Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing tourism from a predominantly information-driven activity into an intelligent, predictive and increasingly adaptive ecosystem. This conceptual paper examines how AI can function as the cognitive “brain” of smart tourism destinations in India. Building on smart tourism, smart destination, destination management and technology-acceptance literature, the paper develops a destination-level theoretical framework in which AI integrates heterogeneous data, generates predictions and recommendations, supports real-time decision-making, and coordinates stakeholders across the tourism ecosystem. The framework distinguishes six AI capability domains—predictive analytics, generative AI and conversational interfaces, computer vision, recommendation systems, digital twins/simulation, and intelligent automation—and links them to six destination outcomes: personalized visitor experience, operational efficiency, sustainability and carrying-capacity management, resilience, inclusive local value creation, and evidence-based governance. India provides a particularly relevant context because of the scale and diversity of its domestic and international tourism, rapid digital transformation, expanding national AI infrastructure, and the need to manage highly varied cultural, religious, urban, rural and nature-based destinations. The paper uses current official tourism statistics only as contextual evidence; no primary data or statistical hypothesis testing is undertaken. Seven theoretical propositions are developed and boundary conditions—including data quality, digital inclusion, governance capacity, trust, privacy, ethics, skills and interoperability—are identified. The paper argues that the strategic value of AI lies not in replacing human destination managers but in augmenting collective intelligence and enabling destinations to sense, predict, learn and adapt. The proposed framework provides a foundation for future empirical testing and offers implications for Destination Management Organizations, tourism businesses, policymakers and technology developers seeking to build responsible next-generation smart destinations in India.