Abstract
Virtual assistants, also known as chatbot technology is getting more prominent and is applied widely in many industries. The use of chatbots, advantages, disadvantages, and future implication should be further understood; particularly from a technology provider’ perspective. Previous studies, specialised in the hospitality context, focused solely on user’s perspective. They have widely neglected the expert’s point of view, which creates a gap in literature on the understanding of chatbot implications. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of chatbots in hotels by conducting semi-structured interviews with industry experts (technology providers). This study explores the use of chatbots and the key value the offer through interviews with chatbot experts. The findings show that the use of chatbots receive positive feedback and the benefits of chatbots outweigh the challenges. This will lead to further deployment of chatbot in the industry and the need to develop their abilities in order to achieve their full potential.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Change history
22 January 2020
In the original version of the chapter, the following belated correction has been incorporated: The author name “Emily Cheng Siaw Yen” has been changed to “Emily Siaw Yen Cheng”.
References
Saratchandran V (2018) Fingent shaping the future. https://www.fingent.com/blog/how-hotels-are-using-technology-for-competitive-advantage
Buhalis D (2000) Information technology in tourism: past, present and future. Tourism Recreation Res 25(1):41–58
Paraskevas A, Buhalis D (2002) Information communication technologies decision-making: the ASP outsourcing model from the small hotel owner/manager perspective. Cornell Hotel Restaurant Adm Q 43(2):27–39
Neuhofer B, Buhalis D, Ladkin A (2015) Smart technologies for personalised experiences. a case from the hospitality industry. Electron Mark 25(3):243–254
Khazaei A, Manjiri H, Samiey E, Najafi H (2014) The effect of service convenience on customer satisfaction and behavioral responses in bank industry. Int J Basic Sci Appl Res 3(1):16–23
Buhalis D, Leung R (2018) Smart hospitality-interconnectivity and interoperability towards an ecosystem. Int J Hospitality Manage 71:41–50
Ivanov SH, Webster C (2017) Adoption of robots, artificial intelligence and service automation by travel, tourism and hospitality companies–a cost-benefit analysis. Artificial Intelligence and Service Automation by Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Companies–A Cost-Benefit Analysis
Xu F, Buhalis D, Weber J (2017) Serious games and the gamification of tourism. Tourism Manage 60:244–256
Buhalis D, Harwood T, Bogicevic V, Viglia G, Beldona S, Hofhacker C (2019) Technological disruptions in services: lessons from tourism and hospitality. J Serv Manage. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2018-0398
Bilgihan A, Okumus F, Khal Nusair K, Joon-Wuk Kwun D (2011) Information technology applications and competitive advantage in hotel companies. J Hospitality Tourism Technol 2:139
Buhalis D, Sinarta Y (2019) Real-time co-creation and nowness service: lessons from tourism and hospitality. J Travel Tourism Mark 36(5):563–582
Zumstein D, Hundertmark S (2017) Chatbots–an interactive technology for personalized communication, transactions and services. IADIS Int J WWW/Internet 15(1):96
Ivanov SH (2019) Ultimate transformation: how will automation technologies disrupt the travel, tourism and hospitality industries? Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft 11(1):25–43
Xu F, Tian F, Buhalis D, Weber J, Zhang H (2016) Tourists as mobile gamers: gamification for tourism marketing. J Travel Tourism Mark. 33(8):1124–1142
Boes K, Buhalis D, Inversini A (2016) Smart tourism destinations: ecosystems for tourism destination competitiveness. Int J Tourism Cities 2(2):108–124
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Buhalis, D., Cheng, E.S.Y. (2020). Exploring the Use of Chatbots in Hotels: Technology Providers’ Perspective. In: Neidhardt, J., Wörndl, W. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2020. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36737-4_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36737-4_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-36736-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-36737-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)