AI and human collaboration in tourism: a framework for scalable, authentic, and engaging content

This study examines the effectiveness of AI-generated content in tourism marketing by comparing it to human-generated narratives. While AI enhances scalability and factual accuracy, its ability to replicate emotional engagement and cultural authenticity remains unexplored. Using the Information Quality Framework (IQF), the study employs readability analysis, sentiment analysis, and thematic analysis to assess AI- and human-generated content. AI-generated travel narratives were sourced from large language models, while human content came from tourism blogs and vlogs. Findings reveal that AI-generated content is well-structured and highly readable but lacks emotional depth and trust-building elements. Sentiment analysis shows stronger emotional responses in human narratives, while thematic analysis highlights richer cultural insights. The study proposes a Hybrid AI-Human Collaboration Model, leveraging AI's efficiency with human creativity. These insights contribute to AI ethics, tourism storytelling, and digital marketing, offering practical recommendations for integrating AI into tourism content creation.