Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss how demographic changes in developed countries will continue to drive the tourism and hospitality industries to adopt automation in business operations.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is an analysis of the trends in human reproduction in the developed countries and a discussion of their implications for the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.FindingsThere are three major solutions to the demographic problem faced in developed countries and the replacement of human labour with automation is the most practical, immediate and has the fewest risks and negative externalities.Practical implicationsIndustry has to adapt to the new demographic reality and embrace automation of services, educate their customers and have policies to deal with the resistance expected by labour.Social implicationsSociety can expect that many of the tasks they commonly expect humans to be involved in will be done by machines and artificial intelligence in the near future, if demographic trends continue and massive immigration into developed countries is not a continuing phenomenon.Originality/valueThis links the relationship between demographic trends to the use of automation in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
Highlights
Demographic change is one of the constants in human society
We look into the current demographic challenge of the developed world and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the three policy responses, highlighting how the third solution, the embracing of further automation of service industries, seems to be the best of the three choices
We look into the severity of the current demographic trends in developed countries, we highlight the three solutions to the problem, concluding with how service automation will likely be the best solution but leave behind some serious externalities that policymakers will have to contend with
Summary
Demographic change is one of the constants in human society. Historically, some groups have squeezed out other groups or massive incursions of population have occurred into new regions of the earth. 263-270, Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2055-5911 JOURNAL OF TOURISM FUTURES PAGE 263 major component is the development of technologies that enable females to control the reproductive process as never before. There were other technological changes/ innovations that have increased the ability of humans to separate vaginal intercourse from procreation, including the IUD, the diaphragm and several other forms and delivery systems (such as contraceptive injections and patches) This was a technological revolution that enabled increased control of women over their reproduction.
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