This special issue examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping tourism planning and development across the Asia-Pacific region. Rather than focusing narrowly on technological efficiency, the call addresses broader transformations in destination governance, spatial flows, and how communities benefit from intelligent tourism systems. The collection seeks critical, theoretically informed research that explores the social, environmental, cultural, and economic implications of AI adoption in tourism contexts.
The Asia-Pacific region offers a particularly valuable setting for this inquiry due to its diversity: advanced smart cities coexist with rural destinations and climate-vulnerable communities, creating uneven experiences of AI-driven transformation. The region simultaneously faces urgent development challenges including overtourism, environmental pressures, and inequality, while becoming a global laboratory for experimental intelligent tourism systems. This context makes the region essential for understanding both opportunities and risks of AI-mediated tourism change.