COVID-19 and hospitality 5.0: Redefining hospitality operations

Use of Mobile Technologies to Streamline Pretriage Patient Flow in the Emergency Department: Observational Usability Study

BACKGROUND

In emergency departments (EDs), triage nurses are under tremendous daily pressure to rapidly assess the acuity level of patients and log the collected information into computers. With self-service technologies, patients could complete data entry on their own, allowing nurses to focus on higher-order tasks. Kiosks are a popular working example of such self-service technologies; however, placing a sufficient number of unwieldy and fixed machines demands a spatial change in the greeting area and affects pretriage flow. Mobile technologies could offer a solution to these issues.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of mobile technologies to improve pretriage flow in EDs.

METHODS

The proposed stack of mobile technologies includes patient-carried smartphones and QR technology. The web address of the self-registration app is encoded into a QR code, which was posted directly outside the walk-in entrance to be seen by every ambulatory arrival. Registration is initiated immediately after patients or their proxies scan the code using their smartphones. Patients could complete data entry at any site on the way to the triage area. Upon completion, the result is saved locally on smartphones. At the triage area, the result is automatically decoded by a portable code reader and then loaded into the triage computer. This system was implemented in three busy metropolitan EDs in Shanghai, China. Both kiosks and smartphones were evaluated randomly while being used to direct pretriage patient flow. Data were collected during a 20-day period in each center. Timeliness and usability of medical students simulating ED arrivals were assessed with the After-Scenario Questionnaire. Usability was assessed by triage nurses with the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Observations made during system implementation were subject to qualitative thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, 5928 of 8575 patients performed self-registration on kiosks, and 7330 of 8532 patients checked in on their smartphones. Referring effort was significantly reduced (43.7% vs 8.8%; P<.001) and mean pretriage waiting times were significantly reduced (4.4, SD 1.7 vs 2.9, SD 1.0 minutes; P<.001) with the use of smartphones compared to kiosks. There was a significant difference in mean usability scores for "ease of task completion" (4.4, SD 1.5 vs 6.7, SD 0.7; P<.001), "satisfaction with completion time" (4.5, SD 1.4 vs 6.8, SD 0.6; P<.001), and "satisfaction with support" (4.9, SD 1.9 vs 6.6, SD 1.2; P<.001). Triage nurses provided a higher NPS after implementation of mobile self-registration compared to the use of kiosks (13.3% vs 93.3%; P<.001). A modified queueing model was identified and qualitative findings were grouped by sequential steps.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests patient-carried smartphones as a useful tool for ED self-registration. With increased usability and a tailored queueing model, the proposed system is expected to minimize pretriage waiting for patients in the ED.

Textiles as fomites in the healthcare system

Nosocomial infections or healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are acquired under medical care in healthcare facilities. In hospital environments, the transmission of infectious diseases through textiles such as white coats, bed linen, curtains, and towels are well documented. Textile hygiene and infection control measures have become more important in recent years due to the growing concerns about textiles as fomites in healthcare settings. However, systematic research in this area is lacking; the factors contributing to the transmission of infections through textiles needs to be better understood. The review aims to critically explore textiles as contaminants in healthcare systems, and to identify potential risks they may pose to patients and healthcare workers. It delineates different factors affecting bacterial adherence on fabrics, such as surface properties of bacteria and fabrics, and environmental factors. It also identifies areas that require further research to reduce the risk of HAIs and improve textile hygiene practices. Finally, the review elaborates on the strategies currently employed, and those that can be employed to limit the spread of nosocomial infections through fabrics. Implementing textile hygiene practices effectively in healthcare facilities requires a thorough analysis of factors affecting fabric-microbiome interactions, followed by designing newer fabrics that discourage pathogen load. KEY POINTS: • Healthcare textiles act as a potential reservoir of nosocomial pathogens • Survival of pathogens is affected by surface properties of fabric and bacteria • Guidelines required for fabrics that discourage microbial load, for hospital use.

mHealth and eHealth Applications for a Medicalized Quarantine Hotel during the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

In Taiwan, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has risen significantly in May 2021. The second wave of the epidemic occurred in May 2022. mHealth (mobile health, social media communities) and eHealth (electronic health, Hospital Information System) can play an important role in this pandemic by minimizing the spread of the virus, leveraging health care providers' time, and alleviating the challenges of medical education.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to describe the process of using mHealth and eHealth to build a medicalized quarantine hotel (MQH) and understand the physical and mental impact of COVID-19 on patients admitted to the MQH.

METHODS

In this retrospective observational study, data from 357 patients who stayed at the MQH were collected and their psychological symptoms were assessed using an online Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS). Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, univariate analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were performed.

RESULTS

The patients' mean age was 35.5  ±   17.6 years, and 52.1% (n  =  186) of them were males. Altogether, 25.2% (n  =  90) of the patients had virtual visits. The average duration of the hotel stay was 6.8  ±   1.4 days, and five patients (0.01%) were transferred to the hospital. The three most common symptoms reported were cough (39%), followed by the sore throat (22.8%), and stuffy/runny nose (18.9%). Most patients achieved a total BSRS score of 0 to 5 points (3,569/91.0%), with trouble falling asleep (0.65  ±   0.65), feeling tense or high-strung (0.31  ±   0.66), and feeling down or depressed (0.27  ±   0.62) scoring highest. The BSRS score was the highest on the first day. The sex of the patients was significantly related to the BSRS score (p  <  0.001).

CONCLUSION

mHealth and eHealth can be used to further monitor an individual's physiological and psychological states. Early intervention measures are needed to improve health care quality.

Fear of COVID-19 and employee mental health in quarantine hotels: The role of self-compassion and psychological resilience at work

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive and unprecedented impact on the mental health of individuals worldwide. Quarantine hotel employees not only endured enormous upheavals when providing service to quarantine guests during obligatory quarantine periods, but also experienced the high mental stress that comes with the risk of exposure and contagion of themselves, their friends, and their families. This study investigated the impact of the fear of COVID-19 on mental health problems. The moderating roles of self-compassion and psychological resilience were also examined. Data was collected from 360 employees from thirteen "Alternative State Quarantine" hotels in Thailand. The results suggested that fear of COVID-19 positively influenced mental health problems. Self-compassion and psychological resilience at work buffered the detrimental impact of fear of COVID-19 on mental health. This three-way interaction demonstrated that employees with high self-compassion and high resilience coped better. The theoretical and practical implications for hospitality managers are discussed.

From complexity to evolution: Mapping resilience management practices in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the hospitality industry. Many have treated the crisis as a temporary shock. However, there are those who see it as a turning point. Treating the hospitality industry as a complex adaptive system, this research uses the organizational resilience framework to investigate how hospitality organizations responded to the crisis. A mixed methods approach was employed, and two studies were conducted. A sample of managers from Omani hotels were interviewed and a content analysis was performed on the websites and annual reports of a sample of international hotel brands. The results revealed that the Omani industry's response was mostly limited to coping, whereas the international industry was active in anticipating, coping, and adapting to the pandemic. Strong support is provided for the notion of the pandemic as a turning point. An action framework has been developed to support firms in keeping pace with the industry's evolution.

Modeling the artificial intelligence-based imperatives of industry 5.0 towards resilient supply chains: A post-COVID-19 pandemic perspective

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected emerging economies' global supply chains (SCs) by disrupting their manufacturing activities. To ensure business survivability during the current and post-COVID-19 era, it is crucial to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to renovate traditional manufacturing activities. The fifth industrial revolution, Industry 5.0 (I5.0), and artificial intelligence (AI) offer the overwhelming potential to build an inclusive digital future by ensuring supply chain (SC) resiliency and sustainability. Accordingly, this research aims to identify, assess, and prioritize the AI-based imperatives of I5.0 to improve SC resiliency. An integrated and intelligent approach consisting of Pareto analysis, the Bayesian approach, and the Best-Worst Method (BWM) was developed to fulfill the objectives. Based on the literature review and expert opinions, nine AI-based imperatives were identified and analyzed using Bayesian-BWM to evaluate their potential applicability. The findings reveal that real-time tracking of SC activities using the Internet of Things (IoT) is the most crucial AI-based imperative to improving a manufacturing SC's survivability. The research insights can assist industry leaders, practitioners, and relevant stakeholders in dealing with the impacts of large-scale SC disruptions in the post-COVID-19 era.

Employees' perception of robots and robot-induced unemployment in hospitality industry under COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of the pandemic is driving the recent upsurge in service automation and the adoption of service robots in the hospitality industry. As service paradigm and customer expectations shift from conventional customized and personalized services towards a digitalized service environment, such customer orientation may favor using service robots at scales that could render service employees redundant. This study aims to answer the above question by investigating service employees' perceptions of service robots. Data solicited from 405 service employees in the United States of America via Amazon's MTurk were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The result revealed that employees' awareness of adopting and using service robots significantly impacts their perception of robot-induced unemployment. Further, results indicated that the perception of robots' social skills significantly influences service employees' perception of robot-induced unemployment. Employee status was found to moderate the relationships mentioned above. Specifically, entry-level employees perceive the unemployment risk more than managers.

The effect of threat and fear of COVID-19 on booking intentions of full board hotels: The roles of perceived coping efficacy and present-hedonism orientation

This study proposes a novel theoretical model on the negative effect of the perceived cognitive threat and fear of COVID-19 on full board hotel booking intentions, which includes the moderating effects of perceived coping efficacy and present-hedonism orientation. The model was tested with a representative online sample (N = 400) of the Spanish population older than 35 years. The results confirmed negative effects of threat and fear of COVID-19 on hotel booking intentions, as well as a negative moderating effect of perceived coping efficacy on the influence of fear of COVID-19. However, coping efficacy did not moderate the effect of perceived cognitive threat on hotel booking intentions. The present-hedonism orientation positively affected full board hotel booking intentions, but did not, however, reduce the negative effect of threat or fear on those intentions. The findings provide new insights for hospitality managers that can contribute to accelerate the recovery of the hospitality industry.

Technical Considerations for the Conformation of Specific Competences in Mechatronic Engineers in the Context of Industry 4.0 and 5.0

The incursion of disruptive technologies, such as the Internet of Things, information technologies, cloud computing, digitalization and artificial intelligence, into current production processes has led to a new global industrial revolution called Industry 4.0 or Manufacturing 4.0. This new revolution proposes digitization from one end of the value chain to the other by integrating physical assets into systems and networks linked to a series of technologies to create value. Industry 4.0 has far-reaching implications for production systems and engineering education, especially in the training of mechatronic engineers. In order to face the new challenges of the transition from manufacturing 3.0 to Industry 4.0 and 5.0, it is necessary to implement innovative educational models that allow the systematic training of engineers. The competency-based education model has ideal characteristics to help mechatronic engineers, especially in the development of specific competencies. This article proposes 15 technical considerations related to generic industrial needs and disruptive technologies that serve to determine those specific competencies required by mechatronic engineers to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 and 5.0.

Human Activity Recognition Based on Embedded Sensor Data Fusion for the Internet of Healthcare Things

Nowadays, the emerging information technologies in smart handheld devices are motivating the research community to make use of embedded sensors in such devices for healthcare purposes. In particular, inertial measurement sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes embedded in smartphones and smartwatches can provide sensory data fusion for human activities and gestures. Thus, the concepts of the Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT) paradigm can be applied to handle such sensory data and maximize the benefits of collecting and analyzing them. The application areas contain but are not restricted to the rehabilitation of elderly people, fall detection, smoking control, sportive exercises, and monitoring of daily life activities. In this work, a public dataset collected using two smartphones (in pocket and wrist positions) is considered for IoHT applications. Three-dimensional inertia signals of thirteen timestamped human activities such as Walking, Walking Upstairs, Walking Downstairs, Writing, Smoking, and others are registered. Here, an efficient human activity recognition (HAR) model is presented based on efficient handcrafted features and Random Forest as a classifier. Simulation results ensure the superiority of the applied model over others introduced in the literature for the same dataset. Moreover, different approaches to evaluating such models are considered, as well as implementation issues. The accuracy of the current model reaches 98.7% on average. The current model performance is also verified using the WISDM v1 dataset.

Present and prospective research themes for tourism and hospitality education post-COVID19: A bibliometric analysis

Academic research in tourism and hospitality sector adds value directly to the way the industry grows and develops. Scholars in this area struggle with the pressures to publish in high ranking journals. The present study attempts to help doctoral students and tourism educators in identifying emerging themes in the tourism and hospitality arising out after COVID-19 pandemic. Using bibliometric analysis, five broad areas of emerging research themes are identified. Such research would further help managers, tourism related state administrators, and firm owners to recover from the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the industry across the world.

How does COVID-19 differ from previous crises? A comparative study of health-related crisis research in the tourism and hospitality context

The importance of the risk to tourism and hospitality operations from pandemic-related crises has increased. Therefore, the current study offers a literature review targeting tourism and hospitality stakeholders' perceptions of past diseases and has three objectives: (1) Explore major topics from previous research on infectious diseases using topic modeling; (2) compare non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 crises; (3) investigate research topics in the tourism and hospitality industries. To meet our research objectives, we reviewed published pandemic-related articles in the tourism and hospitality literature since the year 2000. Based on the results, we first identified nine key topics related to infectious diseases (i.e., policy, human resources, branding, resilience, technology, global or community change, risk perception, disease impact, and lifestyle). Second, we suggest the application of different topic weights in non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 research. Third, we found that it is appropriate to apply different topic weights in tourism and hospitality research.

The fear of being infected and fired: Examining the dual job stressors of hospitality employees during COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic has posed grave threats to the financial and physical health of hospitality employees, this research unveils details of the dilemma experienced by hospitality employees during the pandemic, namely, their fear of becoming infected and fired. The research data were derived from a sample of 622 hospitality employees in the U.S. and analyzed using PLS-SEM as a new model of COVID-19 stressors are proposed and tested. The findings show that hospitality employees perceive the pandemic as a traumatic event that elevates their perceived job insecurity and infectious risk. It was also found that both job insecurity and infectious risk lead to increased job stress and turnover intentions, while job insecurity alone is a stronger predictor of turnover intentions. This study is among the first to examine the antecedents and consequences of the dual stressors encountered by public-facing occupations, including hospitality, during the pandemic.

COVID-19 and tourism stakeholders: experience, behaviour and transformation

Purpose

The tourism sector’s fragility lends significance to mental health and wellbeing, especially amongst workers in the hotel and tourism sectors. However, stakeholders’ subjective wellbeing and mental health in these sectors due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remain under-researched, especially for destinations with unique selling propositions (USPs). Thus, this study investigates the effects of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic on various stakeholders in Kerala, India. In particular, the authors assess the mental health and welfare of those involved in the tourism sector with an eye on how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the field’s psychological and technical developments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs an ethnographic approach to understanding the idiosyncratic experiences of stakeholders using in-depth interviews (n = 68), focus group interviews (n = 3) and participant observation for 14 months. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

Findings

The findings reveal the shifting perceptions in the tourism sector’s workforce by detailing various societal, technical and physical transformations, especially amongst the younger generations. The resultant psychological mapping generates a framework of the emotional perspectives of stakeholders during each stage of the pandemic. This study also highlights the urgency of crisis-management training for the workforce.

Originality/value

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all spheres of global business, resulting in unprecedented challenges in both personal and professional life. The sector’s fragility lends significance to mental health and wellbeing, especially amongst workers in the hotel and tourism sectors. However, the subjective wellbeing and mental health of stakeholders in these sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic remain under-researched, especially for the developing destinations with USPs.

Navigations for Hospitality Human Resource Management Research: Observing the Keywords, Factors, Topics under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected by the pandemic, and because of its human close interaction and labor-intensive characteristics, it has left Human Resource Management (HRM) puzzles with organizations’ stabilization and recovery. This study aimed to summarize current research on hospitality HRM research outcomes and trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the PRISMA technique and NVivo software, 102 research articles were extracted and analyzed to highlight to overall achievement and movement of hospitality HRM research under the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis. Considering the main purpose of this study, which was to show the status and prospects, the findings indicated 309 free nodes and 26 secondary nodes based on grounded theory. 7 key themes clustered from the analysis and include “environmental factors”, “industrial factors”, “HRM practice”, “organization”, “employee”, “external outcomes”, and “methodology”. The results demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic driven HRM transformation. In addition, it sheds light on how research responds to the shifting navigation of HRM within the hospitality context under the COVID-19 conditions.

Hospitality Industry 4.0 and Climate Change

This paper investigates under which conditions implementation of Industry 4.0 in the hospitality sector could help to combat climate change. The paper takes the form of a systematic literature review to examine the main pillars of Industry 4.0 in the hospitality industry and discuss how these technologies could help combat climate change. We propose five conditions under which Industry 4.0 could help to combat climate change. First, in the hospitality industry, increased use of Industry 4.0 technologies induces an increase in energy efficiency and a reduction of GHG. Second, increased use of Industry 4.0 technologies induces a reduction in water consumption and an increase in water use efficiency. Third, increased use of Industry 4.0 technologies induces a reduction in food waste. Fourth, increased use of Industry 4.0 technologies can promote Circular Hospitality 4.0. Fifth, increased use of Industry 4.0 technologies helps to reduce transport and travel. Hospitality Industry 4.0 technologies offer new opportunities for enhancing sustainable development and reducing GHG emissions through the use of environmentally friendly approaches to achieve the Paris Agreement objectives.

Service robots are an option for contactless services due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the hotels

The development of robotics in the current COVID-19 pandemic scenario can change the face of the industries. Robots are becoming more prominent in the hospitality industry. In this scenario, the usage of service robots for hotels is the best option. This study is performed using TAM and TRI theories. The constructs selected for the study are perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes, behavioural intention, discomfort, insecurity, and trust. Survey-based research is carried out with the help of a questionnaire. The target population are the employees working in the hotels. Ten hypotheses are proposed for the study. This study highlights the acceptance of service robots in the hotels of India. Out of ten proposed hypothesis, five hypotheses were accepted, and the rest were rejected. For data analysis, structural equation modelling in AMOS 20.0 was carried out. This study will help the managers and the top management in the adoption of service robots.

Resilience Innovations and the Use of Food Order & Delivery Platforms by the Romanian Restaurants during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, the blocking of activity by the government and the restrictions imposed in Romania had detrimental effects on the activity of restaurants, imposing their adaptation to new situations and generating creative innovations that caused changes in the way restaurants deliver food to consumers through food order & delivery platforms. Exploring the nature and implications of such innovations on resilience, this study analyzes their impact on the attitude and intention to use food delivery platforms by restaurant managers in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the proposed structural model, the authors integrate innovations in resilience by joining together the new components of the established TAM model. This research was conducted on a sample of 402 restaurant managers in Romania. The data was collected based on a questionnaire, and it was analyzed with the SmartPLS3 software. The results of the study show that the four variables of innovation, namely business strategy innovations, technological innovations, financial innovations and social innovations, exert different effects on behavioral intention and attitude towards using the order & delivery platforms. The results of the study can be key points in the more efficient management of material, financial and human resources, thus improving the commercial performance of restaurants.

The Effect of COVID-19 on Airline Transportation Services: A Study on Service Robot Usage Intention

Robots have started to be used in the service sector as well as in the manufacturing industry. The use of service robots in airport services, tourism, and hospital services also brings many advantages. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing physical contact and providing hygiene are essential benefits of service robots. For this purpose, the effect of COVID-19 fear on perceived trust in service robots and the intention to use them at airports was investigated in this study. For analysis, data were collected from 730 participants from 64 different countries, by questionnaire. The data were analyzed with the SPSS and AMOS package programs. As a result of the structural equation model analysis, it was determined that COVID-19 fear affects perceived trust in service robots and the intention to use them positively, and perceived trust also affects the intention to use service robots positively. In addition, as a result of the Process Macro analysis, it was found that perceived trust has a high mediating effect on the effect of COVID-19 fear on the intention to use. The research results show that people’s attitudes towards COVID-19 shape the perception of robot usage in air transport services.

An Exploratory Bibliometric Analysis of the Birth and Emergence of Industry 5.0

This study provides an exploratory bibliometric analysis of the emerging literature on Industry 5.0, which is a new visionary concept on the future of industry. Industry 5.0 has in recent years begun to attract the interest of both practitioners and academics, but this new field can still be considered embryonic and not well documented. Therefore, this study aims to map the field and provide a preliminary picture of the emergence and status of the scientific literature on Industry 5.0. Bibliometric data covering the period from 2015 to 2021 were extracted from the Scopus database. Bibliometric analyses of overall publication volume and growth trajectory, influential documents, authors, sources and countries are performed. The exploratory analysis provides a preliminary overview of the birth and emergence of this new research area. The results are discussed in relation to theories on the emergence and evolution of new management concepts. The article closes with some speculations about the future trajectory of Industry 5.0.

From luxury to necessity: Progress of touchless interaction technology

Touchless Technology is facilitating the move to Zero User Interface(UI) propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic which has accelerated the use of this technology due to hygiene requirements. Zero UI can be defined as a controlled interface that enables user interaction with technology through voice, gestures, hand interaction, eye tracking, and biometrics such as facial recognition and contactless fingerprints. Smart devices, IoT sensors, smart appliances, smart TVs, smart assistants and consumer robotics are predominant examples of devices in which Zero UI is becoming increasingly adopted. These control interfaces include natural interaction modes such as voice or gestures. Touchscreens and shared devices such as kiosks, self-service counters and interactive displays are present in our everyday lives. Each of these interactions however is a concern for consumers in a post-COVID-19 world where hygiene is of utmost importance. The one-stop solution to hygienic interactions includes touchless technology such as voice control, remote mobile screen take over, biometric, and gesture control as Zero User interfaces. With the breakthroughs in image recognition and natural language processing, powered by advanced computer vision and machine learning, "Zero UI" is becoming a new normal. This paper is focusing on the progress of the touchless interaction technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, which actually accelerated development in this concept and moved it from being a luxury to a life necessity.

From leisure to isolation: a call to explore hotel sectors' role during COVID-19 pandemic

In a recent correspondence, authors discussed the role of private companies in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility (CSR) by coming up with their own vaccination program for their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper supports the invitation for companies to act in accordance with their CSR and by emphasizing the various roles of companies just like what selected hotels do as isolation and quarantine facilities during the pandemic. However, certain considerations and issues must also be addressed by hotel sectors in accomplishing their CSR especially in time of public health crisis.

"Crisis management in the hospitality sector SMEs in Pakistan during COVID-19″

The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered one of the worst economic shocks in modern history and the hospitality sector has been severely affected. Since small businesses from the hospitality sector are known to be relatively more susceptible to the economic complications arising from a crisis, we explore the underlying factors and management practices that influence their continuity of operations as they continue to struggle with the on-going COVID-19 crisis in Pakistan. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted to comprehend the experiences of owners-managers. The findings show that government support, cordial relationships with stakeholders, self-determination of entrepreneurs and formal planning are the most crucial factors that shaped the immediate adjustments of operational activities in response to COVID-19. These resilient practices are hygiene concerns, increased promotion through social media, innovative marketing practices (e.g., revised offerings), operational cost-cutting and employee training to comply with changing standard operating procedures from the government and industry. The practical and theoretical implications are also discussed.

The Effect of Perceptions on Service Robot Usage Intention: A Survey Study in the Service Sector

The current age of artificial intelligence, along with the advent of robots, portends increased use of innovative technologies in the tourism industry, with higher levels of service innovation than in many other industries. In addition, factors such as an approaching worldwide pandemic have limited the amount of physical contact that people can have. So as a result, the use of service robots in service areas, such as tourism, has recently become controversial. In this study, accommodation customers’ perceptions of advantages and disadvantages about robots and the effect of the perceived value of their intention to use them were investigated. Within the scope of the research, data were collected from 1408 people living in various cities in Turkey through an online survey. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. As a result of the analyses, it was found that the perception of advantage and the perceived value affect the intention to use service robots positively and significantly. It has been determined that the perception of disadvantage affects the intention to use service robots negatively and significantly. The research results show that the accommodation companies should be innovative and rapidly transition to robotization, as in the manufacturing industry. Advanced technological innovation applications, such as service robots, will play an essential role in the revival of the tourism industry, especially during the global epidemic.

Mobile Communications for Tourism and Hospitality: A Review of Historical Evolution, Present Status, and Future Trends

As the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication technology captures public attention, reviewing the first to fourth generations with the anticipated implications of 5G and afterward, and future research would present a useful value to the literature. This study uses a systematic content analysis methodology to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary review of mobile communication research in tourism and hospitality to help academic researchers and industry practitioners understand the research area. The study also analyzes the future changes that mobile communication technologies and their applications will bring to tourism and hospitality research trends and industry practices. This study not only contributes to identifying some research gaps in the extant research, but can also provide significant theoretical guidance and practical implications for further academic and industrial research related to mobile communication technologies in tourism and hospitality.