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Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists)

Received: 25 August 2023    Accepted: 25 September 2023    Published: 8 October 2023
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Abstract

The study compares the willingness of two groups of Iranian and German tourists to measure their interest in the robotics and artificial intelligence-based services of hotel sectors during the period of health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 disease. This study examines whether travelers are willing to use new-generation services in different hotel sectors, including hospitality, restaurant, and reception, with the help of SPSS software and T-test. The analysis is on an average of 119 and 123 passengers from Germany and Iran, respectively. Following up the results from two different investigations of the Travelzoo questionnaire conducted in 2016 titled: Travelers Expect Robots on their Holidays by 2020, and another research paper published in 2018 by Ivanof and Webster titled: Consumer’s Attitudes Towards the Introduction of Robots in Accommodation establishment, this research is aimed for understanding the change in the traveler’s behavior in a health crisis. Mainly because in 2016, Germans were among the least nationalities who showed interest in robotic services, whereas Iranians showed much higher interest in utilizing robots. As COVID-19 respiratory disease hinders human interactions, the current research measured their behavior changes under particular circumstances (COVID-19). According to this survey, Iranians showed the same interest in using AI-based services in the hospitality, restaurant, and reception sectors. Whereas comparatively, Germans showed less interest in the reception and restaurant section and a higher level of willingness to the hospitality services. German tourists are much more likely to choose innovative hotel services in the future than in previous surveys. The present research used the cause of the disease as a mediator and a stimulus to advance the goals of setting up and using robots and measuring the change in the behavior of two groups of tourists.

Published in American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Business (Volume 9, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13
Page(s) 86-93
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Robot in Hospitality, COVID-19, Hospitality Crisis, Tourist Behavior

References
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  • APA Style

    Sahar Fazeli-Tabar, Mohammad Hossein Imani Khoshhoo. (2023). Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists). American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Business, 9(3), 86-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13

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    ACS Style

    Sahar Fazeli-Tabar; Mohammad Hossein Imani Khoshhoo. Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists). Am. J. Theor. Appl. Bus. 2023, 9(3), 86-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13

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    AMA Style

    Sahar Fazeli-Tabar, Mohammad Hossein Imani Khoshhoo. Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists). Am J Theor Appl Bus. 2023;9(3):86-93. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13,
      author = {Sahar Fazeli-Tabar and Mohammad Hossein Imani Khoshhoo},
      title = {Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists)},
      journal = {American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Business},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {86-93},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtab.20230903.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtab.20230903.13},
      abstract = {The study compares the willingness of two groups of Iranian and German tourists to measure their interest in the robotics and artificial intelligence-based services of hotel sectors during the period of health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 disease. This study examines whether travelers are willing to use new-generation services in different hotel sectors, including hospitality, restaurant, and reception, with the help of SPSS software and T-test. The analysis is on an average of 119 and 123 passengers from Germany and Iran, respectively. Following up the results from two different investigations of the Travelzoo questionnaire conducted in 2016 titled: Travelers Expect Robots on their Holidays by 2020, and another research paper published in 2018 by Ivanof and Webster titled: Consumer’s Attitudes Towards the Introduction of Robots in Accommodation establishment, this research is aimed for understanding the change in the traveler’s behavior in a health crisis. Mainly because in 2016, Germans were among the least nationalities who showed interest in robotic services, whereas Iranians showed much higher interest in utilizing robots. As COVID-19 respiratory disease hinders human interactions, the current research measured their behavior changes under particular circumstances (COVID-19). According to this survey, Iranians showed the same interest in using AI-based services in the hospitality, restaurant, and reception sectors. Whereas comparatively, Germans showed less interest in the reception and restaurant section and a higher level of willingness to the hospitality services. German tourists are much more likely to choose innovative hotel services in the future than in previous surveys. The present research used the cause of the disease as a mediator and a stimulus to advance the goals of setting up and using robots and measuring the change in the behavior of two groups of tourists.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AU  - Sahar Fazeli-Tabar
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    AB  - The study compares the willingness of two groups of Iranian and German tourists to measure their interest in the robotics and artificial intelligence-based services of hotel sectors during the period of health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 disease. This study examines whether travelers are willing to use new-generation services in different hotel sectors, including hospitality, restaurant, and reception, with the help of SPSS software and T-test. The analysis is on an average of 119 and 123 passengers from Germany and Iran, respectively. Following up the results from two different investigations of the Travelzoo questionnaire conducted in 2016 titled: Travelers Expect Robots on their Holidays by 2020, and another research paper published in 2018 by Ivanof and Webster titled: Consumer’s Attitudes Towards the Introduction of Robots in Accommodation establishment, this research is aimed for understanding the change in the traveler’s behavior in a health crisis. Mainly because in 2016, Germans were among the least nationalities who showed interest in robotic services, whereas Iranians showed much higher interest in utilizing robots. As COVID-19 respiratory disease hinders human interactions, the current research measured their behavior changes under particular circumstances (COVID-19). According to this survey, Iranians showed the same interest in using AI-based services in the hospitality, restaurant, and reception sectors. Whereas comparatively, Germans showed less interest in the reception and restaurant section and a higher level of willingness to the hospitality services. German tourists are much more likely to choose innovative hotel services in the future than in previous surveys. The present research used the cause of the disease as a mediator and a stimulus to advance the goals of setting up and using robots and measuring the change in the behavior of two groups of tourists.
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Tourism, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran

  • Faculty of Tourism, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran

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