How 5GA and AI are reshaping heritage tourism

For centuries, tourism has been about physical movement: travelling to a place, observing its monuments and experiencing its culture. Increasingly, however, destinations are discovering that the next phase of tourism growth will be driven as much by connectivity and artificial intelligence (AI) as by geography itself.

China’s Shaanxi province is emerging as one of the most ambitious examples of this trend. Home to Xi’an, the ancient capital of 13 dynasties, the Terracotta Warriors and one of China’s richest concentrations of cultural heritage, Shaanxi is deploying AI models, cloud infrastructure and 5G-Advanced (5GA) networks to transform how visitors discover, interact with and share cultural experiences.

The initiative offers insights extending far beyond China. As countries across the Gulf invest heavily in smart cities, digital tourism and AI-enabled visitor experiences, Shaanxi’s approach raises important questions about how technology can preserve heritage while simultaneously making it more accessible.

The underlying philosophy is simple: technology should amplify culture, not replace it.

Huawei executives describe AI as “a new engine for releasing growth in cultural industries” and explain that artificial intelligence is enabling centuries-old traditions to be reinterpreted through entirely new forms of engagement.

Their message reflects a broader shift taking place globally, where digital infrastructure is increasingly becoming an integral component of destination competitiveness.

Shaanxi’s digital cultural tourism programme centres around the BoGuan multimodal large language model, jointly developed by Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Group (SCG) and Huawei. BoGuan is described as the world’s first commercial multimodal foundation model dedicated specifically to cultural tourism and intangible heritage preservation.  

Unlike general-purpose AI systems, the model has been trained using specialised datasets covering cultural artefacts, historical archives, intangible heritage and tourism resources, enabling it to generate historically accurate cultural content and immersive experiences.  

According to Huawei representatives, more than 12 categories of cultural tourism datasets have already been developed, amounting to over 1.2PB (petabytes) of information. These datasets support applications ranging from AI-powered storytelling and digital reconstruction to visitor guidance and tourism demand forecasting.

“Artificial intelligence is not simply an additional technology layer,” said Huawei. “It provides a new way to reshape visitor experiences, revitalise cultural heritage and unlock new engines for industry growth.”

For cultural institutions worldwide, one of the greatest challenges is balancing preservation with accessibility. Shaanxi is attempting to address this dilemma through AI-generated experiences that allow visitors to interact with heritage in ways that were previously impossible.

Applications demonstrated in Xi’an include AI-powered photography, virtual reconstructions of historical settings, personalised digital guides and generative experiences that allow users to place themselves inside recreated historical environments. Visitors can produce immersive images inspired by Tang Dynasty aesthetics, interact with virtual historical characters and access contextual narratives tailored to individual interests.  

AI-powered travel assistants can also recommend itineraries, personalise routes and facilitate social interactions among travellers with similar interests.  

Huawei executives noted that general-purpose models frequently struggle with heritage applications because they do not possess the specialist understanding needed to reproduce historical customs, clothing traditions, local dialects or museum-grade cultural interpretation.