Chongqing - From itinerary planning to on-the-ground services, artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how people travel—and how destinations compete. In southwest China’s Chongqing, AI is emerging as a key driver in the city's push to build a smarter, more responsive cultural and tourism ecosystem.

In Chongqing's Ciqikou Ancient Town, tourists stroll through the historic streets and explore the old town. (Photo/Cui Li, Visual Chongqing)

During the recent Spring Festival travel season, residents like Liu Xinyue from Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area turned to AI assistants to plan family trips. By entering a few preferences—travel dates, budget, and family needs—users could receive a complete travel plan within minutes, including recommended flights, hotels, attractions and dining options, along with direct booking links and tailored tips.

What once required hours of research or a visit to a travel agency can now be done in a single AI-powered interaction. According to Liu, the experience was not only faster but also more flexible, allowing instant adjustments to routes, accommodation and schedules.

AI Moves Into the Travel Mainstream

Such experiences are no longer isolated cases. Data from major online travel platforms show that the use of AI-assisted travel decision-making has surged since last year, in some cases increasing tenfold during peak periods.

Industry players report that AI is now deeply embedded across the entire travel journey. On platforms such as Fliggy and Tongcheng Travel, AI tools can generate personalized itineraries, recommend alternative routes during ticket shortages, and offer multimodal transport solutions combining air and rail travel. At Ctrip, AI-powered search and conversational tools are transforming travel planning from a simple information lookup to a more interactive, emotionally attuned experience.

Interestingly, usage patterns reveal that middle-aged women and older travelers are among the most active AI users. For many families, AI has become a “travel co-planner,” capable of handling complex requirements. For older users, it serves as a patient guide, addressing practical concerns such as accessibility, quieter environments, and dietary needs.

Forcing a Rethink of Tourism Governance

The rapid adoption of AI is not only changing consumer behavior—it is also pushing the tourism sector to reinvent itself.

In Chongqing, this transformation is exemplified by the official culture and tourism digital service platform, which integrates big data, cloud computing, and AI to provide travelers with real-time information on ticket discounts, cultural events, and service guarantees. The platform allows users to access preferential policies, monitor crowd levels and submit service feedback through a single interface.

At the Jinfo Mountain ski resort, visitors enjoy a variety of snow activities at the ski area. (Photo/Li Yuheng, Visual Chongqing)

Behind the scenes, the system connects government departments, tourism enterprises and public service providers through a unified digital framework. It supports tourism resource management, consumption promotion, and service quality supervision, enabling authorities to monitor operations in real time, identify risks, and improve decision-making efficiency.

The platform operates across multiple layers, including government governance, enterprise management and public services. For tourists, it covers the entire journey—from pre-trip information and intelligent route recommendations to in-trip complaint handling and post-trip satisfaction evaluation.

According to industry experts, AI is now reshaping tourism from the management end to the consumer end, creating a more integrated and data-driven ecosystem.

Accelerating the Smart Tourism Track

As AI applications continue to expand, Chongqing is accelerating its smart tourism layout. Officials from the city’s culture and tourism authorities say deeper integration of technology into tourism has become a critical pathway to high-quality development.

Key priorities include strengthening smart tourism platforms, building a city-level “digital tourism brain,” and upgrading existing digital applications to improve governance and service delivery. The city also aims to create a closed-loop system that links policy design, service provision and user feedback more efficiently.

At the same time, Chongqing plans to encourage broader participation from market players, supporting the development of AI-powered tourism services such as crowd management, multilingual assistance and personalized visitor experiences. Public cultural venues, including museums and libraries, are also undergoing digital upgrades, with smart guides, online exhibitions, and unified electronic maps being rolled out across major attractions.

From decoding cultural heritage to generating intelligent content and optimizing service decisions, AI is becoming an irreversible force in tourism. For Chongqing, embracing this shift is not just about keeping pace with technology—it is about redefining how a megacity welcomes, serves and understands its visitors in the digital age.