A travel page promotes Baths of Caracallaone of the many tourist attractions in Rome, with an image that shows tourists bathing in its waters surrounded by imposing white columns. It would be an idyllic picture if it were not for the fact that the photograph is generated by artificial intelligence.
The synthetic contentsscams and false information about incidents in a place that have never occurred are a danger for the tourism sector from an economic and also reputational point of view, he explains to EFE. Hervé Lambertexpert in tourism and computer security.
“In the sector of tourismthe impact of misinformation is especially high, because the purchase is emotional and urgent and because the trip involves many sensitive data“says Lambert.
A study of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), which analyzed falsehoods about the tourism that have circulated in countries such as Spain, Mexico or Colombia, concluded that most of the misleading statements on this topic have to do with economic issues.
Non-existent destinations
In Peru, two tourists had planned to go hiking to visit the Sacred Canyon of Humantaya fictitious enclave in the Peruvian Andes that artificial intelligence had created.
A local guide He listened to the plans of the couple, who showed him photographs and a description of the place, as well as a safety guide and necessary equipment ChatGPT I had prepared them.
On the other side of the globe, in Malaysiaanother couple drove 300 kilometers before discovering that the cable car they had seen in a video in social networks It didn’t exist.
For Lambert, the images generated with AI about tourist destinations generate “false expectations” about a place—which translates into bad reviews or complaints—or they can “distort the reality of a destination,” with artificial snapshots of conflicts, insecurities, or events that have never happened.
For example, in full peak seasoncirculated in the social networks Mexicans a video made with AI of waves of more than 30 meters in Cancún and Playa del Carmen.
“This affects the decision to travel and can divert tourist flows in a short time,” he argues.
bands, sharks and other hoaxes to discourage tourists
Also notable are the deceptions that users of networks or even media have spread to discourage the arrival of travelers to points of special tourist interest.
Thus, the british press echoed last year of the existence in Benidorm (where 42.5% of people staying in hotels come from the United Kingdom) bands who drugged tourists from that country, despite the fact that local authorities are not aware of any complaints of this type.
- In Majorca There have been cases where residents placed signs in the busiest coves on the island warning in English that the beach was closed or that there was a danger of jellyfish.
However, just below, in Catalan, you could read that it was a hoax: “Open beach: No jellyfish or tourists.”
Also in an attempt to stop the flow of tourists in the Costa del Solwhere a record number of visitors was recorded last year, a viral message in social networks falsely claimed that 1,500 attacks had been recorded sharks in those waters.
Eye-catching, but false promotions
The era of social networks It has also opened new avenues for scammers to reach the greatest number of victims.
- “The tourist misinformation Today it is not just “hoaxes”; Many times it is the prelude to a scam or the multiplier that makes the fraud escalate quickly,” he points out. Hervé Lambert.
This expert remembers the lightning fraud of “7 flights“, a supposed travel agency promoted by several ‘influencers‘ which was closed after numerous users reported not receiving the contracted services.
Given this situation, Lambert points out that the solution must be given by the users and the companies.
The first, he points out, must “acquire certain habits” to reduce the risk of falling into this type of deception (verify in official sourcesreview the identity of the company, etc.), while the tourism sector must invest in “transparency and prevention” (such as having official channels or monitoring its brand to detect false advertisements that impersonate its identity).
