Experts Warn of Cyberattacks on Tourism Sector as AI Advances

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Cybersecurity has become a necessity for every company and individual as digital threats multiply, and the tourism industry is no exception, said Carlos Basulto, a member of the organizing committee of the Cybersecurity Forum, a free event scheduled for Nov. 4.

“With artificial intelligence, we are obviously more connected; there are many more opportunities, but also more threats,” Basulto said. “It is no longer the typical hacker who knew a little about information and slipped into a database; it goes much further than that. There is also the issue of shared responsibility, which we will address at length. It is not only technology departments that deal with cybersecurity; today it has to be an issue in which all of us take part.”

Basulto said cybercriminals are chasing quick returns by targeting luxury hotels, vacation clubs and cruise lines. He warned that fraud through cloned websites and fake domains aims to deceive tourists and damage the reputation of brands in the sector.

To reduce those risks, companies carry out daily cyber patrols and invest in monitoring systems, and they work with cyber police to take down fraudulent sites. Even so, Basulto said, surveillance must be constant.

He also argued that cybersecurity should be treated as a business strategy at the highest levels of management, because an incident does more than cause financial losses — it can also destroy market confidence.

“We also have to protect information and understand the effects of not taking care of it, especially the reputation we can lose and what a security leak costs us,” he said. “This can affect our reputation and, obviously, market confidence in our tourism products and in the products of vacation clubs.”

The forum is intended to train the industry and share protection tools. It will be held at the Iberostar Cancún hotel on Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with international experts and executives from the sector taking part. Attendance is free but requires prior registration through cibersegudadacluvaq.com.mx.