Every few weeks I pick new JHTT articles and translate them: what the researchers did, what they found, and what it means for real people and businesses. Last updated October 19, 2026.
Games and culture · Published Oct 14, 2026
Engaging minds and hearts: the impact of gamified mobile storytelling on cultural learning
Kevser Cinar, Emrullah Erul, Abdullah Uslu · Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (early cite)
What they did
A survey of 432 young visitors in Konya, Turkey, who played a mobile game called "Finding Light through Rumi's Path" that teaches local culture through storytelling.
What they found
Players who found the game credible and easy to use became more engaged. The more engaged they were, the better they felt about the destination and the more they said they learned.
So what?
If a museum or heritage site wants visitors to learn, start with an app that is easy to use and comes from a source people trust. Fun matters, but ease and credibility come first.
Read the full article on Emerald
AI and travelers · Published Oct 7, 2026
AI recommendation agent autonomy and tourists' adoption intention: the boundary role of occupational type
Guohao Pan, Andrew Z. A. Jin, Yueli Tang, Qiang Wang, Yuchen Wang · Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (early cite)
What they did
Three experiments tested whether travelers prefer an AI that decides for them (autonomous) or one that works with them (collaborative).
What they found
Overall, people were more willing to follow the autonomous AI. But people in manual jobs preferred the collaborative AI, while people in mental, knowledge jobs preferred the autonomous one. A sense of control explained the difference.
So what?
One AI style does not fit everyone. Travel apps could let users choose between "just tell me" and "let us decide together", and make people feel in control.
Read the full article on Emerald
Generative AI · Published Jun 25, 2026
Can tourists trust generative AI? A systematic evaluation of the quality of AI-generated tourism information
Yufeng Dong, Teng Zhang, Xianyun Tian · Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (early cite)
What they did
The team collected 4,800 answers from three leading AI chatbots about travel and scored each one on accuracy, objectivity, relevance, completeness, timeliness, and clarity.
What they found
All three did well overall, but quality depended on the chatbot, how the question was asked, and the type of question. Prompts that asked the AI to reason step by step did better, and opinion-style questions got better answers than pure fact questions.
So what?
Trust in AI travel advice is conditional. Ask the AI to think step by step, and double-check hard facts such as prices, hours, and rules.
Read the full article on Emerald
More recently published articles. Summaries are added over time.