The Authenticity Paradox in AI-Mediated Tourism: Emotional Design, Digital Engagement, and Ethical Tensions Across Stakeholders

Artificial intelligence (AI), immersive interfaces, and emotionally driven digital technologies are profoundly transforming contemporary tourism. Beyond improving efficiency and personalization, these technologies increasingly mediate how tourists access, interpret, and experience destinations, shaping emotional engagement, trust, and perceptions of authenticity. While prior research has largely emphasized functional adoption outcomes, less attention has been paid to the complex experiential and ethical tensions that emerge as digital mediation deepens. Addressing this gap, this study investigates how functional, hedonic, and design-oriented characteristics of AI-enabled tourism technologies influence tourists’ emotional engagement and trust, and how these internal states affect technology preferences, concerns about authenticity, and sensitivity to privacy risks. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework and integrating constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model and emotional design theory, the study develops a multidimensional model in which perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and emotional design act as stimuli shaping emotional engagement and trust. These internal states subsequently influence behavioral and evaluative responses, including preference for AI-driven tourism technologies, perceived loss of authenticity, and privacy concerns. Empirical data were collected through an international online survey of 250 leisure travelers from more than 30 countries. The model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results show that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and emotional design all significantly enhance emotional engagement and trust. Emotional engagement and trust, in turn, strongly predict preferences for AI-enabled tourism services, while trust significantly reduces privacy concerns. A key and unexpected finding is the emergence of an authenticity paradox. Contrary to conventional assumptions, higher emotional engagement and stronger trust in digital technologies are associated with greater concerns about the loss of authenticity in tourism experiences. Rather than being passive adopters, technologically engaged tourists appear to be critically aware of the mediating and curatorial role of AI, recognizing its potential to algorithmically filter experiences, reduce spontaneity, and commodify cultural identity. Thus, trust and engagement coexist with heightened reflexivity and ethical sensitivity. The study contributes to research on digital transformation and tourism by demonstrating that the impacts of AI extend beyond usability and enjoyment to encompass complex experiential and societal tensions. By empirically positioning emotional design as a key antecedent of trust and engagement, the findings highlight the importance of human-centered and responsible design principles. Practically, the results suggest that successful AI integration in tourism requires balancing technological innovation with transparency, ethical data practices, and respect for cultural authenticity, reinforcing the need for a Human+ approach to digital transformation.