Styria uses AI to become Europe’s most popular tourism region

The Austrian state of Styria is putting artificial intelligence and digitalisation at the centre of its tourism strategy through 2030, aiming to raise its profile internationally and become Europe’s most popular tourism region, ORF reported.

Styria will continue to promote established attractions such as food and nature, while adapting its online content so AI systems such as ChatGPT are more likely to display it. Michael Feiertag, head of the Styrian Tourism Marketing Company, said AI was already important to holiday planning and that the region was preparing its websites accordingly. He said Styria was at the forefront of Austria’s federal states in this work.

A new initiative called Future Lab Styria will monitor holiday trends and assess their relevance to the state. It will also collect successful ideas from tourism regions.

The strategy also aims to reach new markets. Feiertag said Styria had seen strong results in the Czech Republic and Slovakia this year, and identified Slovenia and Croatia as nearby markets with potential.

Feiertag cited surveys showing high levels of hospitality in Styria as a reason for visitors to plan a holiday there.