AI as Co-Creator: Mapping the Multi-Touchpoint Smart Tourist Decision Journey

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is radically transforming the tourist decision process, building a non-linear, dynamic, and highly individualized process from initial inspiration to post-travel reflection. Moving beyond a descriptive summary, this commentary offers a critical conceptual synthesis that positions AI as an active co-creator within the smart tourist decision journey. It presents a multi-touchpoint analysis of how AI technologies—from generative AI and chatbots to recommendation engines—shape tourist behavior. The analysis synthesizes recent literature to build a framework that identifies AI’s role not merely as a tool, but as an agent that co-creates value, influences desire, and introduces new tensions such as the trust-accuracy paradox. The study identifies critical gaps in the literature, including a disproportionate focus on pre-trip phases, a lack of integrated theoretical models, and insufficient understanding of the longitudinal psychological impacts of AI-driven journeys. The article concludes by proposing a theory-driven future research agenda that calls for longitudinal studies, ethical frameworks, and holistic investigations of AI’s role across the entire travel experience.