The adoption of artificial intelligence and robotics in the hotel industry: prospects and challenges

The growth of technology has resulted in the use of state-of-the-art systems such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robot-based applications and services in the hotel industry. Recently, there has been some discussion on the adoption of such technologies and their impact on hotels’ operational costs as well as the quality of service to customers. Considering the importance of these new technologies, this paper investigates the trend related to the adoption of AI and robotics in the hotel industry. For this purpose, we interviewed senior hotel asset managers using an in-depth case study method. The context is Dubai-based hotels as Dubai is already established as one of the premier smart cities of the world (Khan et al., 2017). The TOE framework was used, and three domains were investigated: technology, organization, and environment to expose the underlying factors effecting AI adoption. The findings expose the factors that influence the adoption of AI and robotics in hotels. This study is one of early attempts to investigate the full spectrum of AI in relation to the hotel industry while detailing how its adoption could be effectuated.