Digital Trust in the Hotel Industry – An International Customer/Supplier Perspective

Abstract

Digitalization in the hotel industry is one of the most critical factors. While the customer and the respective booking and rating systems are highly digitalized, the suppliers in the respective local environment are not. This shows a significant bias in digital hotel management. This creates a dichotomy between highly digitalized customer support and local offline expertise. New technologies are emerging quickly. The authors research an international comparison of the digital relationships of global customers and local suppliers of hotels in a supply chain approach. The basis is an international data sample of a global study on digital trust in the workplace from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the United States, and Europe. The research findings show that the customers of the hotel, restaurant, and tourism businesses have a high level of digital trust. The logistics service provider/services have gained the second-highest level of trust in digital services followed by retailers with stationary shops. The aim of this chapter is to study the digital relationships of global customers and local suppliers of hotel, restaurant, and tourism industry in a supply chain approach. It will be analyzed where the digital trust in the hotel supply chain needs to be improved.