Analysis of Smart Technologies Used in Smart Hotels

Abstract

Purpose – The development and widespread use of smart technologies have led to the emergence of smart hotels. Smart hotels are smart systems that provide benefits to all stakeholders (staff, managers, customers, hotel owners) in the hospitality sector with smart technologies and interact with each other. Hotels that utilize smart technologies differentiate the hotel service, provide superiority in competition, and reduce hotel costs. This study aims to analyze the hotels in the world where smart technologies are used and the type, purpose of use, and customer touchpoints of the smart technologies used in these hotels and to provide a perspective and foresight for hotels. Design/methodology/approach – The data used in the research were obtained from secondary sources. The document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used to analyze the sources. The content analysis technique was used to analyze the data. A seven-step systematic review process was applied in the research. The seven-step review process consists of the following stages: (1) determining the review objectives and formulating the research questions; (2) determining the search terms and selection criteria; (3) searching for smart hotel applications before clarifying the exclusion and inclusion criteria; (4) evaluating the quality and suitability of smart hotel applications; (5) determining the content analysis review variables (6) conducting content analysis, and (7) synthesizing and reporting the findings. The population of the research consists of all hotels where smart technologies are used. In the research, 1084 smart hotels were determined as a sample. The data was collected via the internet between 1 December 2022 and 20 June 2023. Findings – The most used technologies in hotels are cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data, IoT, NFC, and recognition technologies. Blockchain, mixed reality, metaverse, and 3D printers are the least used technologies. The most common use of smart technologies is at the first, second, third, and fourth customer touchpoints. While the majority of hotels use 6 or more types of smart technologies, the second place is occupied by hotels using between 2 and 5 types of smart technologies. Smart technologies are most often used in customer-facing services and transactions. Discussion – Providing a personalized experience and responding quickly to their guests' needs is a common goal for all smart hotels. Some hotels provide their guests with IoT-enabled tablets to control all the functions offered, while others have mobile applications downloaded from Play stores. Some hotels are investing more in AI and robotics technology for butler, housekeeper, and doorman services, while others are using AI, big data, and IoT to provide personalized services to customers. In the future, smart hotel rooms are expected to be different from today, and even unmanned hotels are expected to appear more.