Incident 1636: Purportedly AI-Generated Travel Information Reportedly Misled Tourists into Seeking Nonexistent 'Sacred Canyon of Humantay' in Peru

Description: Two tourists in Peru reportedly relied on AI-generated travel information describing a nonexistent destination called the "Sacred Canyon of Humantay." One tourist had paid nearly $160 to reach a rural road near Mollepata without a guide or actual destination. Trek operator Miguel Ángel Góngora Meza intervened after seeing the purportedly AI-generated itinerary and warned that such misinformation could expose travelers to serious risks in high-altitude Andean terrain.

Editor Notes: The exact incident date is unknown. Reporting suggests the event occurred in late September 2025; 09/29/2025 is used as the earliest documented report-date fallback. The incident ID was created 08/13/2026.

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Alleged: OpenAI , Large language model developers and Chatbot developers developed an AI system deployed by Travelers , Tourists seeking the supposed Sacred Canyon of Humantay , tourists and Chatbot users, which harmed Travelers , tourists , Chatbot users , OpenAI users , Epistemic integrity and Consumers.

Alleged implicated AI systems: Large language models , ChatGPT and Chatbots

Incident Stats

Incident ID

1636

Report Count

Incident Date

2025-09-29

Editors

Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

The perils of letting AI plan your next trip

bbc.com

The dangers of letting AI organize your next trip.

www1.folha.uol.com.br

The number of tourists planning their trips with ChatGPT is growing, as are the destinations invented by AI.

computerhoy.20minutos.es

What NOT to Do on the Inca Trail: 16 Hard-Earned lessons from hiking to Machu Picchu for 30 years.

evolutiontreksperu.com

bbc.com · 2025

An imagined town in Peru, an Eiffel tower in Beijing: travellers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT for itinerary ideas -- and being sent to destinations that don't exist.

Miguel Angel Gongora Meza, founder and director of Evolution …

www1.folha.uol.com.br · 2025

AI Translated

BBC News Brazil The founder and director of Evolution Treks Peru, Miguel Ángel Gongora Meza, was preparing for a hike through the Andes in a town in the Peruvian countryside when he overheard a curious conversation.

Two unaccompanied touris…

computerhoy.20minutos.es · 2025

AI Translated

Have you ever used ChatGPT to plan your vacation? Chances are you have, and it's also possible that artificial intelligence has suggested a supposedly touristy spot that isn't... and might not even exist! Believe it or not, this happens mor…

evolutiontreksperu.com · 2026

Mistake #10: Trusting Only AI or Random Online Itineraries

These days, people arrive with perfect PDFs and screenshots created by tools that have never gasped for air at 4,000 meters or checked a weather forecast in Quechua. Information is…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.

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