Adoption of AI for Travel: Corporate Strategies and Firm Value

Tourists’ responses to the adoption and implementation of AI-based travel solutions have received considerable scholarly attention, yet investors’ reactions to such adoption decisions remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on multiple intelligences and tourism innovation archetypes theories, this study develops a conceptual framework that explains how AI adoption influences firm value and empirically tests this framework through a multi-method design combining event study analysis, propensity score matching, and sample selection modeling. Based on 903 corporate announcements, the findings reveal a positive effect of adoption of AI on firm value, that is contingent on the use of simplification and feelings-centered strategies. These moderating effects further vary according to firms’ labor efficiency and the prevalence of high-skill employees. The findings reveal a nuanced account of contingencies shaping AI adoption in tourism, travel, and hospitality contexts, which helps managers better understand how investors evaluate AI adoption strategies.