As ChatGPT takes over holiday planning, these Illawarra Shoalhaven tourism operators are fighting back
At the 2025 Visitor Economy Symposium in Kiama, tourism operators explored how AI is reshaping travel planning. The message was clear: embrace AI tools like ChatGPT now - or risk being invisible.
As winter approaches, tourism operators from the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, and Southern Highlands came together in Kiama this week with one question: how do we stand out when travellers turn to AI for holiday planning?
Hosted by Destination Sydney Surrounds South, the 2025 Visitor Economy Symposium was a crash course in a world where AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini reshape how visitors discover and book experiences.
At the centre of the conversation was Liz Ward from Tourism Tribe, whose presentation on artificial intelligence was the event's highlight.
Her message was clear: AI isn’t the future of tourism - it’s already here.
Ward noted that AI’s impact on the travel purchase cycle is the biggest shift since the arrival of online travel agencies over 20 years ago.
“The growth in AI usage is now outpacing even the rise of social media,” she said, referencing recent data showing that nearly 40 per cent of global travellers have used AI tools to plan their trips.
She and Illawarra tourism operators shared how they’re already using artificial intelligence in their businesses and what others can learn from their journey.
