Artificial intelligence is opening up new possibilities for businesses of every size. Tasks that once required specialist teams, significant budgets, or extensive technical expertise are becoming increasingly accessible, giving entrepreneurs and established organisations new ways to develop ideas, improve services, and rethink how they operate.
For tourism and hospitality, the potential is particularly compelling. From digital marketing and demand orchestration to golf travel and the hotel of the future, AI is creating opportunities to rethink how businesses attract visitors, respond to changing expectations, and deliver better experiences.
At the Ireland Portugal Business Network’s 5th Annual Tourism Conference on Thursday, 22 October, at WELL Vale do Lobo, Panel 3 will explore the democratisation of AI and its transformative potential across the tourism and hospitality industries.
Bringing together expertise in AI-powered marketing, international golf travel, and applied tourism research, the panel will consider how these technologies can move beyond theory and become practical tools for innovation.
Meet the Speakers
Mariana da Rocha, Head of Growth at WitFlow – Demand Orchestration
How can tourism businesses stand out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape? For Mariana da Rocha, the answer begins with combining creative thinking, strategic communication, and a strong understanding of the digital world.
With a background in Communication Sciences from the University of Algarve and experience spanning digital communications, social media strategy, content planning, copywriting, and storytelling, Mariana focuses on helping brands bring their ideas to life and build a more distinctive digital presence.
As Head of Growth at WitFlow – Demand Orchestration, she brings a growth-oriented perspective to the conversation, exploring how businesses can make better use of digital tools to connect with audiences and develop their market presence.
As AI changes the way content is created, campaigns are planned, and customer demand is understood, the challenge is not simply to adopt new technology. It is to use it thoughtfully to create meaningful, relevant experiences that help businesses grow.
Tony Judge, Founder & CEO of Clubs to Hire
Tourism innovation is not limited to hotels and destination marketing. It can also mean rethinking the practical details that shape a visitor’s experience.
Tony Judge is the Founder and CEO of Clubs to Hire, a business that rents high-end golf clubs to travelling golfers across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since launching in 2010, the company has served more than 750,000 travelling golfers, with rental services available at 25 locations worldwide, including delivery options to customers’ hotels.
Through its model, Clubs to Hire helps golfers travel without having to transport their own equipment, while its sister company, Clubs to Sell, gives pre-used golf sets a second life in the marketplace.
The company has received multiple innovation, business, and travel awards and continues to look for ways to improve its services.
Tony brings the perspective of an entrepreneur operating at the intersection of golf, travel, and customer experience. His contribution will help ground the discussion in the realities of running and evolving a tourism-related business, where innovation must ultimately translate into practical value for customers.
Dra Hilal Akdemir, Scientific Director at KIPT CoLAB
What might the hotel of the future look like, and how can digital technology help the hospitality sector become more sustainable, responsive, and efficient?
Dra Hilal Akdemir brings an applied research perspective to these questions through her role as Scientific Director at KIPT CoLAB, a collaborative laboratory focused on tourism.
Her work involves developing and strategically managing research-driven European projects that connect sustainability, digital transition, social innovation, and policy impact. She works across international partnerships and funding frameworks, helping turn complex challenges into practical project strategies.
Through the CROSSTECH initiative, KIPT CoLAB is exploring how digital technologies can support the green and digital transformation of tourism and hospitality. This work considers how innovation can help organisations balance sustainability goals, operational needs, and the experiences they deliver to guests.
Hilal’s contribution will bring a research-led perspective to the panel, highlighting the importance of connecting technological possibilities with real-world challenges and the long-term needs of the tourism industry.
Moderated by Carlos Justino, Founder of WitFlow – Demand Orchestration
The conversation will be moderated by Carlos Justino, an entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in marketing, AI strategy, and digital transformation across Europe and Brazil.
Carlos founded WitFlow – Demand Orchestration with a vision of making sophisticated marketing capabilities more accessible to businesses and creators of all sizes. The platform aims to use AI to bring together key elements of the digital marketing process, from strategy and content creation to publishing, through a system designed to learn a brand’s identity and support consistent communication at scale.
His approach reflects a central question in the wider AI conversation: how can technology reduce barriers to innovation without losing the creativity, strategic thinking, and distinctiveness that make businesses stand out?
As moderator, Carlos will bring together the panel’s commercial, entrepreneurial, and research perspectives to explore how AI can become a practical enabler of innovation across tourism and hospitality.
Join the Conversation: Tourism and AI at the IPBN Tourism Conference
AI is changing the possibilities available to tourism and hospitality businesses, but turning those possibilities into meaningful outcomes requires more than adopting the latest tools. It calls for practical thinking, collaboration, and an understanding of how technology can respond to real business and customer needs.
The Tourism and AI panel is part of the IPBN’s 5th Annual Tourism Conference, bringing together business leaders, researchers, and industry experts from Ireland and Portugal to explore innovation and new trends shaping the future of tourism.
Join us on Thursday, 22 October 2026, at WELL Vale do Lobo in the Algarve for a morning of expert discussion, knowledge-sharing, and networking with the Ireland–Portugal business community.
Click here to register for the conference! Sessions run from 09:00 to 13:00, followed by a light lunch and networking. Members and non-members are welcome.
