Artificial intelligence enabled robots for stay experience in the hospitality industry in a smart city
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-10-2021-0621 |
| Published date | 19 August 2022 |
| Date | 19 August 2022 |
| Pages | 2331-2350 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Shivam Gupta,Sachin Modgil,Choong-Ki Lee,Minsook Cho,Yaena Park |
Artificial intelligence enabled
robots for stay experience in the
hospitality industry in a smart city
Shivam Gupta
Department of Information Systems, Supply Chain Management and Decision
Support, NEOMA Business School, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France
Sachin Modgil
Department of Operations Management,
International Management Institute–Kolkata, Kolkata, India
Choong-Ki Lee and Minsook Cho
College of Hotel and Tourism Management, Kyung Hee University,
Seoul, Republic of Korea, and
Yaena Park
Smart Tourism Education Platform, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Abstract
Purpose –The hospitality industry has witnessed numerous changes to enhance the stay experience of
guests. To offer a memorable stay experience, the industry has started deploying intelligent robots. Therefore,
this case study aims to examine and explore artificial intelligence (AI) enabled robots in hospitality industry in
order to enhance guest experience in a smart city.
Design/methodology/approach –Semistructured interviews have been conducted at Novotel Ambassador
Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and Residences, Seoul, South Korea, to understand the stay experience of guests
regarding services offered by AI enabled robots. The authors have selected employees for interviews since
employees listen and witness the guest experience directly. Out of 214 employees in the hotel with varied
experience and background, 26 interviews are conducted.
Findings –Through a systematic approach of coding, the authors have identified that deploying AI enabled
robots facilitates the automation,information gathering, personalization and seamless service in the hospitality
industry of a smart city. Further, with a back-and-forth mapping mechanism based on epistemological
principles, the authors made four propositions that lead to the development of a research framework.
Research limitations/implications –The practicing managers of hospitality industry can employ AI
enabled robots within the scope of improving and automating the processes that can also offer increased
personalization to enhance the stay experience, which is expected in a smart city.
Originality/value –The study offers a unique contribution to literature, since it is a live case study, and the
information is from the practicing employeesof a well-known organization in a hospitality sector from a smart
city (Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and Residences, Seoul, South Korea).
Keywords Artificial intelligence enabled robots, Stay experience, Hospitality industry,
Organizing vision theory, Smart city
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Hotels are a key form of accommodation in hospitality and tourism sector. The relationship
between tourism and hotels is extremely close, since success of both is dependent on the other
(Medina-Mu~
noz and Garc
ıa-Falc
on, 2000). The accommodation experience at a hotel acts as a
base for the tourism industry and ensures the balancing act in tourism supply (Walls, 2013)
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
2331
The authors sincerely acknowledge the inputs shared by the Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun
Hotels and Residences in Seoul, South Korea to conduct this case study.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
Received 11 October 2021
Revised 13 March 2022
Accepted 25 July 2022
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 122 No. 10, 2022
pp. 2331-2350
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-10-2021-0621
and the expectations of guests rise, especially when a hotel is in a smart city (Koo et al., 2021).
The services offered by a hotel may vary from targeted tourist groups due to the aim of their
stay ranging from historical to healthcare to leisure (Han and Hwang, 2018). The tourist
experience can be viewed in five stages: prearrival, upon arrival, during stay, upon departure
and post departure (Sann and Lai, 2020;Sarkar et al., 2019). Out of these five phases, during
stay experience carries maximum weightage and can be helpful in developing better services
for other guests (Lee et al., 2021;Walls, 2013). Tourists seek value for money in terms of best
amenities and services provided during their stay and this costs the hotels much more in
terms of providing training to their staff, remembering their preferences and understanding
their concerns patiently (Du and Chou, 2020;Li et al., 2013). With the increasing cost of labor,
automated systems such as artificial intelligence (AI) enabled robots help hotels to offer better
services in terms of room service, bath essentials, bedding and linen requirements, etc. (Li
et al., 2019) This AI driven system of robots can help hotels to attend to their guests to enrich
their arrival experience and serve guests efficiently during their stay (Lee et al., 2021;Shin and
Jeong, 2020).
The hospitality industry increasingly prefers technology over human personnel for
routine tasks and is realigning their infrastructure to sharpen their vision and offer value to
its guests (Miranda et al., 2015). Due to the advent of technology, the adoption of automated
check-in in recent years presents an example of avoiding the queue at the front desk in hotels
(Tussyadiah, 2020). Many hotels are encouraging their guests to utilize the remote check-in
and check-out facility (Meli
an-Gonz
alez and Bulchand-Gidumal, 2016). When it comes to a
smart city, it becomes an obvious expectation of involving technology to offer memorable
stay experience to the guests. However, hotels in a smart city are challenged to deploy
technology to offer value in the stay experience of guests’right from check-in to check-out
and even post departure. Automation in hospitality is further fueled by robotics with
applications ranging from housekeeping to room services. Robots are equally as useful as
humans especially for repetitive tasks and even for personalized services (Li et al., 2019). The
hospitality industry has already witnessed automation in terms of occupancy sensors that
can detect the time a guest enters their room and the activation of air conditioning and power
(Antonio et al., 2019). Automation offers the opportunity for the hospitality industry to reduce
its costs and enhance its efficiency and revenue while remaining committed to offering
memorable stay experience (Chathoth, 2007). Furthermore, automation adoption can be
assessed, in terms of how much saving from each department is contributing to the total
revenue of a hospitality firm.
AI has been adopted by a few hotels around the world to provide a unique and memorable
guest experience. The features of AI can help the hotels to automate the room service to make
wakeup calls, open the curtains, and turn on the television to a preferred news channel.
Consider an example of AI from Ain Rotana Hotel in United Arab Emirates (UAE) providing
their guests with a smart bed console that can control room temperature, lights, and air
conditioning (Rotana.com, 2020). The literature indicates the use of robots, Chatbots, mobile
applications, and other online platforms in the hospitality industry (Hlee, 2020;Tan et al.,
2017). For instance, Huang and Rust (2021), conceptualize the application of AI in services for
standardization (mechanical AI), personalization (thinking AI), relationalization (feeling AI),
where mechanical AI can help in achieving cost leadership, thinking AI can lead to master
quality leadership and feeling AI can help in establishing relationship leadership. In another
study conducted by Luo et al. (2021) about the service attributes of robot hotels, where they
adopted a sentiment analysis approach for reviewing customers’online feedback, where
under-performing service areas were identified, and they have found that the robotic services
have a positive influence on customer satisfaction. In another interesting study by Prentice
et al. (2020), they interviewed the guests who had just finished the check-out process from
hotels in Poland to examine how AI and employee service quality efforts influence guests’
IMDS
122,10
2332
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