The global travel industry is undergoing a profound digital transformation, reshaping traditional value chains and giving rise to innovative digital business models. Concurrently, national culture remains a critical, yet often underappreciated, determinant of consumer behavior, technological adoption, and organizational strategies in international contexts. This article qualitatively explores the multifaceted effects of national cultures on the evolution and efficacy of digital business models within the transforming travel sector. Drawing upon established cultural frameworks and insights from information systems and strategic management literature, we examine how cultural dimensions influence aspects such as trust in online platforms, preference for direct versus intermediary channels, acceptance of peer-to-peer services, and the perceived value of digital offerings. By synthesizing existing knowledge and proposing a conceptual framework for qualitative inquiry, this study highlights the imperative for digital travel businesses to develop culturally intelligent strategies that resonate with local values and norms, thereby optimizing their digital business model design and ensuring sustainable growth in diverse global markets.

Artificial intelligence has recently become a rapidly growing global trend, given its advanced technological capabilities and capabilities and its ability to perform tasks that were previously dependent on humans. This makes the use of AI particularly beneficial in the tourism and travel industry, saving tourism organizations time, effort, and costs. It also eliminates, or at least reduces, human error, allowing tasks to be performed quickly, at any time, and around the clock, thus achieving customer satisfaction.

The tourism industry, with all its components, from tourism companies to hotels, is committed to providing exceptional, high-quality customer service to achieve customer satisfaction. In this area, artificial intelligence technologies help achieve customer satisfaction in multiple ways. These include, for example, the use of AI in tourism and travel to provide a more personalized tourism experience, ensure rapid response to customer requests, and implement voice assistance, chat, and smart marketing, in addition to providing virtual tourism experiences, augmented and integrated reality, and assist in forecasting, data analysis, and problem-solving.

From this standpoint, the study aimed to identify the nature of artificial intelligence and its importance in the tourism and travel industry in Iraq and to address artificial intelligence techniques in the tourism and hospitality sector and the challenges facing it. The study also addresses the concept of customer satisfaction, the importance of achieving it, and methods of measuring customer satisfaction in the tourism sector through the service quality model. The study relied on the descriptive analytical approach and used the questionnaire to collect study data from two random samples: the first of customers in tourism companies in the city of Karbala, amounting to (70) individuals, and the second of customers of premium hotels in the city of Karbala, amounting to (90) individuals. The research results concluded that there is a relationship between artificial intelligence and customer satisfaction in the tourism and travel industry in Iraq.

In the era of digital tourism, travelers are no longer passive recipients of services but active participants in creating value through digital platforms and interactions. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the relationship between experiential value co-creation and behavioral intentions among digital tourists. Drawing on value co-creation theory and consumer behavior frameworks, the research explores how dimensions such as interactivity, personalization, and digital engagement influence tourists’ satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness to recommend. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining survey data from 432 digital tourists with in-depth interviews. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between co-created experiential value and favorable behavioral intentions, mediated by perceived authenticity and trust in digital service platforms. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the digital tourism experience and offer practical implications for service providers aiming to enhance user engagement and brand advocacy in a competitive online environment.