Generative AI and ethical travel engagement: a cognitive–affective–behavioral approach in smart tourism destinations

This study investigates how generative artificial intelligence (AI) facilitates ethical and sustainable travel behaviour in AI-enabled smart urban tourism destinations within the context of urban tourism and smart tourism cities. The study highlights how AI reshapes tourist experiences, decision-making, and ethical engagement in complex, high-density urban environments where digital infrastructures are deeply embedded. The analysis employed an Integrated Generalised Structured Component Analysis to examine structural relationships, which was complemented by a Necessary Condition Analysis in order to identify indispensable prerequisites for behavioural transformation. The results show that perceived AI transparency strongly predicts digital reflexivity, which in turn influences AI-induced place reinterpretation and AI-enabled experience co-creation. Co-creation exerts a stronger effect on ethical travel citizenship than place reinterpretation does, whereas ethical citizenship strongly predicts post-travel AI engagement. The necessary condition analysis results confirm that all constructs function as necessary conditions along the cognitive – affective–behavioural sequence. This study contributes to urban tourism research by offering a novel theoretical integration of the cognitive – affective–behavioural model, the transformative learning theory to explain how AI-mediated interactions in smart tourism cities can transform tourists’ ethical orientations and long-term engagement. It also offers practical guidance for tourism practitioners, AI developers, and policymakers in regards to designing transparent and value-sensitive AI tools that promote lasting sustainable travel engagement.