ODTA strengthens Europe-wide cooperation on tourism data standards

International

Alliance expands organisational structure as AI-driven transformation accelerates the need for open, semantic data models

The rapid spread of AI in global tourism is increasing the demand for reliable, standardised data. Chatbots, voice assistants, AI-powered recommendation systems and automated content syndication are becoming integral to how destinations and travel companies communicate with guests. In response, the Open Data Tourism Alliance (ODTA) is expanding its organisational structure to meet rising expectations from the industry and travellers alike.

Expanding semantic standards for a digital tourism ecosystem

Founded in 2023, the ODTA has developed 24 schema.org-based Domain Specifications that provide a shared semantic framework for tourism-related data. These specifications enable the structured description of key tourism content—from infrastructure, attractions and points of interest to events, certifications, natural areas, hiking routes and sports facilities.

When combined with new technological standards such as RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and MCP (Model Context Protocol), these semantic models allow for faster, more accurate data retrieval and more precise matching of tourism offerings to specific audiences.

To strengthen its role across Europe, the ODTA is intensifying communication among members and encouraging broader participation. The goal is to raise awareness of the value of open, structured data models among tourism organisations, increase the visibility of the alliance and attract additional partners.

“Visibility begins with structured data”—GNTB CEO Petra Hedorfer

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), emphasises the central role of structured data in the digital travel landscape. She notes that visibility increasingly depends on search engines, AI-driven discovery and third-party applications. Schema.org-based open data ensures that tourism content can be found, interpreted correctly and used securely across sectors and organisations at the European level.

She highlights the GNTB Knowledge Graph—developed with regional tourism boards, the Magic Cities, the German Convention Bureau and the RDA International Coach Tourism Federation—as an example of successful national collaboration and a key building block for the European ODTA project. It strengthens interoperability and represents a milestone in tourism’s digital transformation.

Context: Why tourism needs cross-border data standards

Reliable, cross-border data standards are already essential for the visibility of tourism offerings in search engines and AI-powered platforms used by global travel companies. As innovations such as AI voice assistants and LLM-based services spread, and as customer expectations continue to rise, the demand for consistent data quality and system-wide availability grows as well.

Within the ODTA, partners have adopted schema.org as their shared standard language. Because schema.org’s global focus leaves gaps in tourism-specific representation, the alliance is developing extended Domain Specifications to create a coherent, semantic foundation for describing tourism content across Europe.