When AI Design Works Against You: A Tourism Perspective
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly popular. There are AI tools for many things, from creating social media content to website design. As a business owner in the tourism industry, your time is valuable. You are stretched thin ensuring everything from guest experience to marketing is ideal, so using AI to free up your time is absolutely tempting. AI generated images, videos, etc. are fast, cheap, and easy to use. However, tourism branding requires personalization to be effective. AI generated content may be harming your brand, which leads to less sales. This month we will go over how AI use may be harming your brand and how you can effectively use AI in your business.
Tourism Branding Isn't Like Other Branding
Visitors are buying into an experience, not a product. Design elements should reflect how visitors will feel or the character of the place they’re visiting. This means focusing on things like landscape, culture, or local attractions. AI generated images are generic, which means your branding will lack the very thing you want to promote.
Remember: the details matter. Artificial intelligence cannot effectively capture the character of places or the seasonal changes. These details require nuance and critical thinking that AI cannot replicate.
The Trust Problem
Potential visitors often get their first impression of travel destinations online, which means that your branding has one chance to make a good impression. If the messaging is inconsistent or feels hollow, potential guests are likely to notice and avoid booking that stay or dinner service. Authenticity and consistency are your friends.
DMOs and tourism boards have visual standards for businesses they work with and promote. AI generated content often fails to meet these standards. They are usually generic, cluttered, or contain easy to spot mistakes. These oversights could cost you valuable promotional or collaborative work, which means guests may not see your business.
What AI Design Tools Actually Produce
The outputs produced by AI are trained on averages. This means that those images and templates have been used by hundreds, if not thousands, of other entrepreneurs. Sure, there may have been some small adjustments but your lodge will look like every other lodge. It’s like a one size fits all for design- it signals to visitors that you didn’t try that hard.
Tourism businesses that invest in intentional design stand out, especially as AI generated work floods the market. That being said, artificial intelligence has its time and place in marketing, but remember that AI is not a designer. Good design requires authenticity, which only a human can produce effectively. Ready to take your marketing to the next level? Book a discovery call or brand review with me today.