Tomeu Gili on Hosteltur TV: AI, tourism's ally, without letting our guard down
Six ideas from Hosteltur TV's panel on the opportunities and risks of AI in tourism: from websites AI can't read to data that shouldn't be uploaded to just any tool.
On 23 October 2026, Hosteltur TV devoted programme 358, “La IA, una aliada para el turismo, pero sin bajar la guardia” (AI, an ally for tourism, without letting our guard down), to the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence in the industry. Tomeu Gili, CEO of RaceMyDesk, joined the panel alongside Biel Buades (Buades Legal), Gabriel Buades Rubio (CTO of Soffid) and Álvaro Carrillo (Director General of the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero, ITH), moderated by Manuel Molina, director of Hosteltur.
Hosteltur TV Video in Spanish, on YouTube. The panel starts at 1:26. Open on YouTube
Tomeu's six ideas in the panel
The real risk is not using AI
A company that decides not to use AI runs a single risk: that all its competitors do, and it falls behind. The same goes for every employee. The second risk is using it badly: Tomeu recalled the US lawyers sanctioned for filing false data generated by AI. The judge's answer was not to ban it, but “use AI, but check”.
If the hotel website isn't ready, AI gets the answer wrong
A traveller asks: “Does this hotel allow pets?” The AI goes to the hotel's website, can't read it because it isn't organised for AI, and answers no. Travellers used to compare websites on Google; today they talk to AI and trust what it says.
AI recommends hotels based on what it reads elsewhere
If a hotelier asks these tools today, they'll see they don't check the hotel's website: they search Booking.com, National Geographic or the press. Hotels that don't adapt leave their distribution in the hands of what others publish, and lose a lot of control. With good analytics, a hotel can already see which guests reach it from ChatGPT instead of Google.
Be careful with the data you upload to AI
Some documents uploaded to certain tools can end up public. A travel agency that uploads a group's passenger list so AI can review a quote may expose data that data-protection law treats as especially sensitive.
AI isn't here to cut jobs: it helps serve and sell more
Many jobs will barely change. Travel agencies have moments when customers queue and leave; with tools that streamline the work, they serve and sell more. Hotels, which struggle to hire staff, can automate processes and answer emails, and guests can have an app that answers them during their stay. Those who adapt gain job security.
Agents that search, agents that verify, and a person in charge
To keep AI from getting it wrong, one agent searches, another verifies by cross-checking several sources, and a person supervises. That is how RaceMyDesk's study for Hosteltur on source markets was made: data from INE, Turespaña and other sources, in several languages, cross-checked.
The risk is not using AI. And then, using it badly.
His final advice
“Adapt, yes, but know what you connect and who you give access to your email.”
On the panel
- Tomeu Gili, CEO of RaceMyDesk
- Biel Buades, partner in charge of Hospitality at Buades Legal
- Gabriel Buades Rubio, CTO of Soffid
- Álvaro Carrillo, Director General of the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH)
- Moderator: Manuel Molina, director of Hosteltur
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