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UN Secretary-General António Guterres says AI must serve people and communities as technology reshapes how tourism is marketed, managed and experienced.
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NTDA DG Ola Awakan says Nigeria is using digital transformation, tourism intelligence and initiatives such as NITOUREY and Naija Flavour to connect tourism assets with investment and economic opportunities.
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FTAN President Alhaji Aliyu Badaki represents the private-sector dimension of the digital shift, as tourism businesses adapt to AI while preserving the human and cultural value of Nigerian experiences.
September 25, (THEWILL) – The global tourism sector must ensure that artificial intelligence serves people and communities as the industry enters a new phase of digital transformation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
Guterres stated this in his message ahead of World Tourism Day 2026, scheduled for September 27, under the theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.”
He said AI was changing how travellers choose destinations, how tourism businesses operate and how travel experiences are designed.
According to him, the technology could strengthen small businesses, improve services and create new opportunities, but warned that unchecked use could direct tourists towards a few destinations and platforms while leaving other worthwhile destinations behind.
Guterres called for investment in digital skills and wider access to technology, stressing that tourism workers, local communities and emerging destinations must have a role in shaping the industry’s digital future.
He said innovation should benefit the people and places that make tourism possible and contribute to sustainable development.
In El Salvador, Minister of Tourism Morena Ileana Valdez Vigil said the country was preparing to welcome visitors for the World Tourism Day celebrations on September 26 and 27.
She highlighted El Salvador’s beaches, historic centre, cuisine and cultural experiences, while noting that the country was also pursuing digital transformation to build a more inclusive tourism sector.
For Nigeria, the global focus on digital tourism comes as the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) enters its second year under Director-General, Ola Awakan.
Presenting his one-year scorecard during NTDA Tourism Week 2026 in Abuja, Awakan said the authority’s focus was to connect Nigeria’s tourism assets to investment, jobs, technology, enterprise and sustainable economic value.
He said the NTDA had spent the past year strengthening stakeholder engagement, investment facilitation, digital transformation, destination marketing, tourism intelligence and institution building.
Awakan highlighted NITOUREY, a tourism streaming and content platform, as part of the authority’s digital strategy for taking Nigerian destinations, culture and experiences to wider audiences.
He also identified Naija Flavour as a flagship initiative to position Nigerian cuisine as a tourism asset and a tool for cultural diplomacy.
The NTDA is also digitising tourism enterprise accreditation and regulatory processes while developing a grassroots framework to identify, document and promote tourism assets across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
Awakan identified infrastructure gaps, weak tourism data, limited connectivity, security concerns in some locations and inadequate private-sector participation as continuing challenges.
He said the next phase would focus on attracting more tourism investment, developing viable assets, expanding digital marketing, strengthening regulation, increasing community participation and building the capacity of tourism professionals.
At the private-sector level, the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), led by its President, Alhaji Aliyu Badaki, represents tourism operators across the country.
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For these businesses, the growing use of AI presents opportunities in marketing, bookings, customer service, data management and destination promotion.
But technology should support rather than replace the people and communities behind Nigeria’s tourism experiences.
AI can help visitors discover Nigeria’s food, culture, festivals, arts, landscapes and hospitality more easily. The authenticity of those experiences, however, must continue to come from the people and places that give them meaning.
As World Tourism Day 2026 focuses attention on artificial intelligence, Nigeria’s challenge is not simply to adopt new technology, but to use it to create wider opportunities while keeping people at the heart of tourism.
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
