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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 employees of a well-known organization in a hospitality sectorfrom 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
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
© 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
satisfaction and loyalty. The results indicate significant variance of overall service quality
due to both AI and employee service quality. Studies also investigate the experience and
smooth transactions from online to offline booking or employing blockchain for tourism
(Nam et al., 2021;Huang et al., 2020). Robots are mostly employed either in parallel or in
collaboration with employees in a hotel; however, existing studies do not consider the views
of hotel employees and their experiences regarding the assistance of robots in providing hotel
services ranging from reminding the guests to pick up their meal from onsite bars or
restaurants, schedule a spa service or room cleaning, etc (Shin and Jeong, 2020;Zhong et al.,
2021). Additionally, smart cities employ AI driven services right from public transport to
other public services such as parking systems. However, literature is scarce in examining the
role of AI enabled robots working in parallel to the employees in a smart city set-up. Hence,
this study considers the AI driven robot, developed by KT Corporation (Formerly known as
Korea Telecom), and employed at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and
Residences (Seoul, South Korea) in a smart city. The robot assists with room service, repair of
room devices, amenities required and any type of music a guest wants to listen to. With the
help of AI driven speaker systems in every room, the hotel is able to customize the services
and enhance guests’experience (Prnewswire.com, 2020). Since employees have been
witnessing robots providing services and working in parallel with them, it is critical to
consider their opinion about the robot services and how they see it benefitting a hotel. Hence,
this study intends to explore the following research question: What are co-workers’opinions
about AI enabled robots facilitating the guest experience in a smart city hotel? To answer this
research question, we have adopted a grounded theory approach of organizing vision, since it
helps the organizations to restructure their processes to bring innovativeness to the
workplace. To further conduct the study, we followed the approach of semistructured
interviews from working professionals from Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels
and Residences, Seoul, South Korea. We interviewed hotel employees, since they closely
witness the guest experience and occasionally instruct AI enabled robots. Current studies
indicate the guests’experiences with technology (Koo and Chang, 2021;Li et al., 2019;Meli
an-
Gonz
alez and Bulchand-Gidumal, 2016;Tussyadiah, 2020) and fails to highlight the views or
opinions of employees who are working alongside AI enabled robots. Addressing this gap,
our study offers detailed implications for hotel industry professionals and tourism literature
and suggests how technology can be partnered with employees to offer the best experience
during their stay.
The rest of this paper is presented in four sections, starting with a literature review
highlighting hospitality, AI and the organizing vision theory, which will be presented in the
second section. The research design adopted in this study is highlighted in section three.
Findings are presented in section four, whereas a discussion of the findings is presented in
section five.
2. Literature review
2.1 Hospitality industry
The hospitality industry belongs to the service industry and provides special events as well
as basic needs. The hospitality industry can be categorized in sectors like (1) accommodation,
(2) food and drinks and (3) travel and tourism (Tussyadiah, 2020). The accommodation sector
facilitates guests with a place to stay for a particular period (Du and Chou, 2020). Hence, this
sector is closely related to the tourism industry, where guests book hotels to stay in during
their holidays and trips. Additionally, the accommodation sector provides services to local
residents for short breaks or any other temporary accommodation requirements
(Tussyadiah and Pesonen, 2016). Hotel accommodation is the most obvious form that
caters to the overnight and long-term needs of guests (Nyaboro et al., 2020).
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
To make a comfortable stay for guests, smart hotels employ technology to provide diverse
services such as housekeeping, room service, gymnasium and amenities for eating and
drinking to offer value and unique experience to guests (Llach et al., 2016;Lu et al., 2015).
There are studies that have suggested employing robots in hotels to understand the guests’
satisfaction by analyzing their views which were posted online (Luo et al., 2021) or from the
guests who just checked-out from a hotel (Prentice et al., 2020). The expectation of guests rises
when they are already exposed to technologically advanced systems of a smart city that focus
on information sharing, operational efficiency and better quality of government/public
services. Therefore, guests expect seamless services and amenities to make their stay in a
smart-city more memorable. Most of the existing studies consider either the guests’view in
the form of feedback received at the time of checkout or view posted online; however, the
views of employees working in a smart environment are also critical and scarcely found in
literature. Hence, this develops a gap to conduct a study where the employees work with AI
enabled robots in the hopes of offering a great stay experience in the smart city hotel and
examine their views of said experience.
2.2 Artificial intelligence
AI represents the intelligence of machines and devices that can scan the background and
environment to make decisions and solve problems in business situations (Li et al., 2019). AI
in the hospitality industry refers to employing the robots and chatbots to deliver customized
services (Tussyadiah, 2020;Zhong et al., 2021). Hotels being one of the common avenues for
most of the guests, they are pressured to excel in care, support and services provided during
the stay (Llach et al., 2016;Lu et al., 2015). Therefore, hotels employ AI in the form of concierge
robots, voice-activated services and automatic data processing to offer a delightful
experience (Li et al., 2019;Shin and Jeong, 2020). AI enabled robots are something that
hotels are experimenting not only to minimize the human involvement, but also to smarten
the way guest services are delivered in order to enhance customer satisfaction (Lee et al., 2021;
Qiu et al., 2020). Ranging from guest choices to the smallest of requirements, AI powered
robots can offer minute and careful assistance (de Kervenoael et al., 2020;Jia et al., 2021). Many
hotels are trying their best for AI enabled robots to develop cognitive capabilities (Zhong
et al., 2021), but for the hotels present in smart cities it becomes an obvious choice due to
higher guest expectation and exposure of guests to a smart environment in the city. Hence, AI
is enabling the industry beyond the imagination and achieving breakthrough excellence for
hotels and great stay experience for guests.
2.3 Organizing vision theory
Organizing vision theory, coined by Swanson and Ramiller (1997), defines the formation of a
vision, by which structure and processes of information systems are designed (Miranda et al.,
2015). The thoughts and ideas about information system driven innovation are brought
together to organize the vision. Hence, organizing vision theory can be considered as an
institutional substitute to define theinnovation of information systems (Hitt and Brynjolfsson,
1997). The organizational decision in adopting an information system depends upon the
business environment and customer needs. The adequate information about the facts, trends
and customer behavior in the market derives the information system adoption in the
organizations. This information acts as a critical element of organizing vision (Grover, 1993;
Swanson and Ramiller, 2004). The organizing vision helps to (1) interpret the presence of
information systems to minimize the related uncertainties, (2) assist the information systems
by evolving the primary justification and (3) carry out entrepreneurial activities in the Grace of
information systems (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997). Researchers have been using
organizing vision since 1997 when it was first proposed by Swanson and Ramiller (1997).
IMDS
Extant literature indicates the interest of stakeholders towards driving information systems
based on innovation leads to investment in resources and capabilities to develop organizing
vision. Moreover, the emphasis on the innovation of information systems becomes critical in
the case of services offered in smart environments (in smart cities), where guests set several
expectations from a hotel and challenge them to employ technologies that can facilitate a
smooth, comfortable and great stay experience. AI enabled robots can be viewed as a part of
structure and processes that facilitate the innovation of information systems to offer a
memorable experience, hence organizing vision forms a theoretical foundation for this study.
Collectively, the literature review on the hospitality industry highlights a gap in literature,
where most of the studies have focused on customer views about the services experienced in a
hotel (Luo et al., 2021;Prentice et al., 2020) rather than investigating the employees/co-workers
of AI enabled robots and how they perceive the robot facilitates the stay experience. The
literature review on AI indicates the studies presenting a conceptual view of AI facilitating
cost, quality and relationship leadership (Huang and Rust, 2021) as well as the opinion of
employees who work alongside robots to provide services to guests. Additionally, the current
literature lacks in viewing AI enabled robots as a part of innovation in information systems
that can further help in designing the processes and structure of a hotel, hence organizing
vision theory is the right lens to conduct this study.
3. Research methods
3.1 Research design
This study employs a qualitative approach, since it has the potential to develop and extend a
theory; hence, detailed interviews are conducted from hotel industry professionals. This
study is based on epistemological guidelines and supported with the theoretical lens of
organizing vision. The seminal work conducted by Decrop (1999) indicates the importance of
case-based research in tourism management. Such research facilitates the development,
validation and extension of the theory. The themes, subthemes and propositions can be
viewed as a starting point in theory generation and extension. Therefore, this study adopted a
case-based approach to extract the propositions through semistructured interviews. As
displayed in Figure 1, we undertake a structured process in conducting this study. Since
hospitality professionals are enablers in providing delightful stay experience to customers, it
is appropriate to consider their opinion about employing robots in smart city-based hotels as
a way of improving the stay experience of guests.
The main aim of the study is to recognize and understand the role of AI enabled robots in
the stay experience of guests in a smart city set-up with the view of organizing vision. When
employing organizing vision theory, a semistructured questionnaire is prepared, and
interviews are conducted to extract key themes. The process of theme extraction helped us to
view the organizing vision in smooth stay experience with the help of AI enabled robots. After
developing, analyzing and coding multiple arrangements and arrays, we coded different
meaningful themes. Additionally, the study viewed the relationship among different
categories. The respondents were exclusively from the smart city hotel who have been
serving the guests and back-office employees who witnessed the role of AI enabled robots in
stay experience. To overcome the issue of biasness, which is common in qualitative studies, a
triangulation approach was adopted, where researchers, consultants and experts are
consulted along with reports from archived sources on AI enabled robots in the hotel
industry. Therefore, the rationality and reliability of the content is addressed through the
approach of triangulation. To support our findings, we have referred the report (Revfine.com,
2020) and two researchers working in AI technologies for smart city-based hotel industry.
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
3.2 Data collection
The high-end hotels make every possible effort to enhance the stay experience of their guests.
Therefore, this study considers a five-star hotel to share their thoughts and experiences of
employing AI supported robots for smart guest experience during their stay. This hotel is
known as Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and Residences, Seoul, South
Korea, whose employees, ranging from assistant officer to managers and general managers
are interviewed (Table 1). Out of a total of 214 employees working for the hotel, this study has
interviewed 26 employees from different departments who are involved in every possible
effort to offer a comfortable and memorable stay to guests and those who were directly
involved in employing the AI enabled robot. After 26 employees, the saturation in responses
was observed and therefore interviews were stopped at 26 respondents, being sufficient to
conduct a qualitative analysis (Guest et al., 2006). The flow of room service, semistructured
questions and organizational structure are presented in Appendix 1 (Figure A1), Appendix 2
and Appendix 3 (Figure A2), respectively.
4. Findings
For data analysis, the study adopted selective, open and axial coding techniques were used to
extract the insights from the interview data. This three-player coding approach helped us to
drive main themes and sub-themes. In the first stage, the raw content emerged from the
interviews were coded. In the second stage, open codes were developed to match
the organizing vision theory elements. At the end, we adopted selective coding to display
the observed mechanism, where the key role of AI enabled robots to create a memorable
experience for the guests during their hotel stay is central. Additionally, the study embedded
the axial codes with organizing vision theory via back-and-forth investigation, which further
improves the framework that indicates the elements of customer experience enabled by
AI robot.
Systematic coding Systematic coding Systematic coding
Literature input
Stage 1: Exploration
Literature outcome
Need for AI driven robots in hospitality
industry
Literature outcome
Relevance of organizing vision theor y
in AI driven robots for stay experience
Stage 2: Grounded theory
Stage 3: Confirmation
Literature outcome
Identification and conceptualization of
AI-based robots during stay of guests
Interview stages
Thematic analysis
Propositions &
framework
First batch of interviews
Total 7 interviews are conducted
Follow-up
interviews
Second batch of interviews
Total 10 interviews are conducted
Follow-up
interviews
Third batch of interviews
Total 9 interviews are conducted
Follow-up
interviews
Follow-up via
email for optional
engagement
Analysis process
1. Reduction of content
2. Classification of content
3. Inference and content
triangulation
Analysis process
1. Reduction of content
2. Classification of content
3. Inference and content
triangulation
Analysis process
1. Reduction of content
2. Classification of content
3. Inference and content
triangulation
Analysis process
1.
Apprehending the big pictureof data
2.
Identifying the contrasting views
3.
Charting final themes in AI enabled
robot for stay experience in hotels
4.
Consulted three scholars for scheme
of coding, plotting and propositions
Analysis process
1.
Apprehending the big picture of data
2.
Identifying the contrasting views
3.
Charting final themes in AI enabled
robot for stay experience in hotels
4.
Consulted three scholars for scheme
of coding, plotting and propositions
Analysis process
1.
Allocating the matching themes
2.
Verifying the emerging themes,
propositions, and framework
3.
The paper was reviewed by three key
respondents fromthe case hotel in
South Korea
Figure 1.
Research design of
the study
IMDS
Respondent
Your
age
group
Your
educational
qualification
Your organization/Institution
name
Your role in
company/
Institution
How long have
you been
working?
R1 31–40 Master’s degree Novotel Ambassador Seoul
Dongdaemun Hotels and
Residences, Seoul, South Korea
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R2 20–30 Associate degree Senior clerk/Senior
staff
3–5 years
R3 20–30 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R4 20–30 Master’s degree Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R5 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager 5–10 years
R6 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager More than
10 years
R7 41–50 Bachelor’s
degree
Department
manager/
Department head
More than
10 years
R8 20–30 Associate degree Staff/Assistant/
Officer
1–3 years
R9 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R10 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R11 41–50 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager More than
10 years
R12 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R13 41–50 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager More than
10 years
R14 20–30 Bachelor’s
degree
Staff/Assistant/
Officer
3–5 years
R15 20–30 Bachelor’s
degree
Staff/Assistant/
Officer
3–5 years
R16 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
5–10 years
R17 20–30 Bachelor’s
degree
Staff/Assistant/
Officer
3–5 years
R18 20–30 Bachelor’s
degree
Senior clerk/Senior
staff
3–5 years
R19 41–50 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager More than
10 years
R20 31–40 Master’s degree Staff/Assistant/
Officer
3–5 years
R21 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Assistant
manager/
Supervisor
More than
10 years
R22 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Assistant
manager/
Supervisor
5–10 years
R23 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Manager More than
10 years
R24 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Assistant
manager/
Supervisor
More than
10 years
R25 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Assistant
manager/
Supervisor
More than
10 years
R26 31–40 Bachelor’s
degree
Assistant
manager/
Supervisor
More than
10 years
Table 1.
Profile of respondents
from Novotel
Ambassador Seoul
Dongdaemun Hotels
and Residences, Seoul,
South Korea
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
4.1 Automation of monotonous jobs
The accommodation and hotel industry have witnessed an increase in guests from the last
two decades due to the rise of disposable income. Throughout the hotel industry, there are
common processes such as check-in, check-out and the assistance of guests to their room,
etc. This is also the case for a smart city and it takes a lot of time of the hotel staff (Sann and
Lai, 2020). This creates an opportunity for employing technology to perform routine and
monotonous tasks efficiently. The increasing expectation of guests frequently places a
burden on the front-desk for several enquiries related to room infrastructure and their
operations such as television and bathroom amenities. Additionally, the odd timing to seek
services such as need of towel in the middle of the night poses a burden to the hotel
administration. Building on this, firms need to organize their infrastructure to create and
provide a memorable stay experience by automating monotonous jobs, thus giving space
for staff to innovate related processes for guest experience. Table 2 indicates the open, axial
and selective codes under the theme of automation of monotonous jobs.
4.2 Information gathering
Digital technologies are known for creating the value and innovative ways in the tourism
industry through information management (Koo and Chang, 2021). The AI enabled robots are
helpful to gather data and understand the needs of guests without directly asking them
(Tussyadiah, 2020). Based on information gathered through robots, hotels can offer profile-
based services to its guests. The data collected during the entire stay experience of guests
through AI enabled robots can help to develop, improve and innovate the existing
information system. Based on the organizing vision theory, the information gathering
capability of AI robots facilitates the designing of processes and structures that lead to
information system innovation. Table 3 indicates the open, axial and selective codes under
the theme of information gathering.
4.3 Personalization
AI and robots have been trending for the last five years in the hotel industry. Robots are
considered as butlers that act as a hotel concierge. In a smart city, a good stay experience
involves the attention to detailed services and the enjoyment of guests during their stay.
Room service, recommendation for nearby famous and historical spots, instant messaging
and matching ambience to their profile are just a few of the aspects where guests look for
detailed services (Fuentes-Moraleda et al., 2020). The robots can work together with staff
interaction to offer detailed service to guests. For example, if a robot recognizes that a guest is
going to occupy a room this evening, then a room according to the guest’s previous
experience can be allocated and decorated. Additionally, the organization of dining and
laundry preferences can suitably be designed to create a memorable and personalized
experience during the stay at a hotel. Table 4 indicates the open, axial and selective codes
under the theme of personalization.
4.4 Seamless service
Every hotel wants their customers to have a positive and cheerful experience during their
stay, be it in smart city or in any other city. The hotel industry is increasingly adopting robots
in their operations to contribute to providing cheerful experience to its guests. The key
purpose of the robot technology is to free up the staff and save the time and cost of hotel
operations (Li et al., 2019). In the case of many guests staying at the hotel, it may sometimes be
difficult for staff to remember the requirements of each one unlike the AI enabled robots, since
IMDS
they are built on the AI technologies that can handle multiple requests with greater accuracy.
The vision of a hotel organization integrated with security and reliability of information helps
them provide the seamless service to its guests. Table 5 indicates the open, axial and selective
codes under the theme of seamless service.
Selective code Axial code Respondent profile Related open quote and code
Automation of
monotonous jobs
Check-in and
check-out
Department Manager
with more than 10 years’
experience
R7: The check-in and check-out are the
standard processes in every hotel. The
robots are employed to facilitate the guest
on the front desk screen to enter their data,
where the robot has the capability of
recognizing the guest’s voice and face. The
automated trolley is used as a porter to
move the luggage to the respective rooms.
(Open Code: AI enabled robots are capable
of voice and face recognition to complete
check-in and check-out)
Front desk
enquiries
Senior clerk with 4 years’
experience
R18: The music/room infrastructure
control using GiGA Genie (a doll-like
robot) added convenience and novelty. It
was good to be able to receive service,
which is exactly what I want without
having to call the front desk. In addition, I
can use the service without being self-
conscious and receive the service freely.
Additionally, if there are variables on the
hotel side or if there are several requests
from the same room, it will be a hassle for
customers to communicate again over the
phone. (Open Code: Use of AI enabled robot
for concierge services during stay in a hotel)
Wake-up call
service
Manager with more than
10 years’experience
R23: Currently, Novotel Dongdaemun
Hotel allows you to request room
amenities, wake-up calls and room service
through GiGA Genie. In the case of
Millennial, you can feel comfortable
because you are already familiar with non-
face-to-face services through applications
anytime and anywhere. (Open Code:
The non-face-to-face service like the wake-
up call can be automated through AI
enabled robot)
Night shift
service
Assistant with 3 years’
experience
R8: I think that AI robots will be able to
replace the limited night shift workers
whilst performing various tasks such as
customer service and providing prompt
feedback to customers in a smart
environment. I personally think that it will
be a new experience to stay in such a hotel
and be able to receive service more
comfortably without being self-conscious
(Open Code: Receiving 24/7 service without
being self-conscious at odd times like night
shift)
Table 2.
Themes and codes
identified under
“automation of
monotonous jobs”
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
4.5 AI robot for enhancing stay experience in hospitality industry
Guests spend a considerable amount of their stay expecting great experiences and services.
Technology is enhancing the degree of smartness in hotels (Koo and Chang, 2021), which
influence the stay experience of its guests. It becomes critical for hotels in a smart city to
deploy technology over staff interaction for mundane activities and tasks, which guests are
Selective code Axial code Respondent profile Related open quote and code
Information
gathering
Understanding the
requirement
Assistant staff with
5 years’experience
R15: Providing the customer service by
identifying the guest’s requirements and
preferences can leave a positive memory
of the guest’s experience. Getting a one-
stop service to visit the hotel is
convenient for customers, and they can
feel welcomed. If robots suggest another
service that the customer may want in the
future, the customer will use the
additional service. (Open Code: Robots
can gather the requirements of large
number of customers and process them)
Facial recognition Senior clerk with
10 years’experience
R4: If security and personal information
processing are guaranteed for data
collection, I think face recognition
programs are a necessary part of hotels
where unspecified individuals stay.
When I visit a foreign hotel, I am worried
about safety and security, so I think I will
choose the hotel where face recognition
programs are being used. (Open Code:
Choice of facial recognition-based system
for security view)
Creating the profile Manager with
10 years’experience
R6: I think the GiGA Genie service, which
recognizes the customer’s request
through voice or touch and provides the
service, was interesting. And the service
through AI robots can also be memorable
and help bring new experiences to
customers and do their profiling which
can then be used in future visits (Open
Code: Learning and developing customer
profiles to serve them better in existing and
future stays)
Recommendation Senior staff with more
than 10 years’
experience
R1: I think that we can request the hotel
services, which customers want more
conveniently from the robots and AI
robot can become more funny
conversation partners. For example, if a
businessperson sits by himself at the
hotel lounge, an AI robot can be a
companion to talk with. AI robot can
recommend related tourist spots
according to customer desires (Open
Code: AI robots can be a companion and
recommend according to customer
desires)
Table 3.
Themes and codes
identified under
“information
gathering”
IMDS
already exposed to in smart environments outside the hotel. Room reservation to front desk
operations can be conducted effectively by integrating independent and disconnected
processes towards a simplified workflow. Hence, smart city hotels are increasingly investing
in automating features to revive the structure and processes to perform repetitive tasks. In
the words of R3 (Senior staff with 10 years’experience), “People staying in the hotel would like
to use AI enabled robot to pick up the laundry, provide wake-up calls, and similar services. As far
I know, many hotels use the automatic wake-up call system already. I also have the experience of
receiving a wake-up call from an automated system and I found it to be convenient. Ordering or
reserving something (such as a taxi or spa, etc.) is done by robots easily. One thing a smart city
hotel needs to focus on is the people who are not familiar with AI robots or electric machines. In
Selective code Axial code Respondent profile Related open quote and code
Personalization Room service Senior clerk with
10 years’experience
R9: Food is one of the most basic elements of
human life and one of the most important
parts of modern society. If any AI robot
provided a detailed explanation such as food
ingredients or what it tastes like and
recommended service like the staff, more and
more people would be able to use it
conveniently. (Open Code: AI robots must
facilitate guests as staff do to get its acceptance
in room service)
Ambience Senior staff with
5 years’experience
R2: AI enabled robots can organize and
suggest the targeted customer merchandising
such as color, fragrance and arrangement of
tables, chairs and other infrastructure to
create personalized ambience in the hotel
rooms (Open Code: AI robots can help hotel
staff to change the arrangement and ambience
according to guest)
Instant
messaging
Senior staff with
10 years’experience
R16: I think that AI supported robots can be
efficient in communicating with the
development of modern technologies.
Through this efficient and effective
communication, robots can enhance the hotel
system productivity (Open Code: Instant
messaging about the status or requirements of
customers to hotel staff and from hotel to
customer can be facilitated through AI based
system)
Dining and
laundry
preferences
Assistant with
5 years’experience
R14: With use of AI, if function input is done
properly, the customer can receive service
without failure or delay. On the other hand, to
exceed guests’expectation, service must be
delivered with emotion and human touch. In
the place where I work, N-bot (AI Robot)
provides service in public areas like the lobby
and dining area. During family weeks and
Christmas season, the robot walks around and
provides information about property and
gives out candies to the children (Open Code:
Servicing guests in routine chores such as
laundry and dining without error or failure
with AI based robots)
Table 4.
Themes and codes
identified under
“personalization”
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
the early stage, the hotel staff needs to explain to each guest (how to use AI robots)”.This
indicates the potential to automate monotonous jobs that can free up the staff to equip them
for more creative tasks. The guests seek quick solutions to basic amenities such as wake-up
calls that can be executed through AI enabled robot. This helps the hotel to organize its
structures and processes based on the organizing vision theory to better manage the system.
This led us to the first proposition:
P1. The standard procedure involved in mundane tasks lead the hotel industry to invest
in automating the processes through AI enabled robot that can be efficient and
effective in providing an exceptional experience during the stay of guests.
Due to diverse variability and exposure, the guests pose different demands and expectations
to a hotel, especially when it is situated in a smart city environment. Therefore, it is important
to collect correct information on the taste and preferences of guests to offer a memorable
experience (Tussyadiah, 2020). To overcome these problems, smart city hotels are
Selective
code Axial code Respondent profile Related open quote and code
Seamless
service
Time saving Officer with 5 years’
experience
R20: I think Chatbots are basic service of AI
robots. It is very convenient, because all
requests are verbal to Chatbot, it can answer
simple requests (turn off the lights, turn off the
TV, adjust the temperature, etc.) of guests.
Chatbots bypass the process of making the
call, waiting and explaining. It can save time
and avoid human error. (Open Code: Chatbots
and Robots can help customers and hotel staff
save time on executive activities during their
stay)
Accuracy Assistant manager with
more than 10 years’
experience
R26: For business professionals planning and
accuracy is much more important, and AI
based robots can be a one stop service
immediately while processing large amounts
of data according to diverse customer
demands (Open Code: Due to the capability of
AI the robots are able to process diverse
demands of customers with accuracy)
Cost-
effectiveness
Manager with more than
10 years’experience
R13: Along with safety, security and
providing best experience to customers, hotels
and related tourism organizations have
pressure to plan and execute cost-effective
operations. AI-based robots will be key
elements for reducing cost for non-face-to-face
services (Open Code: Employing the AI robots
in non-face-to-face services to reduce cost)
Reliability Assistant with 5 years’
experience
R17: Customer security and reliability of
services is one of the important parameters
when choosing a hotel to stay in. If the
customer sees that personal information
collected by AI enabled robot is handled with
care and not shared outside the hotel, then
reliability of the hotel is ensured (Open Code:
The AI based robots ensuring security of
information lead to the reliability)
Table 5.
Themes and codes
identified under
“seamless service”
IMDS
increasingly employing computers and robots as well as the traditional approach of
employing labor. This helps the hotels to offer data driven services, while saving time and
money spent on delivering the services. Hence, big data enabled capability of AI supported
robots can channelize the huge range of functions at a time to collect the right kind of
information from guests to further design the services for them. In the words of R4 (Senior
clerk with 8 years’experience) “AI based robots can help me remember, what guest had in his
last visit and based on information collected, the robot can plan and execute the next destination
transportation facilities. Hence, information gathering in terms of diverse characteristics helps
to develop the profile of the guest”.The AI enabled robots are capable of gathering, analyzing
and processing large amount of information for the best interest of the guest as well as the
hotel. Moreover, guests like on time services and this is directly proportional to the innovation
that can be achieved through the capability of information systems in the form of AI enabled
robots, which is the objective of organizing vision theory. This led us to the second
proposition:
P2. Information provided and collected from guests’acts as a key element to
understanding their requirements and desires. This information can be further
modeled by AI based robots to design the guest profile and provide useful
recommendations during their stay in a smart city hotel.
This capability to offer personalized and efficient services is critical to the success of smart-
city hotels. The trend of customized and convenient services is one of the important ways to
earn guest loyalty in a smart-city environment. Robots were not created to replace human
beings entirely, by contrast they are employed by the hotel industry to provide and create a
space for customization and personalization among services rendered (de Kervenoael et al.,
2020). For the guest in a smart city hotel, room service, amenities and laundry requirements
differ and hence need accurate personalization. In the words of R7 (Head of the department
with more than 10 years’experience), “AI robots serves as tools that can maximize human
productivity through customized services that reflect guests’opinions (satisfaction,
dissatisfaction, habits, preferences, etc.), which are considered important in the service
industry. This will help further develop and facilitate the provision of personalized services. I
personally think that AI based robots, along with the parallel existence of staff, are critical when
services associated to fun, excitement and pleasure are needed”.The AI enabled robot and staff
co-existence are very much needed for the space of accurate and efficient services during a
guest’s stay in a smart-city hotel. The co-existence and co-working of AI enabled robots can
be helpful, when the objective is to offer services that are hedonic in nature and such robots
can learn the human intelligence applied instantly at different points of the service cycle.
This led us to the third proposition:
P3. The avenues of personalization during stay experience can be maximized with the co-
existence of staff and AI driven robots when guests are seeking ambience, dining and
laundry preferences in a smart city hotel.
AI technology in the form of robots plays a critical role in developing the trust and seamless
flow in a smart city hotel, when they interact with guests regularly according to the media
equation theory (Reeves and Nass, 1996). AI enabled robots indicate a great potential in
transforming the processes (Chathoth, 2007) and can contribute to enabling a delightful
experience for hotel guests. Today, a guest’s comfort during their stay in a smart-city hotel is
defined by advanced technologies to save time and money while providing new experiences.
In the words of R11 (Manager with more than 10 years’experience), “The employees must
accommodate different requests regarding face-to-face and telephonic ways of providing guest
services. For example, an employee may be busy, or the guest may receive an incorrect response
depending on the employee’s capability. Comparatively, as Chatbot service is recorded on the
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
system and the service is performed according to the record, it is very accurate and does not
make mistakes. In addition, guests are not burdened to make repeated requests and therefore,
save time and money”.Therefore, smart-city hotels need to practice AI based operations in the
near future in order to offer reliable and accurate services to their guests. With each
transaction AI enabled robots learn and enhance their reliability in predicting the
requirements of guest by applying data mining and computing creativity, which is one of
the bases for organizing vision theory via information systems innovation. This led us to the
fourth proposition:
P4. With the data collected over different transactions and interactions with guests, the
reliability and accuracy of services can be enhanced, whilst reducing time and cost, to
provide a great experience during a guest’s stay in a smart city.
Building on these four propositions, we have proposed a framework for a smart city hotel,
presented in Figure 2. Mapping the mechanism of propositions, P1 highlights the objective of
automating the basic services, whereas P2 highlights the thinking capability. P3 indicates the
engaging capability and P4 presents how AI enabled robots can be helpful in ensuring the
reliability and saving the cost for hotel operations.
5. Discussion
This study adopted a semistructured interview methodology for data collection and offers
significant implications through the organizing vision theory for AI enabled robots to
enhance and organize the process of a guest’s experience in the smart city hotel industry. The
study investigates the phenomenon with the view of organizing vision theory through a
structured process of open, axial and selective coding to derive the themes and sub-themes.
Building on these themes, the study offers four propositions that lead to the development of a
framework that can be utilized by practitioners in the smart city hotel industry and find its
theoretical implications as well. Therefore, this study can be viewed as a response to the
ongoing debate of the use of AI robots in smart city hotels and accommodation industry. To
summarize, we contend that the findings of the study can help practitioners, academicians
and researchers to recognize, evaluate, and employ AI robots effectively in the smart city
hotel industry to enhance a guest’s experience. The study makes a progressive effort to
integrate the literature from tourism and information systems management with the view of
organizing vision theory. The existing research has emphasized the role of information
systems in its link to design its processes towards the vision of an organization
AI enabled robot Guest
Automation
Information
gathering
Personalization
Seamless service
•Check in
& check
out
•Front desk
enquiries
•Wake-up
call
service
•Night
shift
services
•Understandi
ng the
requirement
•Facial
recognition
Creating the
profile
•Recommend
ation
•Room
service
•Ambience
•Instant
messaging
•Dining and
laundry
preferences
•Time
saving
•Accuracy
•Cost-
effectiven
ess
•Reliability
Memorable
stay
experience
Figure 2.
Framework for AI
enabled robot activities
to enhance stay
experience in a smart
city hotel
IMDS
(Miranda et al., 2015;Swanson and Ramiller, 2004). Therefore, we conceptualized organizing
vision as a theoretical lens to investigate the implications for theory and practice.
5.1 Implications for theory
This study claims a three-fold contribution to the literature. As a first step, it extracted the
interesting subjects to define and align the process and structure for a delightful stay in a
smart city hotel, facilitated through AI driven robots. This study adopted a systematic
methodology of open, axial and selective coding with the view of organizing vision theory.
Since, this is a case study conducted at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and
Residences, Seoul, South Korea (a smart city), the study considers the respondents who are
providing the services during the stay of guests and occasionally instructs AI enabled robots.
The study employed back-and-forth mapping to finalize the themes that emerged through the
role of AI enabled robots during the guests’stay in a smart city hotel.
Secondly, the study derived four propositions, which can be tested in the future. The
grounded approaches like the stakeholder theory and technology acceptance model can be
further applied to test the propositions. Third, based on these propositions, the study
established a framework indicating the elements of AI enabled robots offering services
during the guests’stay (automation, information gathering, personalization and seamless
service). This study spots the role of organizing vision theory to design the structure and
processes to improve the stay experience in smart city environment (Miranda et al., 2015).
Additionally, our study contributes to defining the scope for auto-capturing information and
facilitation of designing the processes in a smart city set-up (Meli
an-Gonz
alez and Bulchand-
Gidumal, 2016). Apart from this, the way in which AI enabled systems can help hotels to
provide fast services and reduce their expenditure is also highlighted (Chatboth, 2007). The
findings of this study echoes with the research conceptualized by Huang and Rust (2021),
where they identified the role of AI enabled robots in service delivery, creation and interaction
and adopted AI enabled robots to achieve cost leadership. They did this by standardizing
monotonous jobs and achieving quality leadership, where AI robots and other workers need
to work in parallel. However, our study finds a surprising element that shows that with
frequent interactions with the robot even some part of executing hedonic services can be
achieved, which differs from other studies (Huang and Rust, 2021;Luo et al., 2021;Prentice
et al., 2020). Thus, this study addresses the gap: What are co-workers’opinion about AI
enabled robots facilitating the guest stay experience in a smart city hotel?
5.2 Implications for practice
This study offers significant implications for practitioners and hotel staff to enhance their
smart city hotel stay experience through AI enabled robots by keeping the organizing vision
at the center. Before deploying AI based robots in a smart city hotel or an accommodation
system, the top management and organizations should evaluate (1) number of activities to be
automated, (2) degree of diverse demands from its guests and (3) cost and efficiency trade-off.
Practitioners and senior staff need to sense the need for information gathering and
understand how difficult it is at present to provide customized services to their guests. Every
smart city hotel will have different requirements for AI driven robots matching to their basic
design of infrastructure, number of rooms and type of guests who regularly visit the property.
Managers need to remember that even in a smart hotel, AI based robots will work in co-
existence with other staff where together they will create a memorable experience for their
guests. In many complex situations, AI enabled robots can be an excellent resource for
servicing the guests whilst having faster responses and feedback from them. Managers can
identify and map the processes in their property to redesign their structure and processes to
employ AI based robotic services for mundane tasks to start with. Managers can also think of
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
employing the AI enabled robots where highly accurate, quick and efficient services are
needed and its trade-off with time and cost. As the technology matures, then it can be tested
and applied in other areas that are associated with stay experience. Managers can also refer to
the framework proposed in this study to consider AI driven robots in different activities of a
smart city hotel.
5.3 Limitations and scope for future research
Although the organizing vision theory has been observed in its wide application to enhance
the performance of an organizational system; this study debates that it struggles to classify
the level of motivation of the customer and the hotel in enabling AI robot for an excellent stay
experience of the traveler. Additionally, whether infrastructure or processes also need to be
aligned with organizing vision is not clear from the theory to induct the AI based robots. The
universality of conclusions made in this study can be further verified by interviewing
employees from a greater number of hotels that have employed AI enabled robots. From the
findings, the study indicates the role of AI enabled robots in enhancing the guest experience
during their stay at a smart city hotel. However, there is a scope that future studies can
examine the relationship of information exchanged among guests, robots and staff in a smart
city hotel. The exploration and alignment with other elements of infrastructure of a smart city
can be considered in the future studies to test the propositions of this study. Views of
employees working at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and Residences,
Seoul, South Korea (a smart city) towards AI enabled robot are analyzed and extracted
through semi-structured interviews. Future studies can apply exploratory views to verify the
propositions and framework. The research question can be further tested, if it is true for
different type of hotels in a smart city with reference to guest’s requirements such as bed and
breakfast (affordable hotels) category.
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IMDS
Appendix 1
Flow of room service
Appendix 2
Semistructured interview questions
(1) In your opinion, how comfortable would you be to stay in a hotel, which would be entirely
staffed by AI based robots, where these robots can communicate with each other as well? These
AI based robots equipped with voice and facial recognition would be present throughout the
hotel to provide information, assist in front desk services and help the customer to check in and
check out of their stay.
(2) The AI based robots in the hotel are not technologically advanced to communicate like a human
with the customer. The speech recognition capabilities of an AI based robot learn and adapt
with each interaction and thus improve the answers it provides. How comfortable would you be
to interact with a robot that can talk and interact with you like a human?
(3) Hotels are employing emerging technology such as the use of AI, big data predictive analytics,
cloud computing, blockchain, Internet of things and much more. As a traveler, do you like to
incorporate the latest technological developments in your life related to the travel and tourism
industry? For instance, would be willing to use an autonomous suitcase, which is able to follow
you on its own and uses anti-collision technology. There would be no need to pull, push or lift a
suitcase while you travel. Please share your opinion in this regard.
(4) Hotels are increasingly making use of robotic assistants capable of handling room service
requests. Here, the AI based robot will be able to handle requests for a variety of different
languages and will be available 24/7. In your opinion, how comfortable would you be to use such
services and how would it differ from the conventional room service provided by humans?
(5) Hotels collaborate with travel agents to provide additional services to their clients. Hotels can
use the AI based robot to find out the needs and preferences of their clients and then pass this
information to a travel agent in real time. This can enhance the stay experience of the client
staying at the hotel. In your opinion, how willing would you be to make use of such services so
that you can receive a one-stop solution with no delays? What are the challenges you could face
in availing such services?
(6) How comfortable are you with using a chatbot to place service requests whilst staying at the
hotel? These requests could be laundry pick-up, wake-up call, order amenities, request room
⑧
⑧
⑧
⑧
⑧
⑧
Flow of
room service
robot
Request hotel supplies through
AI-based tablet
Front desk staff confirms order
Put the requested hotel supplies
into the service robot
storage area
Service robot operation
When arriving in front of the
hotel room, an arrival
message is sent to the tablet.
Guest enters hotel room number
Open the storage door for guests
to pick up the supplies.
Receive requested hotel
supplies
Figure A1.
Flow of room service in
Novotel Ambassador
Seoul Dongdaemun
Hotels and Residences,
Seoul, South Korea
AI enabled
robots in the
hospitality
industry
cleaning, book a spa session, order a taxi and leave feedback. What are the challenges that you
have faced or may face whilst dealing with chatbots?
(7) Safety and security are always a main concern while staying at a hotel. Would you be
comfortable to stay in a hotel where there will be constant monitoring by use of autonomous
digital cameras, which can track the movement of people, using facial recognition? What are the
concerns about your privacy and data collection that could hamper the decision to book or stay
at the hotel?
(8) It is believed that an engaged guest will have a better stay experience. The service provided by
the robots would be standardized with a touch of customization. Do you think that AI based
robots could keep the guest engaged, entertained and in the end leave them with a memorable
stay experience? What are the strengths and weakness of an AI based robot in terms of guest
engagement and stay experience?
Appendix 3
Organizational structure of Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels and
Residences, Seoul, South Korea
Corresponding author
Shivam Gupta can be contacted at: shivam.gupta@neoma-bs.fr
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KIT 27 F&B 30 HK 4 Front 24 RESV 10 FA 9 Sales 14 T&C 4
28
90
Total number is based on occupancy appox. 50~55% that might be increase due to business conditions. 90pax
No. of F&B /Kitchen will be adjusted due to operation plan by season (ex. Operation hr. for roof top bar and menu)
14pax 12pax
Engineers Public Cleaning
General Manager
14pax 25pax
5pax12pax
Total Employees: 122 Room
Demi-Chef
7pax
F&B Cord
1pax
Security&Door
Commi 1 - 4pax
Commi 2 - 4pax
Cook Helper - 7pax
BQ RSVN Mgr
Waiter / Wa tress
/BQ Svc & RSVN
19pax / D-1M
Room maids
TOTAL 212 Stewarding Inspector&Houseman
Health club
8pax
Designer
1pax
Concierge & EFL
5pax
Receiving Storekeeper
1pax
Senior Sales Manager
2pax
Asst. Sales Manager
2pax
Sales Executive
3pax
Training mgr.
1pax
Marketing Comm.MGR
1pax
Marcomm Spv
2pax
General Affairs
1 pax
Sales Coordinator
1pax
Chef de partie
2pax
Jr. Supervisor
(Rest / BQ / Bar)
7pax
Concierge Spv / EFLSpv
2pax
Jr. R&C Clerk
3pax
IT Manager
1pax
Head Chef
1pax
BQ Manager
1pax
HK Staffs
2pax
FO Spv 3pax
FO Staffs - 10pax
R&C Clerk
3pax
Accountant
(GA, Local, Income ,
Credit, AR, Cost AP)
5pax
Director of Sales &
Marketing
HR Manager
Sous chef Rest. MGR HK Supervisor
1pax
GRM 1pax
Duty MGR 2pax
R&C Supervisor
2 pax
AFC & Purchasing mgr Director of Sales Asst. HR mgr.
EAM / Operation Director of Revenue
& RSVN
Exe. Chef F&B manager HK M ananger Front office manager Reservation MGR. Director of Finance
Figure A2.
Organizational
structure of Novotel
Ambassador Seoul
Dongdaemun Hotels
and Residences Hotel,
South Korea
IMDS
