UM academic leads a new special issue on destination marketing in the age of AI

Prof. Mark Anthony Camilleri from the Department of Corporate Communication is leading a new Special Issue of the Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, that shall focus on the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital accommodation platforms on tourism destinations.

The special issue entitled “Digital transformation and AI-enabled accommodation platforms: Implications for destination marketing, governance and development”, brings together research at the intersection of AI, digital platforms, accommodation, destination marketing and tourism governance.

Digital platforms and AI are increasingly influencing how destinations are discovered, promoted and experienced. Accommodation platforms can affect destination visibility through algorithms, ratings, reviews, personalised recommendations and AI-generated content. At the same time, these technologies raise important questions concerning destination governance, competitiveness, sustainability, housing pressures and the distribution of tourism demand.

In this light, this special Issue invites researchers to examine areas including AI-driven recommendation systems, destination visibility and branding, generative AI, dynamic pricing, platform governance, destination competitiveness, overtourism, sustainability, stakeholder relationships and the changing role of destination management organisations.

Prof. Camilleri serves as Leading Guest Editor, together with Prof. Anna Farmaki from Cyprus University of Technology, Dr Dimitrios P. Stergiou from Hellenic Open University, Prof. Nikolaos Pappas from Northumbria University and Prof. Metin Kozak from Kadir Has University.

The guest editors particularly welcome theoretically grounded empirical research using multiple sources of data, including mixed datasets, stakeholder perspectives, longitudinal evidence, multi-level data and triangulated methods. Contributions should demonstrate clear implications for destination marketing, management, governance, policy and sustainable development.

Submissions open on 1 October 2026, with a final submission deadline of 31 August 2028. Manuscripts will undergo the journal's double-blind peer-review process.

Researchers who are interested in contributing to the Special Issue are encouraged to consult the full Call for Papers and submission guidelines available online.

Prospective authors may contact Prof. Mark Anthony Camilleri via email with a brief abstract or enquiry regarding the suitability of their proposed contribution.

Elsevier's Journal of Destination Marketing & Management (JDMM) aims to be the leading international journal for the study of tourist destinations by providing a critical understanding of all aspects of their marketing and management, as they are situated in their particular policy, planning, economic, geographical and historical contexts.

JDMM seeks to develop a robust theoretical understanding of destination marketing and management by harnessing knowledge drawn from the full breadth of disciplinary approaches to the study of destinations. It seeks to foster a critical development of the domain, expand the frontiers of knowledge in the field and provide an international forum for the exchange of ideas.

The objective of JDMM is therefore to publish up-to-date, high-quality, original research papers and reviews. As such, the journal aspires to be vibrant, engaging and accessible, yet at the same time integrative and challenging. Those involved in the interdisciplinary approach of marketing and management, economic development and planning, geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, retailing, policy making and public administration of tourist destinations will find the journal of particular interest.