Artificial Intelligence in Egyptian Tourism Companies: Implementation and Perception

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered one of the most important innovative technology. AI has been used in several industries and has already accomplished notable impacts. The tourism industry is one of several sectors that is affected by AI tools; chatbots, personalized service recommendations, smart solutions are used in travel agencies. This paper aims to explore the implementation of AI techniques in the Egyptian tourism companies and investigate the employees’ perceptions towards using AI tools in tourism operations. This paper applies the quantitative approach; an online questionnaire was distributed to tourism companies, only 320 responses were valid for statistical analysis. Concerning applying AI tools in tourism operations, the results revealed significant differences among tourism companies which provide full tourism services. Regarding the size of tourism companies, large and medium-scale tourism companies apply AI techniques more than small and micro-scale ones. This research found two fundamental employees’ views of applying AI: advantages of AI (enthusiastic) and disadvantages of AI (suspicious). From a managerial standpoint, this research shows the AI techniques that are applied in tourism as well as identifies the importance of their implementation, which may help managers to draw policies and strategies to improve their technological infrastructure and skills, as well as apply the most beneficial AI tools. This, in turn, enhances their performance and saves time and money.