Riyadh: TOURISE and Globant, with strategic input from Kearney, have unveiled a pioneering white paper titled “Tourism’s AI Takeover: Reinventing Travel through Agentic Tourism.” Released ahead of the inaugural TOURISE Summit scheduled in Riyadh from November 11 to 13, 2025, the report introduces a practical framework aimed at revolutionizing the tourism experience by making it more seamless, intelligent, and emotionally engaging.
According to Saudi Press Agency, Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Board of TOURISE, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, emphasized the potential of Agentic Tourism as a transformative movement. He stated, “AI empowers every country to embrace an era that uplifts both established and emerging destinations, ensuring inclusive access for all.” Martin Migoya, CEO and Co-Founder at Globant, added that future tourism will be led by destinations that prioritize technology around people, rather than the reverse. The Agentic Tourism model offers a blueprint for digitizing comprehensive digital experiences, enabling hosts, travel operators, and destinations to transform isolated innovations into interconnected, adaptive, and meaningful interactions throughout the travel journey.
The white paper outlines a roadmap for public and private sector leaders to implement AI across five critical dimensions: experience, operations, sustainability, well-being, and economic opportunity. The objective is to enable destinations within the tourism ecosystem to take immediate action, scale responsibly, and maintain a human-centered approach.
Agentic Tourism introduces a system of autonomous AI agents that are governed by people and shared standards, designed to deliver measurable impact. The model encompasses five agent archetypes: Experience Maximizer, Operations Optimizer, Regeneration Guardian, Wellness Agent, and Opportunity Connector. Each archetype plays a specific role, from curating personalized itineraries and improving operational efficiency to promoting responsible travel choices and creating economic value.
In 2024, tourism contributed $10.9 trillion, nearly 10% of global GDP, and is forecasted to grow to $16.5 trillion by 2035. The paper highlights that AI in the tourism market is projected to expand from $3.4 billion in 2024 to $13.9 billion by 2030. Destinations are presented with a clear choice: evolve through coordinated AI adoption or face fragmentation, inefficiency, and reduced traveler satisfaction.
The white paper serves as a strategic guide, assisting tourism destinations, governments, operators, platforms, and communities in implementing these innovations while preserving the human touch that defines meaningful travel. The complete white paper is accessible at TOURISE.com.
