Artificial intelligence is changing the way places and experiences are found and selected. Visibility is no longer enough. What increasingly matters is digital memory.
In destination choice, experience discovery and booking, we have entered an era in which intelligent assistants and recommendation systems filter traveller decisions. In this context, the very meaning of brand changes: it is no longer only about being seen and clicked, but about being remembered by AI systems.
This implies a radical shift in how communication effectiveness is measured. KPIs become more probabilistic, direct traceability becomes weaker, and the weight of semantic consistency, quality of associations and narrative continuity becomes stronger. For businesses and destinations, the strategy must therefore rest on four principles: distributed presence, content coherence, authoritative associations and continuity over time in the digital world.
This is a shift from a war for clicks to a war for memory. Those who leave coherent and valuable traces will be recommended. Those who are absent or inconsistent will disappear from AI-generated results. Paradoxically, the more artificial the digital environment becomes, the more important verifiable authenticity becomes.
For producers and DMOs, this means that every description, every data field and every publication format matters. Those who provide structured, coherent and accessible information will be read and recommended by AI systems. Those who do not risk disappearing, even if they are excellent in real life.
Search is also becoming more expressive and conversational. Travellers will increasingly stop searching for “a winery near Siena” or “Tuscan PDO olive oil” and will instead ask for “an authentic weekend among hills and natural wines” or “a visit to a historic olive mill with tasting and a panoramic view”. The experiences that will perform best are those described not only through technical keywords, but also through values, emotions and the elements that make a place unique and human.
Institutional websites and producer pages that publish structured data are no longer simply more efficient: they become visible in AI-generated answers, chatbots, voice interfaces and automated travel systems. For producers, having a website is no longer enough. They need to be readable by AI systems.
That means clear, coherent, updated information on products, experiences, booking modes and access conditions. Even a small inconsistency, such as a differently written address, an outdated opening time or an incomplete description, can prevent a digital assistant from suggesting a visit or a purchase.
Being online therefore means participating in the global semantic network of tourism. Associations and DMOs must accompany producers in this transition, providing technical support, training and shared publication models. The destinations that win will be those able to combine the power of automated systems with human sensitivity. Local curators, artisans and storytellers remain irreplaceable.
Artificial intelligence is rewriting the way the world discovers and chooses Italy of taste. Those who update their data, integrate platforms and build meaningful human relations will be recognised as reliable sources. Those who remain behind risk not being found, not because they do not exist, but because they do not speak the language in which the tourism of the future will be told.
Article adapted from the 2025 Italian Food & Wine Tourism Report.
