AI visibility is not only whether a city appears, but whose sources AI trusts.
A research collaboration between AIR APAC and TPO – Tourism Promotion Organization for Global Cities – applying behavioural-signal methodology to urban tourism across Asia Pacific.
AIR APAC working paper – prepared for partner review. Formal co-branding pending sign-off.
About the collaboration
An Asia Pacific cities tourism organisation is a multilateral, member-based intergovernmental organization for urban tourism across Asia Pacific. AIR APAC is the Center for AI Readiness, Asia Pacific – independent, vendor-agnostic, and evidence-based.
Each output draws on AIR APAC’s behavioural-signal methodology – using observable, multi-source data rather than self-reported inputs – to ensure that insights are practical, comparable, and actionable for policy and planning.
The shared principle
Measure what member cities and their tourism operators do, not what they say.
Three content streams
Stream 01
Urban Tourism AI Readiness Benchmark
How TPO member cities and their mid-market tourism operators – hotels, OTAs, tour operators, travel-tech firms – are positioned to adopt AI.
Identification of patterns and clusters across the TPO network — how AI describes member cities, which sources it relies on, and where official representation could be strengthened.
Stream 02
Asymmetric Visibility in AI-Powered Travel
How TPO member cities surface – or fail to surface – in generative travel-planning platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini), relative to traditional channels.
An extension of AIR APAC’s Asymmetric Visibility methodology, with practical implications for destination marketing and discoverability.
Stream 03
AI Governance & Policy Signals for Tourism
A structured digest of emerging regulatory and policy developments intersecting tourism: visitor data governance and privacy; AI-enabled pricing and personalisation; digital identity and border technologies.
Designed to help member-city authorities anticipate and respond proactively.
Publication cadence
Monthly
Brief · 2–3 pages
One signal, one visual, one policy implication.
Bi-monthly
Feature · 10–15 pages
Thematic deep-dive across the three streams.
Annual
Flagship · APAC Index
Structured benchmarking for TPO member cities, positioned around a key TPO milestone.
Inaugural issue
Inaugural issue
How Member Cities Appear in the Age of AI Travel Search
The first edition combines AIR APAC’s Asymmetric Visibility methodology with a partner-network member-city lens. It is immediately executable, provides a differentiated launch asset for TPO, and establishes a clear measurement framework for subsequent publications.
Inaugural worked example — Busan (V1 pilot)
A first live application of the methodology, scoped to ChatGPT and Perplexity on three Busan-specific English-language prompts. Gemini is pending re-test before any three-engine claim is made. Numbers are directional at small N; the diagnostic shape — not absolute proportions — is the relevant output at this stage.
- Visibility: Busan surfaced in every answer and ranked first in the headline question.
- Source authority: 15 of 24 cited sources from official tourism or government — rising to 17 of 24 with official transport and event sources included.
- Asset alignment: the city’s officially-promoted #1 asset (Haeundae Beach) and AI’s most-mentioned Busan asset are the same.
- Narrative opportunities: AI consistently associates Busan with BIFF, port identity, and seafood culture — themes that can be added to the tracked official asset set in the next pass.
V2 expansion across TPO’s co-presiding cities is in production. Asset register currently lists institutional source URLs; several still need curator-specific URL refinement before publication.
Editorial governance
Editorial ownership
AIR APAC drafts; TPO reviews each issue prior to publication.
Review workflow
A light governance model with shared review windows and named editorial contacts on each side.
Branding
Until formal sign-off, materials carry the AIR APAC working-paper mark with a clear note that formal co-branding is pending. Following sign-off, the joint co-branding mark may be applied per protocol.
Translation
Reports may be issued in English and Korean, with member-city language extensions considered case by case.
Last updated: 4 May 2026. Status: Working paper – prepared for partner review. Formal co-branding pending sign-off.