Insights Driven By Data: Connecting With Consumers in the Sea of AI

We live in a rapidly evolving attention economy in which AI is flooding the internet, resulting in concerns of oversaturation and disengagement with consumers. From written articles to YouTube videos to short-form content, AI-produced media is growing increasingly realistic yet emotionally empty. But how do we cultivate trust in the age of AI?

I recently viewed an online roundtable discussion hosted by Miles Partnership in collaboration with Odyssey Studios that directly addressed this concern. Panelists discussed the ways in which AI has changed not only how DMOs and other entities conduct marketing, but also the relationships they develop with their audiences. A white paper on the topic was also shared.

The white paper discovered the following:

• 51.9% of travelers use social media when planning a trip.
• 35% of travelers use online video for travel inspiration.
• Among Gen Z travelers, that number rises to 55.1%.
• 77.9% of surveyed consumers only trust brand videos that feature real people.

Consumers expect impressive, convincing visuals, but they also do not want to feel deceived. Since it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real-world and AI-created imagery, the need for marketers to develop a sense of trust with consumers is of the utmost importance.

As a young person who spends a fair share of time on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, I have experienced firsthand the onslaught of what many label “AI slop” due to its failed attempts to mimic the full spectrum of tangible human feelings. When I see this sort of content, it provokes a sense of discomfort best described as the uncanny valley effect.

Meanwhile, AI image and video generation is also reshaping the possibilities for marketers in travel, tourism, and hospitality in general. With ever-improving generative AI tools from companies such as Google, OpenAI, and ByteDance, professionals in the travel marketing industry find themselves with the ability to create polished visuals with minimal effort. 

From my own coursework, experiences, and seeing how my peers interact with AI, I see how efficient it makes work. What might take a person or a team of people hours to complete can be done in minutes. I can draft social media posts, resize photos, improve image quality, or generate entirely new visuals with just a few clicks.

But, we must also place ourselves in the mindset of consumers to understand the ethical reservations that many have when brands use AI:

• Will the use of AI put someone (including me) out of a job? AI may not directly replace employees, but a person who knows how to use AI will always have the advantage over someone who does not.
• Does the brand assume that I cannot distinguish between real and AI content? Whether the brand’s use of AI is due to a lack of resources, meeting efficiency goals, or other reasoning, many consumers may interpret it as an insult to their intelligence.
• What about AI’s environmental impacts? Consumers are becoming more conscious and strongly opinionated about AI’s environmental footprint — and brands need to keep this in consideration.

As AI continues to cannibalize itself on the internet, producing greater quantities of content with diminishing amounts of “the human touch,” injecting emotion into marketing efforts is the key. Outside of hospitality, I am also a filmmaker with a burning passion for storytelling. Marketing is all about developing a narrative that viewers can buy into, which means bringing the passion, the allure, and the humanity of whatever you are selling to the forefront.

To build a potent, human-centered story, brands should:

• Highlight the actual people who make a travel destination special.
• Share and repost user-generated content on social media for free word-of-mouth.
• Conduct A/B testing and focus groups to determine what emotions your marketing is provoking in consumers.

Ultimately, AI is most effective when used as a tool for editing and improving visual media that remains fundamentally human at the core. Here are some key takeaways:

1. Most travelers, particularly younger travelers, use social media for trip-planning purposes.
2. Generally, consumers only trust content that shows them real people and real places rather than characters and visuals that are completely AI-generated.
3. Travel marketers should prioritize eliciting powerful emotions and establishing a compelling story.
4. AI should be used as transparently as possible and primarily as a content-enhancement tool, not a content creator.

AI is still relatively young and its long-term impacts on tourism and society in general are yet to be seen. If there is anything I am confident about, it is that humans have been telling each other captivating stories and been fascinated by the stories of others for millennia. That knowledge should guide travel marketers into the uncertain future.