Tourists planning trips using AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini risk ending up in places that don’t exist. In Peru, two travelers nearly risked their lives attempting to reach the non-existent “Sacred Humantay Canyon.”
Modern technology allows for travel planning with artificial intelligence, but experts warn that AI can generate fictional itineraries. Imaginary cities, monuments, and natural sites are appearing in the suggestions from ChatGPT and other systems, leading to real danger for tourists.
For example, the founder of the tour company Evolution Treks Peru, Miguel Angel Gongora Meza, reported that in a small Peruvian town, tourists were preparing to leave for the “Sacred Humantay Canyon”—a location that does not exist. Screenshots of the AI-generated route looked convincing, but the tourists paid nearly $160 for a trip to nowhere, risking their safety.
Gongora Meza warns that such errors can have serious consequences: “The name is a combination of two different places, unrelated to the description. The tourist ended up on a rural road without a guide and without a real destination—and this could have cost them their life.”
Experts advise travelers to verify AI-suggested routes through official sources and local guides, and to avoid traveling to remote areas without accompaniment to prevent dangerous situations.
