Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in the travel and hospitality industry, enhancing efficiency, personalization, and customer engagement. This study explores the extent of AI adoption and usage among tourists visiting the Arunachal Pradesh tourist circuit (Itanagar–Ziro– Daporijo–Aalo–Pasighat) and examines how demographic factors, particularly education and gender, influence AI engagement. A convenient sampling approach was used to survey 300 tourists and assess their experiences with various AI applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, biometric recognition, and AI-powered booking systems. The results show that the use of AI is common and QR codes and chat bots are the most frequently used ones. The female respondents identified more AI usage in various applications and also visualized more advantages, whereas male respondents exhibited slightly higher concerns about covering up the AI limitations. Also, the degree level was highly correlated with the extent of AI involvement, the number of AI applications, and the level of awareness of AI benefits. Data privacy, overuse of AI and a decrease in human interaction are some of the trends of concern. This paper brings out the importance of AI in tourism, which is increasing day by day in the tourist sector, and the importance of the digital literacy programs and ethical use of AI so as to improve sustainable tourism development. The results provide an applicable contribution to the stakeholders and decision makers in the industry since they are interested in the effective integration of AI into tourism services.