AI Can Simulate Your Audiences. That Doesn’t Mean It Can Replace Them.

Destination leaders have never been short on questions about the audiences they need to influence.

Why does one traveler put a destination on the short list while another overlooks it? What makes a meeting planner keep a city in consideration—or rule it out? Where do perceptions, logistics or experience create barriers to choosing a destination?

Destination organizations have more data than ever to help answer those questions. Website behavior, visitation data, social listening, sentiment research and visitor surveys all provide important signals.

But those signals often tell us what happened. Understanding the likely motivations behind it can be harder.

Destination leaders have traditionally relied on a mix of audience research, market data, experience and informed judgment, depending on the question at hand.

AI is adding another option.

Synthetic research uses artificial intelligence to simulate how different audiences may think, react and make decisions—from leisure travelers to meeting planners, event organizers and other decision-makers. It can give destination leaders a faster way to explore likely motivations, expectations and barriers before deciding how much evidence a particular question really requires.

Where synthetic research can help 

The most interesting applications are not necessarily the biggest decisions.

A destination team might want to understand what could make a high-value traveler choose a competitor, what objections might keep a meeting planner from advancing the destination, how attendees could respond to higher costs or access challenges, or where residents and visitors may view a destination initiative very differently.

Those are meaningful questions, but they do not always justify a full research initiative.

Synthetic research can help leaders pressure-test assumptions around them. What unintended friction could a change in the visitor experience create? Which concerns might move a meeting planner from consideration to rejection? Where might destination leaders be overestimating the value of an asset that matters less to the audience making the decision?

That kind of directional insight can help teams move forward with more context instead of relying on instinct alone.

It can also make bigger research smarter

Synthetic research can play a different role when a decision calls for deeper validation.

Before investing in a larger traveler, planner or stakeholder study, destination leaders can use simulated audiences to explore likely themes and sharpen what they want to learn from real people.

That can be especially useful when research budgets are limited and organizations need to make choices about what deserves deeper investigation.

In other words, synthetic research can work both as a stand-alone exploratory tool and as a way to make traditional research more focused.

The applications go beyond marketing

For destination organizations, some of the most interesting uses may sit outside traditional consumer marketing.

Synthetic audiences could help teams explore how meeting planners assess accessibility, hotel package, venue options, attendee appeal or destination reputation. They could help sales teams pressure-test how a destination story may land with different types of group buyers before taking it into market.

They can also be useful for broader destination questions. How might different audiences interpret transportation options, seasonal messaging or changes in the visitor experience? How could a stewardship initiative be perceived by visitors, residents or industry partners?Where might crowding, accessibility or value influence the way different groups experience the destination?

There is potential on the stakeholder side, too.

Destination organizations regularly communicate with hotel partners, attractions, local businesses, elected officials, residents and other community stakeholders. Synthetic research can help teams explore how different audiences may interpret an issue before a broader conversation begins.

That does not make the simulated perspective definitive. But it can help reveal where assumptions may be too narrow.

Know what kind of answer you need

Synthetic research is useful for exploration: understanding likely perspectives, surfacing potential barriers and generating hypotheses.
It is not designed to measure actual awareness, predict precise visitation or group-business outcomes, or stand in for direct audience validation when the stakes are high.

Tourism also has a uniquely human complication: travel decisions are messy.

Weather changes plans. Economic and geopolitical events change the cost of travel. A planner faces budget pressure. An attendee pushes back on accessibility. A viral post changes perception overnight.

Those moments shape destination choice and experience in ways that are difficult to simulate.

Destination leaders should consider using synthetic research where it adds value: to explore more questions, challenge assumptions earlier and bring more audience perspective into decisions that might otherwise rely on instinct alone.

And just as important, to know when the people you’re trying to influence still need to have the final word.