Artificial Intelligence and AI-Related Digital Systems in Tourism Companies: Knowledge, Adoption, Perceived Effects, and Stakeholder Comparisons

This study examines knowledge, broad reported use, and the perceived effects of artificial intelligence (AI) and related digital systems through an exploratory secondary analysis of 323 company-survey responses. The numerical source is a previously unused company-side aggregate results report from the research programme associated with an earlier published tourist study, with waves labelled 2024 (n = 162) and 2026 (n = 161). Biosphere Portugal’s practice-informed project documentation provides complementary sustainability context. The contribution is an analysis and interpretation of existing aggregate evidence, not a new primary survey or longitudinal panel. Company-level microdata were not available for this analysis. Acceptance and organisational-readiness perspectives guide four research questions. The broad survey indicator records 190 affirmative responses (58.8%) but does not establish verified AI adoption. Conflicting pooled and wave-specific technology counts are preserved as unresolved source discrepancies rather than treated as corrected ground truth. Descriptive group contrasts are reported without inferential significance claims because item-specific valid-case denominators, missing-response coding and cross-wave independence cannot be verified from the archived aggregate materials. The analysis is therefore confined to broad reported-use status and function labels, not AI-specific user effects. Published tourist findings are compared thematically rather than pooled. The implications concern the measurement discipline, context-dependent capability, governance, and sustainability assessment; perceived efficiency benefits are not treated as measured net sustainability gains.