AI could help tourism SMEs manage shocks, costs and changing customer demand

A new systematic review published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management reveals that AI has already become a major force in tourism management. Tourism businesses are using AI-linked technologies to improve decision-making, personalize services, automate routine tasks, forecast demand, manage resources and respond faster to changing market conditions.

The study, titled "Artificial Intelligence in Tourism Businesses: Financial Resilience, Organisational Adaptation and Performance Drivers—A Systematic Literature Review," finds that AI research in tourism has expanded rapidly, but financial resilience, liquidity, solvency and risk management remain underdeveloped compared with service innovation and operational performance.

AI is moving from service innovation to business resilience

The research, based on 146 Web of Science articles published between 2019 and 2023, presents AI as a resilience-building capability that can help firms anticipate shocks, absorb pressure, adapt operations and maintain business continuity. Tourism companies often operate with unstable revenue streams and high sensitivity to external crises. Smaller firms may be particularly vulnerable because they have limited liquidity, weaker technology infrastructure and less capacity to absorb losses.

The review defines financial resilience as a firm's ability to anticipate, absorb, adapt to and recover from financial and operational disruption while sustaining business continuity. It links AI to that resilience through several business functions. Demand forecasting can support cash-flow planning. Dynamic pricing can protect revenue during volatile periods. Automation can reduce costs. Data-driven decision-making can improve resource allocation. Customer analytics can support retention and service personalization.

The study also distinguishes operational performance from financial fragility. Operational performance refers to how efficiently tourism businesses convert resources into service, organizational and economic outcomes. Financial fragility refers to exposure to unstable revenue, liquidity constraints, debt commitments, cost pressure and weak shock-absorption capacity. AI may connect these concepts by improving performance and risk management, thereby reducing fragility.

The review's theoretical frame combines the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities theory and socio-technical perspectives. AI can create value when combined with data, employee skills, organizational routines and technology infrastructure. It can also help firms sense market changes, seize opportunities and reconfigure resources under uncertainty. However, technology alone is not enough. Effective AI adoption depends on employee training, managerial support, data systems, organizational readiness and external conditions.

Tourism AI research is growing fast but remains fragmented

The review uses a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to map the field. The final dataset includes 146 peer-reviewed English-language journal articles from Web of Science in the business economics domain. The search focused on AI-related technologies, tourism and performance, while financial resilience, fragility and risk management were used as analytical coding themes.

The field grew quickly during the study period, with an annual growth rate of 40.04%. The corpus included 92 sources, 477 authors, 621 author keywords and 9364 references. The average article received 28.35 citations, and international co-authorship accounted for 43.84% of the reviewed literature. China led author affiliation output with 53 articles, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom. Major collaboration links appeared between China and the United Kingdom, China and the United States, and the United States and the United Kingdom.

The most important publication outlets included the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Sustainability, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management and International Journal of Hospitality Management. The review also finds wide dispersion among authors. Most researchers contributed only one article, indicating that the field is still emerging and not yet consolidated around a small group of dominant specialists.

The research themes evolved over time. From 2019 to 2021, the literature emphasized systems, performance, models, financial performance, technology and customer experience. By 2022 and 2023, the field moved more strongly toward artificial intelligence, business models, technological impact, customer satisfaction and digitalized service management. This shift reflects the growing role of AI as a core element of tourism's digital transformation.

The main keyword clusters center on performance, information technology, big data, robotics, service innovation, management, customer satisfaction and firm performance. Service robots, IoT, machine learning, big data analytics, smart technologies and intelligent systems appear as key tools. These technologies support real-time decision-making, automated service delivery, personalized tourism experiences, customer behavior prediction and operational optimization.

However, the review finds that financial resilience is not yet a standalone research theme. It appears indirectly through mechanisms such as demand forecasting, cost reduction, dynamic pricing, process optimization, customer management, operational flexibility and business continuity. Explicit discussions of liquidity, solvency, financial vulnerability, risk exposure and shock absorption remain limited.

Tourism AI research has produced strong evidence on performance, customer experience and service innovation, but it has not fully connected those benefits to financial risk and resilience. The result is a research gap at the intersection of AI, tourism finance and crisis preparedness.

Financial resilience remains the missing link in AI adoption

AI adoption in tourism should be studied more directly through the lens of financial fragility and resilience, the study insists. Tourism businesses face demand volatility, high fixed costs, seasonal revenue swings and exposure to crises. AI tools that improve forecasting, pricing, cost control and operational flexibility may help firms reduce vulnerability, but the evidence remains scattered.

AI may support profitability by improving revenue optimization and reducing operating costs. It may support liquidity through better demand forecasting and cash-flow planning. It may support solvency through improved risk assessment, resource allocation and early detection of financial pressure. It may also support business continuity by helping firms redesign services quickly when market conditions change.

The study identifies four interconnected pathways through which AI may strengthen resilience: anticipation, efficiency, adaptation and risk control. Anticipation comes from forecasting demand, monitoring customer behavior and identifying market trends. Efficiency comes from automation, cost reduction and better resource use. Adaptation comes from faster service redesign, pricing changes and personalization. Risk control comes from stronger information processing and better decision-making under uncertainty.

These mechanisms are especially relevant for tourism SMEs. Smaller firms often face greater exposure to financial fragility, but they may also benefit strongly from affordable digital tools that support forecasting, customer retention and operational planning. At the same time, AI may create new risks for these firms because implementation costs, data governance needs, privacy obligations, platform dependence and staff training requirements can add pressure rather than reduce it.

AI's benefits depend on the firm's digital skills, financial resources, managerial capacity, data governance and ability to integrate technology into real business processes. Firms that adopt AI without adequate planning may face higher costs, technological dependence and organizational disruption.

The findings suggest that AI investments should be evaluated not only by customer-service gains or marketing benefits, but also by their contribution to resilience. Tourism firms need to ask whether AI improves revenue stability, protects margins, strengthens liquidity planning, reduces vulnerability to shocks and supports recovery after disruption. That requires performance indicators that combine financial and non-financial measures.

The review points to the need for digital support programs that help tourism businesses, especially smaller firms, build AI capabilities without increasing financial fragility. Support could include training, shared digital infrastructure, data standards, responsible AI guidance and funding mechanisms that reduce the upfront burden of technology adoption.

More studies are needed on how AI affects liquidity management, debt vulnerability, risk exposure, crisis recovery and long-term financial resilience in tourism firms. Future work should expand beyond Web of Science, include more databases and document types, and incorporate post-2023 research as AI adoption accelerates across the tourism industry.