Purpose: This study aims to provide a critical reflection of the application of image recognition techniques in visual information mining in hospitality and tourism. Design/methodology/approach: This study begins by reviewing the progress of image recognition and advantages of convolutional neural network-based image recognition models. Next, this study explains and exemplifies the mechanisms and functions of two relevant image recognition applications: object recognition and facial recognition. This study concludes by providing theoretical and practical implications and potential directions for future research. Findings: After this study presents different potential applications and compares the use of image recognition with traditional manual methods, the main findings of this critical reflection revolve around the feasibility of the described techniques. Practical implications: Knowledge on how to extract valuable visual information from large-scale user-generated photos to infer the online behavior of consumers and service providers and its influence on purchase decisions and firm performance is crucial to business practices in hospitality and tourism. Originality/value: Visual information plays a crucial role in online travel agencies and peer-to-peer accommodation platforms from the side of sellers and buyers. However, extant studies relied heavily on traditional manual identification with small samples and subjective judgment. With the development of deep learning and computer vision techniques, current studies were able to extract various types of visual information from large-scale datasets with high accuracy and efficiency. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to offer an outlook of image recognition techniques for mining visual information in hospitality and tourism.