I speak to a lot of Small tourism business owners about the importance of marketing. Most sheepishly admit they “should do more marketing” but in today’s world, who has the time? This is where AI shines: not as a magic wand, but as a force multiplier for the time and budget you do have.
I’ve put together a few ideas on how you can use AI in your day‑to‑day marketing, without becoming or more importantly sounding like a robot.
- If you’re struggling to think of what to write or post, use AI to brainstorm and plan your content in minutes not days.
Ask ChatGPT or your preferred AI tool:
“Write a local marketing plan for a small eco‑lodge in Denmark, West Australia targeting couples and young families for weekend getaways. Give me 10 content ideas for the next 3 months to publish across my business website, Facebook, Instagram, and an email.”
You’ll get a list you can adapt, that should include:
- Local “what’s on” posts
- Behind‑the‑scenes stories
- Guest tips and itineraries
- Seasonal updates and promos
Review for accuracy and refine what’s relevant to your business and slot it into a simple calendar.
- Turn one story into many marketing assets.
Let’s say you’ve had a great guest review, an interesting or inspiring experience or even just a lovely family as a customer.
Paste the review or a rough story into ChatGPT and ask it to write:
- A 150‑word Facebook post
- A 50‑word Instagram caption with 5 relevant hashtags
- A 200‑word newsletter snippet
You still choose the photos and tweak language, but AI will have done the time consuming heavy lifting.
- Improve your copy, don’t replace your voice
With your business, product or other descriptions, your tone in your content is inherent to your brand. Use AI as an editor, not a ghost‑writer: so, first draft your own version of the content you choose (even if it’s rough), then ask AI to:
- “Tidy this up but keep it warm and conversational”
- “Make this clearer for international travellers”
- “Shorten this to 80 words for Instagram and 30 seconds for an Instagram Reels script”
This will keep your personality or tone, just make it sharper.
- Make sure you use AI safely and authentically. If you apply these common sense rules, you won’t get it wrong.
- Always check the facts. AI can be ‘confidently wrong’ about local details.
- Don’t paste in sensitive customer info (names, phone numbers).
- Define your brand personality and keep it consistent. Aussie, casual, light, slightly informal, if that’s you. Know it and apply it to everything.
- Measure what matters: clicks, enquiries, bookings. If a type of AI‑assisted content doesn’t perform, change it.
Approach AI as not a threat but as a chance to be assertively present online more often putting your business in front of the right guests, communicate more clearly, and work faster on the laborious “boring bits” so you can focus on the experience.
If you start with just a few of the ideas across this three‑part series; cleaning up your online info, speeding up responses, and using AI to plan and repurpose content you’ll already be well ahead of most small tourism operators and most importantly generate more bookings.
