Destination Inclusivity in Sustainable Heritage Tourism: The Roles of AI Literacy, Halal Literacy, and Information Quality: Evidence from Tana Toraja

The study examines relationships linking AI literacy, halal literacy, information quality, destination inclusivity, perceived value, destination preference, and visit intention in Muslim tourists’ evaluations of Tana Toraja, a culturally distinctive non-Muslim heritage destination. Owing to the predominance of respondents without prior experience visiting Tana Toraja, the findings primarily concern anticipated perceptions and prospective visit intentions, not actual post-visit evaluations. The study contributes to tourism scholarship through a unified empirical framework connecting established constructs from AI-driven tourism, halal tourism, and inclusive heritage tourism. Data from 371 respondents were collected through an online survey and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results show that AI literacy significantly affects information quality and halal literacy, suggesting that digitally literate tourists are better positioned to filter and verify AI-mediated travel information. Halal literacy positively affects destination inclusivity and perceived value, while information quality enhances inclusivity, preference, and visit intention. Perceived value also strengthens inclusivity and preference, and destination preference strongly predicts visit intention. Overall, the findings suggest that trustworthy AI-mediated information, practical halal understanding, and perceived inclusivity may help reduce uncertainty among Muslim prospective tourists considering culturally distinctive heritage destinations.