The Digital Transformation of Hotel Services: Employees' Perceptions on the Reconfiguration of Operational

The hospitality industry is undergoing significant digitalization and transformation. Despite profound changes in consumer behaviors, research seeking to understand their intention to accept new technologies has remained scant, especially in the context of developing markets. This study conducted a survey with 401 travelers in Vietnam to determine the factors that contribute to the intention to book automated services in hotels. We employ the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to develop the relationship among the proposed constructs. The findings show that the intention to use automated services drives the intention to book an automated services hotel, and that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived usefulness influence the intention to use automated services. Additionally, the study reveals that perceived risk does not significantly influence the travelers’ intention to use automated services. The study addresses theoretical and managerial implications as well as asserts limitations for future directions. It is believed that the findings will assist hotel managers to sharpen their marketing strategies to keep up with digital transformation in industrial revolution 4.0.

The hospitality sector is a key contributor to the global economy. In recent years, the extensive integration of new technologies within this sector has significantly transformed how services are provided and experienced. This paper examines various advanced technologies currently utilized in the hotel industry and their impact on enhancing guest experiences while altering the service delivery framework. Additionally, we anticipate potential future services in hotels as the Internet of Things (IoT) technology continues to evolve. We also address essential challenges that must be tackled to implement a sustainable and future-ready solution for the hospitality sector. Keywords: IoT, Hotel Industry, Digital Transformation, Automation

The article, based on various sources, interprets methods for assessing the quality of hotel services. It determines that methods for assessing the constituent elements of service quality are based on the result and process of the service provision and identification of the quality characteristics of the service related to the conditions of service. The article systematizes the key parameters used to calculate the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), and also conducts a correlation and regression analysis of the relationship between the total income of hotels and hotel-type enterprises in the Republic of Azerbaijan and wages paid to employees. Keywords: customer satisfaction, index, hotel, model, regression analysis, correlation, regression, digital transformation

The hotel business is one of the most vulnerable sectors of the economy, as its operations directly depend on macroeconomic stability, tourist demand, and global crises. Between 2022 and 2025, the hospitality industry faced significant challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, military conflicts in Ukraine, changes in consumer preferences, and digital transformation. Under these circumstances, effective crisis management has become a key factor determining the ability of hotel enterprises to adapt to a changing environment, minimize losses, and maintain competitiveness. This article examines crisis management strategies in the hotel industry under market turbulence and uncertainty. It analyzes the main factors influencing the operation of the hotel sector during crises, including economic and social risks, shifts in tourist flows, rising operational costs, the need for innovative technologies, and changes in business models. The study assesses the effectiveness of management decisions to ensure enterprises' sustainable development in challenging economic conditions. The research identifies key approaches to crisis management, including the development of adaptive pricing strategies, service diversification, integration of digital technologies, improvement of personalized customer service, cost optimization, and alternative channels for hotel service distribution. Particular attention is paid to mechanisms for business process digitalization, customer service automation, the implementation of loyalty programs, and marketing management tools to increase room occupancy rates. The findings indicate that effective crisis management requires a comprehensive approach that includes short-term liquidity support measures and long-term strategic decisions to build a flexible business model, adapt to changing market conditions, and create new growth opportunities. Hotel industry enterprises and government agencies can use the scientific and practical recommendations presented in the article to develop effective policies to support the hospitality sector during crises. The results obtained can be valuable for practical application by hotel enterprise managers, market analysts, and researchers focusing on sustainable tourism and hospitality industry development. Future studies may focus on evaluating the effectiveness of implemented strategies in different hotel business segments, developing innovative business models to enhance profitability and resilience, and exploring opportunities for international cooperation to overcome the consequences of global crises.

Internet platforms and self-media have become vital online communities for promoting positive reputations for hotels. Previous studies have primarily focused on enhancing positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) through improvements in hotel infrastructure and staff services. As hotels deepen their digital transformation, the application of various artificial intelligence technologies in hotel service encounters significantly impacts the service experience. This study explores the effects of voice assistant (VA) attributes on the online reputation of hotels. Specifically, it examines how the attributes of VAs (anytime connectivity, information association, and interactivity) influence positive customer evaluations in hotels. Utilizing a questionnaire survey method, we collected 529 valid questionnaires offline and employed structural equation modeling along with the PROCESS plugin in SPSS to conduct path analysis, as well as mediation and moderation effect analyses. The results indicate that perceived value and the existence of human–AI rapport mediate the impact of VA attributes on positive eWOM, although the direct effect of some attributes (information association) was not supported. Furthermore, anytime connectivity enhances the influence on human–AI rapport through social presence, while privacy concerns negatively affect the relationship between perceived value and intentions to engage in eWOM. These insights are critical for hotels seeking to maximize the benefits of digital transformation.

ABSTRACTThe paper examines personalization‐supporting technologies (PST) in hotel service, differentiating between high‐touch (personal) and high‐tech (digital) technologies. It reveals that in the sampled hotel industry, high‐touch technologies are the preferred choice. Digital transformation reached all industries and keeping up with the technological advancements in the ever‐changing hotel industry is critical in enhancing guest experiences. Research on technology‐mediated personalization, focusing on customer interactions and service offerings through ICT, highlighted the difference between personalization by service representatives and ICT and proposed a potential connection between the two. By considering and building on the high‐touch, high‐tech scale, this study explores the technological readiness of hotels in providing and delivering personalized services to meet individual guest needs. The development of measurement systems to assess the level of service personalization has been a research focus, but evaluating personalization through the service provider's perspective specifically—a company's capabilities and willingness to provide services, rather than from the guest's or employee's perspective—proposes greater challenges, as service quality is inherently subjective to the receiver. Furthermore, measuring the capability to deliver personalized services across the entire customer journey, rather than focusing on isolated aspects of guest interactions, remains underexplored. Given the industry's peculiarities, it is impossible to have human‐only encounter in the age of digitalization; however, the human aspect cannot be completely taken out from the guest journey. Technology supports personalization in the service encounter points in waring degree. The research investigates the integration of technology and hotel service, focusing on personalization‐supporting technology (PST) in hotel services, aiming to bridge the gap between high‐touch human interactions and high‐tech solutions, as the entire guest journey cannot be personalized without human employee encounters. Drawing from existing literature and employing rigorous scale development procedures, a comprehensive measurement tool for PST levels in hotel services was developed and validated. Through a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including the collection of indicators from literature, 21 expert interviews, a set of 26 indicators was identified to measure the level of PST in hotel services. Using a novel data‐driven approach (bi‐clustering), the study differentiates leagues of hotels based on their technological readiness to provide personalized services. Simultaneously, the data‐driven approach differentiates groups of the PST indicators, ranging from high‐touch to high‐tech, into leagues based on how well hotels implement them. The analysis identified areas of strength and weakness within the industry, highlighting the prevalence of high‐touch technologies in enhancing guest experiences. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of strategic planning and data utilization in implementing PSTs. Overall, the studies' academic contribution is that it proposes a novel conceptual framework for measuring technology in service personalization in hotels through the service providers perspective, addressing gaps in existing research. Additionally, it incorporates advanced clustering algorithms, offering a fresh perspective on grouping methodologies. This research provides a deeper understanding of technology readiness in delivering personalized services in the hotel sector and shows where growth opportunities are. It introduces a new approach analyzing the current use of ICT in service and demonstrates that high‐touch is more prevalent than high‐tech solutions.

On the post-pandemic recovery green economy track, especially in the hospitality and tourism industry, businesses must accelerate digital transformation and enter the race to increase customer experience. Improving customer experience is critical, and understanding customers’ emotions and needs after using hotel services is crucial. This is why businesses increasingly rely on online customer reviews on booking sites to gain insight into what their customers seek. By understanding their needs and experiences, hotel managers can provide services that meet customer expectations and improve overall service quality. Although online review analysis is meaningful for hotel managers because of its practicality in business operations, a specific model, method, or tool is needed to explore customer emotions. This study proposes a method to analyze customers’ online reviews of Vietnamese hotel services. With a Data set of 20,551 reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the study examines customers’ perceptions of Vietnamese hotel services overall and aspects of hotel services by combining language rules of natural language and inferential statistics. The key findings indicate that customers are most satisfied with the “place” aspect of hotels, with a satisfaction rate of 78%, while the “room” service aspect has the lowest satisfaction rate at 61.3%. These results have recommended that hotel managers in Vietnam prioritize understanding customers’ sentiments and opinions to improve service quality in aspects where satisfaction rates are lower.

The hotel industry is undergoing a profound transformation due to the integration of technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), into service operations. The pattern of service delivery, which was previously predicated on human interaction, has been replaced by digital interaction due to this transformation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considered one of the preferred places for the tourist to visit. KSA hotels are continuously working on enhancing their tourist experience since they contribute greatly to the KSA economy. The main purpose of this research is to examine how AI tools integration can improve KSA tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty level. The research was conducted on Riyadh, Madinah, and Mecca hotels that have implemented AI chatbots, AI personalised services, and AI fraud detection systems. Satisfaction level was determined through quantitative analysis and data was collected from 300 respondents. The quantitative results show that AI tools integration enhance tourist satisfaction levels. It was determined by seeing the significance values of AI chatbots, AI personalised services, and AI fraud detection systems which are less than 0.05. Similarly, the qualitative analysis was performed through the interviews conducted with 9 tourists. The interview answers show that AI tools integration enhances the tourist loyalty level. Overall, research suggested that knowing the impact of AI on the satisfaction and loyalty of tourists could potentially result in the implementation of AI-driven services in hotels, thereby potentially enhancing the preferences of tourists. Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Loyalty, Artificial Intelligence, Chat Bot, Personalisation Services, Tourists, Fraud Detection

The article is dedicated to exploring the unique aspects and primary trends in the digital transformation of hotel and restaurant services. It has been demonstrated that the increasing competition, the drive for operational efficiency, and the enhancement of customer service quality are key drivers for the adoption of digital technologies in the hotel and restaurant industry. Understanding and meeting evolving consumer expectations, such as the preference for online ordering, swift transaction processing, and personalized service, is also crucial in this digital shift. It has been established that under the influence of digitalization processes in all spheres of life, modern restaurants are actively implementing digital technologies, which allow the automation and optimization of most operational processes. Despite the growth of digital activity, domestic restaurants have yet to achieve the same pace of digitalization as other industries or similar enterprises in specific global contexts. This is evidenced by the insufficiently high share of electronic sales (about 12%) and the low implementation of BIG DATA technologies (8.9%) in the management and analytics of hotel and restaurant businesses. Research has revealed that several digitalization tools are being rapidly integrated into restaurant services, including digital marketing, the development of digital food delivery platforms (FoodTech), automated management systems, and interactive technologies. The digital transformation of business processes in food service establishments not only enables swift adaptation to market changes but also significantly enhances the competitiveness of the restaurant business. It is argued that the effectiveness of hotel and restaurant service digitalization processes depends on the choice of the most optimal balance between software tools and digital instruments and the authentic characteristics of each restaurant, the target customer base, their tastes and preferences, and the image strategy of positioning in the food service market. Keywords: digitalization, digital tools, hotel and restaurant business, automated management systems, digital transformation of hotel and restaurant services, digital marketing.

As digital transformation accelerates, Online travel services have become the mainstream way for modern consumers to choose travel products and services. China's online travel services market is expanding rapidly, as China's leading online service platform, Meituan's hotel and travel service sector has performed outstandingly in the industry, but at the same time it faces fierce market competition and rapidly changing consumer demands. Therefore, this study uses Porter's Five Forces Model analysis tool, taking Meituan's hotel and travel sector as the research object, this paper analyzes Meituan's current advantages and existing competitive threats from five aspects, including the bar-gaining power of suppliers and customers, competition within the industry, and the threat of new entrants and substitute products. Finally, based on the competitive environment of the online travel service market and Meituan's current competitive disadvantages, corresponding optimization measures and suggestions are proposed to provide support for Meituan's strategic decision-making in order to maintain and enhance Meituan's market position.

This paper examines the advancement of hotel management systems in China, propelled by technical innovations, sustainability efforts, and changing consumer demands. The researcher intends to investigate the effect of digital technology on operational efficiency and visitor satisfaction in hotel management as well as to investigate the relationship between staff well-being and hotel service quality. Employing a systematic literature review methodology, this study examines 101 peer-reviewed articles from 2020 to 2024, predominantly sourced from Scopus, concentrating on hotel management systems, technology adoption, sustainability practices, and service quality in China’s hotels. The research delineates five essential management systems that enhance hotel quality: The establishment of effective hotel management systems, the promotion of employee well-being, the maintenance of energy efficiency and sustainability, the implementation of digital transformation, and the optimization of overbooking management. The results offer practical suggestions for hotels to enhance operational strategies, for the government to endorse digitalization and sustainability policies, and for future research to investigate AI-driven guest experiences, the effects of sustainability initiatives, and digital innovations in the hospitality sector.

The article is devoted to defining the transformations of the tourism industry under the influence of the digitalization of socio-economic relations. The tourism industry is one of those industries that have proven to be the most sensitive to digital transformation. Digital technologies affect all aspects of tourism activities - from designing creating a chain of tourist product- to forming a hotel rating in the digital space. In this context, changes in the concept of tourism activity in the context of the formation of a digital economy require the development of an appropriate scientific and methodological base. The study determined the existence of a relationship between indicators of the level of digitalization and the state of tourism development in the country. The level of digitalization of the country is proposed to be assessed by the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR). An indicator reflecting the state of tourism development in a country is the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI). The panel sample of the study covers 63 countries in 2019. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the further development of tourism in the context of the formation of the digital economy is impossible without focusing on the features of the introduction of digital technologies in the tourism industry. The main directions of digitalization of the tourism industry have been identified, such as the introduction of booking systems for hotel and transport services, the spread of augmented reality technologies, the development of social networks and tourist Internet resources and communication channels, etc., as well as the problems that it causes. A matrix of SWOT analysis of the development of the tourism sector of Ukraine in the digital economy is proposed. Applying an approach to identifying opportunities and threats, strengths and weaknesses in the development of the domestic tourism sector in the digital economy will allow tourism entities to implement a balanced development strategy. Key words: tourism, tourism industry, tourism product, digital economy, digitalization, digital technologies.

The permeability of all spheres of both economic activity and human life with digital technologies encourages the search for new marketing ideas necessary for the implementation of the product (goods, works and services). Today's consumer has become more demanding both to the product itself and to the ways of presenting it. Immersive technologies are becoming one of the tools that contribute to the formation of competitive advantages, especially the organization of business in the field of entertainment, as one of the areas of additional income in the field of hotel and restaurant services and marketing activities of enterprises. Digital transformation leads to the search for new initiatives that will be a tool to meet customer needs and a way to reach wider market segments. The process of digitalization must first be integrated into the economy of the whole state and the enterprise as a whole, and in all processes of production of goods, works and services. Digital-transformation of domestic enterprises will help to obtain additional competitive advantages both in the domestic market and in the international market. The formation of competitive advantages is associated not only with the maximum involvement of digital technologies in business. It is important to choose such technologies that will be most effective in the implementation of a particular type of enterprise, under certain conditions and in a particular environment. The expediency of using immersive technologies as a marketing tool is undeniable. However, in addition to tools, immersive technologies are important as a means of education, a separate milestone in the field of entertainment, a means of psychological influence and more. That is, the impact of this tool on the level of competitiveness of the enterprise in the environment of the demanding consumer is manifested: in the form of reducing the cost of attracting the client; active covert promotion through their use; improving the quality of the presented product (goods, works, services); ensuring the elasticity of the enterprise to the needs and requirements of consumers; the transition of the enterprise to an innovative type of development and active digitalization.

Abstract. Introduction. The article is devoted to an overview of the most relevant trends in the development of digital technologies and analysis of their potential impact on the hospitality sector (HORECA). Purpose. As a result of the analytical and applied research, the five most significant trends were identified and the benefits they provide were highlighted. Agency interfaces to reduce the cost of communicating with customers and expand their user experience. Blockchain offers opportunities to significantly improve the quality and transparency of logistics and procurement. IoT and �smart cities� are changing the overall business environment. Social robots and other cyberphysical systems make it possible to automate the basic work processes of hotels and restaurants. Both the advantages of using innovative technologies by Ukrainian companies and the main obstacles and side effects of their implementation are analyzed. Results. It was concluded that benefiting from promising technological trends is possible only with the transition from the digitalization of individual tasks to the digital transformation of the hospitality. Digital technologies continue to be the main engine for the development of post-industrial society. With all the relative simplicity of the main content of hotel and restaurant services, the hospitality industry, like many other industries, is influenced by a number of technological trends. Conclusions. Summarizing the role of already used and promising digital technologies, they can be described as a qualitative transition from the digitalization of individual business tasks and processes to the digital transformation of the entire business, value chain and the very nature of labor. This means that successful promote digitalization of HORECA enterprises, hoping to benefit from the use of advanced technologies, should not only invest in their acquisition and implementation, but above all develop a concept and business model that could integrate many different digital solutions, link them not only with workflows, but also with the product itself, creating value for the consumer, as well as accordingly change the place and functions of the company's staff.

The era of digital transformation has sparked innovations in product and service marketing strategies in various sectors, one of which is the tourism sector. In the hospitality industry context, product marketing using website-based digital media allows consumers as hotel guests to review the products and services received. The Tripadvisor website is a digital marketing platform that provides review features for app users, especially consumers, to give ratings and reviews. This study aims to analyze the quality of hotel services using the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) framework based on the results of the classification of hotel guest sentiment data using the Naïve Bayes Classifier (NBC) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm by the stages of the Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM). The CRISP-DM framework consists of six stages, namely: business understanding stage, data understanding stage, data preparation stage, modeling stage, evaluation stage, and deployment stage. The SERVQUAL framework consists of several dimensions: reliability dimension; responsiveness; assurance; empathy; tangibles. The review data that will be processed is the consumer review data of The Oberoi Beach Resort Lombok; Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort; Sudamala Resort Sengiggi; Holiday Resort Lombok; Aston Sunset Beach Resort. The results of this study show that the SVM algorithm performs better than NBC, where the accuracy value is 98.57%, the precision value is 100%, the recall value is 97.14%, and the f-measure value is 98.54%. The AUC value is 100%, and the t-Test value is 98.6%. Unlike the case with the results of SVM's algorithm performance evaluation without using the SMOTE Upgrading Operator, where the accuracy value is 95.71%, the precision value is 95.71%, the recall value is 100%, and the f-measure value is 97.81%. In addition, the AUC value is 91.1%, and the t-Test value is 95.7%.