A scoping review of robotic technology in hospitality and tourism
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology
ISSN: 1757-9880
Article publication date: 29 October 2024
Issue publication date: 21 January 2025
Abstract
Purpose
With the disruptive evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), the roles of robotics in hospitality and tourism are shifting rapidly from automatic to emotional works. Although academics have focused on examining robotic applications in hospitality and tourism, concrete images of the different roles of robots are unclear. Thus, this study aims to systematically aggregate and evaluate existing robotic technology-related studies published in Social Science Citation Index-listed hospitality and tourism journals to link the fragmented knowledge and provide an up-to-date overview of robotic technology in hospitality and tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
This study retrieved 134 robotic technology-related articles and used descriptive and content analyses to analyze the retrieved papers thoroughly.
Findings
The top keyword identified was service robot. Robotic technologies are categorized into AI-supplemented, AI-generated, robotic technology anthropomorphism (RTA)-facilitated and RTA-mediated.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies can consider exploring service robots further from the perspectives of suppliers in tourism. A more comprehensive categorization of robotic technologies is also recommended.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the robotic research realm by providing a holistic view of robotic applications in hospitality and tourism research. This study also attempts to pin down the potential research directions to guide researchers in expanding future studies.
研究目的
随着人工智能（AI）的颠覆性发展, 机器人在酒店和旅游业中的角色正迅速从自动化工作转变为情感性工作。尽管学术界已开始研究机器人在酒店和旅游业中的应用, 但对于机器人不同角色的具体图像仍不清晰。本研究系统性地汇总并评估了发表在社会科学引文索引（SSCI）列出的酒店与旅游期刊中的现有机器人技术相关研究, 以连接零散的知识, 并提供关于酒店与旅游业机器人技术的最新概览。
研究方法
本研究检索了134篇与机器人技术相关的文章, 并采用描述性分析和内容分析方法对检索到的文章进行了深入分析。
研究发现
最常见的关键词是服务机器人。机器人技术分为AI辅助、AI生成、机器人技术拟人化(RTA)促进和RTA中介。
研究影响
未来的研究可以考虑从旅游供应商的角度进一步探索服务机器人。还建议对机器人技术进行更全面的分类。
研究创新
本研究通过提供酒店与旅游研究中机器人应用的整体视角, 丰富了机器人研究领域。本研究还尝试明确潜在的研究方向, 为未来的研究扩展提供指导。
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the earlier versions of this paper.
This project was supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Number: 21K17984). In addition, this project was partly supported by a research grant funded by the University of Macau.
Citation
Sun, S., Ye, H. and Law, R. (2025), "A scoping review of robotic technology in hospitality and tourism", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 286-304. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2023-0247
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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