Leveraging Educational Artificial Intelligence to Transform Cultural Tourism Learning: A Multidisciplinary Model for Enhancing Visitors’ Experience and Heritage Preservation

Cultural tourism, a cornerstone of global economic and social development, faces unprecedented challenges in engaging modern visitors and preserving intangible heritage. Educational Artificial Intelligence (EdAI)—the fusion of AI with pedagogical strategies—offers transformative solutions by personalizing learning, enhancing interactivity, and supporting sustainable heritage conservation. This study presents a comprehensive, multidisciplinary model that integrates EdAI with cultural tourism, leveraging machine learning, natural language processing, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and gamification to create immersive, adaptive, and ethically grounded learning environments. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys (n=450), interviews with 15 cultural heritage experts, and expanded case studies of AI-driven initiatives (e.g., UNESCO’s Global Digital Heritage Initiative, the British Museum’s AI Curator, and Nigeria’s Benin City Digital Revival Project), this research validates the model’s efficacy. Key findings reveal that EdAI significantly improves visitor engagement (β=0.68, p<0.001), knowledge retention (β=0.55, p<0.01), and heritage preservation awareness (β=0.72, p<0.001). The study also identifies critical challenges, including data privacy, digital divides, and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, and proposes policy recommendations for ethical AI governance, investment in AI literacy, and public-private partnerships, with a special focus on Nigeria’s cultural tourism sector. This research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by demonstrating how EdAI can revolutionize cultural tourism learning, ensuring authenticity, accessibility, and sustainability in heritage management.