LocationsExploring AI’s Role in Sustainable Tourism
Preserving the Past, Protecting the Planet
January 15, 2026
Blue Bot, an award-winning initiative that began as an underwater robotics project, uses AI and machine learning to map coral reef species.
UNDP/Jordanna Straker
Tourism stands as one of the most powerful drivers of transformation. Even amidst global challenges, the sector continues to grow, creating jobs, fueling economic expansion, supporting infrastructure and bridging cultures. As the UN Secretary-General noted on World Tourism Day, tourism holds immense potential to advance human and economic development. Yet, this praise comes with a necessary caution: tourism can also harm the very communities and ecosystems it celebrates.
Managing this duality is central to sustainable tourism: a vision that looks at tourism holistically and accounts for its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts. This approach balances the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities alike. Recognizing its importance, UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2026-2029) prioritizes human development and planetary health by emphasizing “prosperity” and “planet” as core pillars. Sustainable tourism plays a critical role in achieving these objectives by empowering communities, creating jobs and safeguarding ecosystems.
Guided by the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network’s mission to accelerate learning on development challenges, we turned our attention to how emerging technologies reshape sustainability in this sector. Using the Lab’s decentralized practice of experimentation, we tested whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) could inspire action rather than only offer analysis.
Supported by the strategic investment of the Japan Cabinet Office for the UNDP Accelerator Labs’ grassroots-driven R&D approach, we ran an AI accelerator ideation program focused on Information Integrity and Sustainable Tourism. Across the Network, we received 49 distinct ideas from 28 Labs spanning all five UNDP regions. We identified common themes that multiple teams could explore collectively, ensuring that tourism contributes to, rather than depletes, local communities. The following prototypes from Kenya and Barbados emerged as frontrunners and received seed funding to move from ideation into active development.
Youth consultation to position the coastal city of Kilifi as a cultural destination while empowering communities.
UNDP Tanzania
Unlocking AI’s potential to safeguard culture in Kenya
Tourism is a cornerstone of Kenya’s economy, supporting nearly a million jobs, and positioning cultural heritage as a key development asset. However, the Accelerator Lab in Kenya identified a decline in coastal tourism, where many natural and cultural sites remain underutilized and under-documented. Globalization and a lack of digital integration have deepened this problem, creating a unique opportunity for AI to revitalize local tourism.
To address this, the Lab brought together young people, elders and community partners in a co-creation process using AI tools to help preserve cultural heritage in the Kilifi community. The prototype revolves around blending indigenous knowledge with AI-enabled storytelling to create cultural content including audiovisual materials, podcasts and digital exhibitions, as part of a Digital Heritage Repository to attract new visitors and income streams. The initiative aims to position this coastal city as a vibrant cultural tourism destination. By training local youth to use AI tools for audio-visual editing and transcription, the project doesn't just archive the past - it creates a new creative economy. Cultural themes guided the process to transform this analog knowledge into potential immersive experiences and digital assets:
- Traditional Medicine & Food: Digitizing recipes and herbal knowledge.
- Prayers & Rituals: Recording and transcribing oral traditions.
- Arts, Environment, and Justice: Mapping the social and ecological wisdom of the community.
Currently, these digital assets are being integrated into national marketing campaigns and travel platforms, positioning Kilifi as a vibrant destination for “culture-first” travelers.
Deployment of BlueBOT and pilot training.
UNDP/Jordanna Straker
Barbados, AI and the future of virtual marine tourism
Tourism has long been the economic mainstay of Barbados, yet this dependency places significant pressure on fragile marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs. The Accelerator Lab in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean explored how emerging technologies could offer a sustainable alternative that protects biodiversity while opening new, inclusive forms of tourism.
Their prototype builds on Blue Bot, an award-winning initiative that began as an underwater robotics project to map coral reef species using AI and machine learning. First recognized by the Lab in 2019, innovator Stevenson Antonio Hollingsworth scaled Blue Bot into a platform generating open marine datasets and youth training programs. Today, it serves as the foundation for AI-powered virtual marine tourism.
The concept is simple but transformative: the Lab uses AI to label and classify marine life captured in 91 underwater videos from Barbados’ coastal reefs. By training AI models to identify fish species, the Lab creates a virtual diving experience that allows tourists to explore marine ecosystems from anywhere in the world. This approach serves a dual purpose:
- Environmental Protection: It reduces physical pressure on reefs from traditional diving excursions.
- Inclusion: It democratizes access for non-swimmers, elderly visitors and persons with disabilities.
Beyond planned use in the tourism sector, the labeled data will strengthen marine conservation and policymaking. It will enrich regional marine databases, track reef health and species trends, and inform capacity management for sustainable tourism. The prototype will also generate new opportunities within the Blue Economy, including data visualization, Virtual Reality (VR) for mental health, VR climate storytelling and partnerships with local creative industries. Next steps include developing a trained AI model capable of identifying coral reef species, creating marine data visualizations and producing a demo of the virtual tourism experience.
Regenerative tourism that safeguards heritage and nature
From the shores of Kilifi to the reefs of Barbados, these prototypes show that when we combine local expertise with artificial intelligence, we don't just “process data;” we protect heritage, promote inclusion and drive sustainable growth. By placing digital tools in the hands of the community, we ensure that technology serves as a bridge, not a barrier, connecting the wisdom of the past with the possibilities of the future.
Beyond the immediate data, these initiatives represent a shift toward a “regenerative” tourism model where the digital and physical worlds coexist. Here, digitization acts as a sanctuary for the fragile. As we scale these results, we are doing more than building repositories or mapping reefs - we are safeguarding the planet's most vulnerable treasures while empowering the people who call them home.
With special thanks to the UNDP Accelerator Lab teams from Barbados (Jordana Tennebaum and Veronica Millington) and Kenya (Victor Awuor) for pushing the limits of grassroots innovation and in developing these AI prototypes.