Smart Applications in the Hospitality Business: A Qualitative Study on the City of Eskişehir

Abstract

Purpose – The objective of this study is to find out to what extend the hotel establishments in Eskişehir use smart hotel applications and the opinions and suggestions of hotel managers on the subject. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of the study consists of hotel establishments in Eskişehir. The hotel establishments were selected by purposive sampling method and the data were obtained by structured interview technique. Sound recordings obtained during interviews were transferred to computer and a descriptive analysis was performed considering the notes of the researcher. Findings – Hotel managers expressed in general that cost of transition to smart hotel applications is high, and consequently, hotels in Eskişehir do not use smart hotel applications. Discussion – Although hotel managers are aware of the future advantages of smart hotel applications, they have argued that cost-benefit analysis should be made carefully. However, smart hotel applications will provide advantage to hotel establishments in terms of competitiveness, efficiency and customer satisfaction in addition to cost advantages with the newly arrived generation Y and Z.