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The rapid advancement of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fundamentally reshaped the management and development of the tourism industry. Digital transformation strategies offer substantial opportunities to enhance destination competitiveness while simultaneously supporting economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This study aims to systematically examine the role of digital transformation and AI in strengthening sustainable tourism competitiveness through a literature review approach. A total of 42 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2019 and 2025 were analyzed, drawing from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The analysis employed thematic synthesis to identify dominant patterns, conceptual relationships, and emerging themes across the literature. The findings indicate that AI-driven digital transformation enhances operational efficiency, enables personalized tourist experiences, supports data-informed resource management, and facilitates the development of smart tourism destinations. Nevertheless, persistent challenges related to human resource readiness, digital inequality, data governance, and ethical considerations remain evident. This review provides an integrated conceptual perspective on digital transformation and AI in sustainable tourism competitiveness and offers insights for policymakers, practitioners, and future research.

The phenomenon of TikTok content aesthetics has emerged as a new strategy in tourism promotion, including in Labuan Bajo. However, not all content produced has appealing aesthetic quality. Many videos still appear monotonous, lack creativity, or fail to highlight local uniqueness. As a result, some content falls short in building a strong destination image and instead gets lost in the increasingly saturated digital content competition. This research aims to examine in depth how the aesthetics of TikTok content contribute to increasing tourist interest in visiting Labuan Bajo, one of Indonesia’s super-priority destinations. Labuan Bajo was chosen as a case study not only because of its world-class tourism appeal but also because it is currently being actively promoted through digital branding strategies. The study employs a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data were collected through TikTok content observation, in-depth interviews with content creators and local tourism stakeholders, as well as literature analysis on smart tourism and destination branding. This approach was selected to uncover the underlying meaning behind aesthetic content strategies while also highlighting the challenges faced in their implementation. The findings reveal that the aesthetics of TikTok content play a significant role in building a positive image of Labuan Bajo, enhancing its visual appeal, and creating emotional connections between prospective tourists and the destination. Nevertheless, the research also identifies challenges such as limited digital literacy, uneven content quality, and the risk of narrative homogenization that may reduce local uniqueness. Based on these findings, the study recommends the development of destination branding strategies that are more adaptive to social media trends, including the creation of aesthetic guidelines rooted in local culture, digital literacy training for tourism stakeholders, and close collaboration between government, industry, and content creators. Through these efforts, Labuan Bajo has the potential to strengthen its position as a leading world-class destination.

Penelitian ini bertujuan mengukur sejauhmana penggunaan smart tourism dalam kerangka mendukung industri pariwisata di Pulau Penyengat, Kepulauan Riau. Pemilihan lokasi didasarkan atas latar belakang memiliki nilai historis, budaya, dan religi yang tinggi baik di tingkat nasional maupun internasional, dan merupakan destinasi favorit wisatawan asing dari Malaysia dan Singapura karena kedekatan historis. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif melalui serangkaian penyebaran kuesioner kepada wisatawan yang berkunjung dilanjutkan dengan wawancara terstruktur dan diskusi terfokus dengan tokoh kunci yang telah ditentukan oleh peneliti, baik itu tokoh masyarakat, kelompok sadar wisata (Pokdarwis), tokoh adat, dan pemerintah daerah. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengelolaan dan promosi wisata Pulau Penyengat masih dilakukan secara konvensional, belum mengoptimalkan penggunaan teknologi informasi sebagai instrumen untuk mendukung pemasaran industri pariwisata secara luas. Kondisi empirik ini berakar pada berbagai persoalan yang ada, baik itu sumber daya manusia, kebijakan pembangunan pariwisata, dan kesadaran kolektif pembangunan industri pariwisata