What if your holiday itinerary led you to hot springs that don’t exist? That’s exactly what happened to several tourists after an online travel site’s artificial intelligence (AI) system misled visitors to non-existent destinations in Tasmania, causing confusion and a flurry of calls to local businesses and authorities. 

The saga began when visitors, mostly from mainland Australia, arrived in Weldborough, a small village in north-east Tasmania, searching for “Weldborough Hot Springs” after seeing the name and photos on the Tasmania Tours website. But instead of warm mineral pools tucked into a forest retreat, they found the cold Weld River and no hot springs at all.

ABC News reported that local pub owner Kristy Probert of the Weldborough Hotel quickly became an unexpected guide for the confused travellers, fielding daily enquiries from people searching for the phantom springs. “We’ve been getting calls every day asking for directions. The Weld River is freezing cold, definitely not a hot spring,” she told ABC Radio Hobart. 

So what went wrong? The travel site run by Australian Tours and Cruises had been using AI-generated content and images to create eye-catching articles about Tasmanian attractions. One such article listed the “7 Best Hot Springs Tasmania Experiences for 2026,” complete with scenic images and descriptions of secluded thermal pools in Weldborough, Liawenee and Savage River,  none of which actually exist. 

Company owner Scott Hennessy told ABC News the AI content “has messed up completely,” producing text and visuals that were published without proper fact-checking while he was out of the country. All of the suspect AI posts have since been taken down for review. 

The error underscores a key challenge with AI: it can generate plausible-sounding but fabricated content, often called a “hallucination” if systems are not properly supervised by humans. Destination Southern Tasmania’s Anne Hardy said travel recommendations created or enhanced by AI need careful checking because automated tools can produce “completely inaccurate” details on locations and experiences. 

While Weldborough’s hot springs may be imaginary, the unintended result has been very real for local businesses. Probert said the flood of enquiries has boosted interest in the hotel, with some visitors choosing to stay nearby while they explore other genuine attractions in the region. 

Other established hot springs, such as Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs in southern Tasmania, are real and continue to draw visitors, but travellers are being urged to verify destination information before assuming a listing is accurate. Australian Tours and Cruises said its booking services remain legitimate and blamed the listing errors solely on automated content that was not properly vetted.