An Australian travel company’s use of artificial intelligence to generate online content inadvertently directed tourists to a hot spring destination in Tasmania that does not exist, illustrating emerging challenges at the intersection of technology and tourism information reliability. The incident, widely reported by CNN and corroborated by local sources, involved Tasmania Tours publishing an AI-generated blog post promoting “Weldborough Hot Springs” as a serene natural attraction, prompting enquiries and visits to the remote town of Weldborough in north-east Tasmania by travellers seeking the fabricated site.
According to screenshots from the now-deleted blog, the AI content described Weldborough Hot Springs as a “peaceful escape” and a favourite among hikers and wellness enthusiasts, but the advertised hot springs do not exist and are not recognised in any official Tasmanian tourism listings. Visitors instead encountered the Weldborough Hotel and the surrounding Weld River, where there are no geothermal springs, leading to confusion among potential tourists and a flurry of inquiries at the local establishment.
The owner of the Weldborough Hotel noted a sudden uptick in calls and visits from travellers seeking the non-existent site, underscoring how AI-generated material can influence real-world travel behaviour when perceived as authoritative. Tasmania Tours, operated by Australian Tours and Cruises, acknowledged that its reliance on third-party AI to produce marketing content contributed to the error and has since removed the problematic content, while emphasising that the business itself is legitimate and not intentionally misleading.
This episode highlights wider concerns in global tech-enabled tourism about the accuracy of automated content tools and their impacts on destination marketing. As travel companies increasingly adopt AI to drive website traffic and engagement, the potential for “hallucinated” or factually incorrect outputs raises questions about content oversight, quality assurance and consumer trust in digital platforms.
