourism businesses adopting AI?
Accuracy, trust and maintaining the human element are the most important considerations. Tourism businesses must ensure that AI-generated information is reliable, culturally sensitive and based on properly researched content. Incorrect historical information or unsuitable recommendations can quickly undermine confidence in both the technology and the operator providing it.
Businesses also need to be transparent about when visitors are interacting with AI, how their information is being used and what support is available if the technology does not work as expected. Businesses must consider connectivity, accessibility, data protection, and ease of use, particularly when serving visitors with different levels of digital confidence.
For smaller tourism businesses, cost and the pace of technological change are additional challenges. The objective should not be to adopt AI simply because it is fashionable. Businesses should begin with a genuine customer or operational need, test carefully and retain human oversight. AI should strengthen hospitality and service rather than make the experience feel less personal.
5. Looking ahead, what role do you think AI and digital technology will play in the future of inbound tourism?
AI and digital technology will become embedded throughout the inbound visitor journey – from initial inspiration and itinerary planning to booking, translation, navigation and interpretation at the destination. Travellers will increasingly expect immediate, personalised information in their own language, together with recommendations that reflect their interests, available time and budget.
For tourism businesses, AI should make it easier to respond quickly to enquiries, create tailored itineraries, understand demand and operate more efficiently. It may also enable smaller operators to deliver sophisticated, multilingual experiences that were previously available only to larger organisations.
However, tourism remains fundamentally about people, places and stories. Professional guides, drivers, hoteliers and local experts provide judgement, empathy and spontaneous human connection that technology cannot replicate. I therefore expect the strongest future model to be a hybrid one: digital tools handling personalisation, information and routine processes, while skilled tourism professionals focus on hospitality, storytelling and creating genuinely memorable experiences.
For full transparency, I generated most of this blog feature with AI, which I have been using and training for almost three years. A few additional prompts and some editing on my part required no more than 10 minutes for this task. Without AI, a similar task would’ve taken about 60 minutes, or it might have gone unanswered because of time pressure.
Author: David Garcia
Owner, Bespoke England Tours
