Introducing artificial intelligence to Swiss tourist offices: Opportunities, challenges and strategic recommendations

As part of her Bachelor's degree in Tourism at the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Léa Dupuis looked at the digital transformation of tourist offices in French-speaking Switzerland.  All tourist offices (TOs), whatever their size, share a common interest in AI as a tool for inspiration and brainstorming, particularly as part of their marketing initiatives. This article presents the results of the study on the use of AI by TOs conducted in February 2025, itself based on a survey of 94 TOs conducted by the Institut du Tourisme, as well as some strategic recommendations.

Adoption of AI: the state of play

The use of AI is already widespread in TBs, but varies considerably depending on the size of the organisation. While the smallest offices limit their use of AI mainly to the generation and revision of texts, the largest offices go further in integrating AI by using it for customer interaction via chatbots or customer relationship management (CRM). Larger TBs are taking this a step further by developing their own AI tools using platforms such as Hugging Face to automate complex tasks (sentiment analysis, keyword detection).

Benefits of AI: Optimised operations and greater personalisation

Respondents highlighted numerous benefits associated with adopting artificial intelligence. These range from operational benefits through time savings and cost reductions, to optimising the customer experience through personalised services that are accessible 24 hours a day, to more effective and targeted marketing.

AI integration challenges: skills, ethics and acceptance

There are several challenges to integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into TBS in French-speaking Switzerland. The first is the lack of technical skills, which is holding back the full exploitation of AI, particularly in small and medium-sized organisations. Ethical challenges, linked to the protection of personal data and the authenticity of AI-generated content, are also a cause for concern. In addition, the reliability of AI solutions remains uncertain, as many technologies are still in the experimental phase. Internal acceptance by employees and the human and financial resources required to implement AI also represent obstacles. Finally, the question of return on investment raises questions about the long-term profitability of these technologies. In response, French-speaking Swiss tourism operators are considering solutions focused on improving the customer experience via websites and dynamic chatbots, as well as on better analysis of tourism data and trends, enabling more informed decision-making.

Despite the enthusiasm for AI, the offices insist on preserving the authenticity of the tourism sector, stressing the importance of the human touch to ensure a truly enriching experience for visitors.

Strategic recommendations for tourist information offices 

To support tourist information offices in their adoption of artificial intelligence, a series of recommendations has been drawn up, based on the gaps identified in the interviews with experts and current scientific knowledge. These recommendations are grouped into two parts, the details of which can be found in the full study: internal preparation and skills development, followed by data management and security.