Thematic Analysis: The Perspectives of Artificial Intelligence Use for Tourist Destination Marketing in Eastern Europe: The Marketing Professionals’ Perspective

Written by Russel W.

1. The Use of Artificial Intelligence for Customer Communication

The main theme emerging during the analysis was ‘the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer communication’. It included three sub-themes, namely online listening, real-time interactions, and text generation. The following mind map demonstrates their relationship.

Figure 1: Mind Map

The following table provides key quotes from the Interviewees supporting each of the identified sub-themes.

Table 1: The Use of Artificial Intelligence for Customer Communication

1.1. Online Listening

For online listening, the main focus of the interviewees’ statements was on the significance of AI as a powerful tool for handling big data. As an example, Interviewee 3 noted, “I think that no human marketer can monitor thousands of prospective customer posts online. This requires automation that AI technologies can provide” (Appendix C). Similarly, Interviewee 4 suggested that “AI can help us learn more about our audiences and their changing needs. If you do not know your customer, you do not know what you should offer to them in the first place”. With that being said, these positive opinions voiced by multiple respondents were not always associated with real-life experiences of using such solutions on a daily basis. This view was expressed by Interviewee 11 who stated, “We are presently investigating these opportunities but they are mostly utilised by the largest brands in the tourism industry”. Such statements are generally in line with the ideas voiced by Kim et al. (2024) who noted that technologically advanced solutions are usually utilised by innovators and early adopters possessing high levels of expertise and/or substantial resources required to utilise such ‘windows of opportunity’.

With that being said, some interviewees voiced substantial concerns regarding the ability to entirely rely on AI as the main decision-support mechanism. As noted by Interviewee 7, “We have all encountered AI hallucination from time to time. This makes me highly concerned if I have to invest money to address a radically new trend in customer demand because AI told me it will be the next best thing this summer”. These concerns are in line with the findings of Bulchand-Gidumal et al. (2024), Hallebone and Priest (2008), and Kong et al. (2023) who recognised the risks posed by the current stage of this technology’s development making false outputs possible and completely unpredictable. This lack of reliability was also highlighted by Interviewee 9 stating, “The main problem with AI is the fact that it can fail randomly. This forces you to double-check all analysis results to ensure that some of them are not affected by internal errors”.

1.2. Real-Time Interactions

Real-time interactions were mentioned by 10 out of 14 Interviewees, which makes them the most popular sub-theme in this category. When clarifying the advantages of AI technologies in this sphere, Interviewee 1 noted that “Chatbots allow you to provide 24/7 support to your customers in multiple languages. They are not perfect yet but they are still infinitely better than not providing any response or not being able to answer the questions of global customers”. Similar statements were made by Interviewee 6 stating “Automated 24/7 response tools help you collect relevant information during the first contact. When a human operator contacts the customer during the office’s working hours, they come up with a solution to their earlier-voiced problem, which pleases our customers”. These results are generally in line with the studies of Majid et al. (2024) and Zhang et al. (2022) who noted that AI-powered real-time communication tools already provide the benefits of multi-language support and lead generation while extending the actual accessibility of small and medium companies.

These statements highlight the two scenarios of chatbot utilisation described in the studies of Pillai and Sivathanu (2020) and Samala et al. (2020). On the one hand, six Interviewees reported the potential advantages of AI-powered real-time interactions as a way of reducing the workloads on customer support specialists in small and medium tourism firms. Since some problems can be resolved by automated systems, Interviewee 8 specifically noted that this led to win-win outcomes, “when the customers need some missing reservation data or other things from their profile, automated systems allow us to send them their way even at 2:45 AM when there is no one in our office”. This may also be beneficial for answering some basic questions about prices, destinations, and other facts according to Interviewee 3 who stated, “We use an AI-powered chatbot to answer basic questions. This works like an FAQ that nobody wants to read. Effectively, the tool uses the data available on our website or other open platforms but forms answer to particular customer queries to save their time”. On the other hand, the second aforementioned function was cited earlier by Meng et al. (2023) and Rafiq et al. (2022) in a different context as a way of consumer requests management. As stated by Interviewee 7, “…this is similar to help tickets. The chatbot asks them about their problems or needs and gives us a ready-made lead report or problem description. As a result, we call them back prepared and the following call or text messages from us usually solve the problem or close the deal”.

1.3. Text Generation

Finally, seven out of 14 Interviewees reported the use of ChatGPT or similar text-generation tools in their marketing activities. According to Interviewee 9, the use of these instruments allowed them to “generate basic drafts for further revision”. This use pattern generally corresponded to the descriptions provided by Garcia-Madurga and Grillo-Mendez (2023) and Paul et al. (2023) outlining the capability of AI-powered platforms to produce medium-quality marketing texts. At the same time, some interviewees were substantially more positive regarding the practical benefits of these tools. Specifically, Interviewee 5 noted that “ChatGPT boosted our productivity tenfold. We use it to produce sample texts, paraphrase our older materials or adjust the writing style to different customer segments. The ability to get workable drafts instantly is something we could not achieve previously in our attempts to utilise the best content marketing techniques on a small company budget”.

Additional statements also highlight the importance of AI as a potential source of ‘marketing inspiration’ mentioned in such studies as Kshetri et al. (2023) and Zhang and Prebensen (2024). Interviewee 6 stated, “Some of the prompts received from AI text generators helped me develop my own ideas in a different way”. This indicates that such solutions can be used to brainstorm new concepts rather than directly copy the provided outputs. Similarly, Interviewee 9 mentioned the advantages of paraphrasing as a source of effective content marketing “…in many cases, we have ineffective materials on our websites that require re-writing but no one has time for that. ChatGPT allowed us to change that since it can make them more appealing while adding the required keywords. The outputs are not always perfect but they help us change the inefficiencies that have been left unattended for years”.

References

Bulchand-Gidumal, J., William Secin, E., O’Connor, P., & Buhalis, D. (2024). Artificial intelligence’s impact on hospitality and tourism marketing: exploring key themes and addressing challenges. Current Issues in Tourism, 27(14), 2345-2362. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2023.2229480

Garcia-Madurga, M., & Grillo-Mendez, A. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in the tourism industry: An overview of reviews. Administrative Sciences, 13(8), 172-185. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci13080172

Hallebone, E., & Priest, J. (2008). Business and Management Research: Paradigms and Practices. New York: Macmillan International Higher Education.

Kim, H., So, K., Shin, S., & Li, J. (2024). Artificial intelligence in hospitality and tourism: Insights from industry practices, research literature, and expert opinions. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 1(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480241229235

Kong, H., Wang, K., Qiu, X., Cheung, C., & Bu, N. (2023). 30 years of artificial intelligence (AI) research relating to the hospitality and tourism industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(6), 2157-2177. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2022-0354

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Majid, G., Tussyadiah, I., & Kim, Y. (2024). Exploring the Potential of Chatbots in Extending Tourists’ Sustainable Travel Practices. Journal of Travel Research, 1(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875241247316

Meng, L., Li, T., & Huang, X. (2023). Double-sided messages improve the acceptance of chatbots. Annals of Tourism Research, 102(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2023.103644

Paul, J., Ueno, A., & Dennis, C. (2023). ChatGPT and consumers: Benefits, pitfalls and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 47(4), 1213-1225. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12928

Pillai, R., & Sivathanu, B. (2020). Adoption of AI-based chatbots for hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(1), 3199-3226. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2020-0259

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