Digitalisation in the hospitality industry: motivations, effects and role of Covid-19

Abstract

Digitalisation is becoming an increasingly important aspect for business growth. In the hospitality industry, this wind of change is leading to a new form of tourism, known as e-tourism or smart tourism. The current knowledge about the digitalisation processes of hotel structures, their drivers and advantages, is however still limited. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating, through a case study, the level of digitalisation of hotel structures, the underlying motivations, the effects of the digitalisation processes and the role of Covid-19. The results show that the motivations are mainly connected to the desire to improve the quality of the hotel structures, to adapt to competitors and increase financial performance. Furthermore, they show that digitalisation has a series of positive effects related to the increase in revenues, reduction of costs and improvement of the corporate image. Finally, the results show that Covid-19 has significantly accelerated the digitalisation processes.