AI in hospitality and tourism: Rewriting the customer journey

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the hospitality and tourism industry by reshaping the customer journey across pre-purchase, on-site, and post-purchase stages. This study explores AI's role in enhancing hyper-personalization, operational efficiency, and stakeholder value, while addressing challenges like ethical concerns and workforce impacts. Using stakeholder theory and accessibility-diagnosticity theory, the research synthesizes current literature to analyze AI's disruptive potential. Findings highlight AI applications such as chatbots, big data analytics, and IoT, offering actionable insights for businesses, policymakers, and researchers. The study proposes a future research agenda to balance innovation with trust and sustainability, guiding responsible AI adoption in the digital era.