AI in Tourism and Hospitality Marketing: Key Takeaways from UTM's Future-Ready Series Webinar
The Macao University of Tourism (UTM) hosted its first Future-Ready Series webinar on 15 October 2025, focused on AI in Tourism and Hospitality Marketing. The session drew students, academics, and industry professionals who wanted practical ways to use AI across guest experience and commercial performance.
The goal was clear: connect academic insight with real operational use, so teams can move from curiosity to applied results.
What the speakers showed
- Dr Helmond Io (Assistant Professor, UTM): Showed how Large Language Models (LLMs) can build unique travel itineraries and marketing content at scale. Demonstrated how AI-based chatbots and virtual concierges deliver round-the-clock service, reduce response times, and keep brand voice consistent.
- Dr Truman Huang (CEO, Wintour Information Technology, Inc.): Shared live case studies of dynamic websites that adapt to user behavior in real time. Walked through AI-driven sales training simulations for frontline staff, and how AI review analysis leads to better service design and sharper, data-led decisions.
Why this matters for hospitality and events teams
- Personalisation improves conversion, average booking value, and guest satisfaction.
- Automation frees teams from repetitive tasks so they can focus on high-touch moments.
- Feedback analysis turns unstructured reviews and surveys into clear action items for ops, events, and marketing.
A practical playbook you can run this quarter
- 1) Pick one stage to improve: Pre-stay marketing, on-site service, or post-stay feedback. Keep scope tight.
- 2) Prep your data: Clean room types, amenities, rate plans, venue specs, and brand guidelines. Good inputs = better outputs.
- 3) Pilot LLM content: Generate 3-5 itinerary templates for your top segments (couples, families, MICE, bleisure). Localise tone and offers.
- 4) Deploy a smart FAQ/chat layer: Start with the top 50 guest questions, event FAQs, and policy details. Log unknown questions to expand coverage weekly.
- 5) Test dynamic content: Adjust homepage modules and offers based on traffic source, device, location, and session behavior.
- 6) Train the team: Use AI simulations for sales objections, upsell scripts, event inquiries, and complaint resolution. Review call transcripts and iterate.
- 7) Automate feedback analysis: Tag reviews by theme (cleanliness, check-in, Wi-Fi, event AV, F&B). Route issues to owners with SLAs.
- 8) Measure and iterate: Roll updates every two weeks. Keep what moves the numbers, drop what doesn't.
Quick wins you can execute this week
- Create three itinerary prompts: weekend city break, family staycation, and conference delegate plan. Pair each with add-on offers.
- Update your chatbot with the top 20 pre-arrival and event FAQs, plus clear escalation to a human for edge cases.
- Run an A/B test on your homepage hero copy using LLM variants. Keep the winner for 14 days, then retest.
- Set up automated review tagging and a daily digest for managers. Add a 24-hour response target for priority issues.
- Add a simple consent notice for AI-assisted chat and data use. Keep it short and plain.
Metrics that show real movement
- Marketing: CTR, conversion rate, cost per acquisition, campaign ROI.
- Revenue: ADR, RevPAR, upsell/cross-sell rate, package mix.
- Service: First-response time, resolution time, CSAT, NPS.
- Events/MICE: RFP response speed, win rate, average deal size, post-event satisfaction.
Event recap
Moderated by Dr Wilson Hong (Assistant Professor, UTM), the Q&A cut to implementation details: data readiness, staff training, and measurable outcomes. The session reinforced UTM's focus on practical skills and closer links between students and industry leaders.
For teams in hospitality and events, the message was simple: start small, ship often, track results, and build from there.
Want research depth on hospitality tech and service innovation? Explore the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research here.
If you're building AI skills for your role, browse role-based learning paths at Complete AI Training here.
Your membership also unlocks:
