Knowledge and attitudes of hotel managers in Seville on smart hospitality
Keywords:
Smart hospitality, Smart hotel, Hotel managers, In-depth interviews, Mature destination
Abstract
New communications technologies can enhance both the tourist experience and the efficiency of tourism organisations and destinations. Even though smart hospitality can contribute to brand differentiation, improved performance, and increased client satisfaction, its study has been neglected in previous and fundamentally quantitative and consumer-centred investigations from the supplier perspective within the European context, despite the key role of smart hospitality in the tourism ecosystem. Hotel managers were interviewed in depth, at a mature tourism destination, and their different views, from a micro perspective, on smart hospitality and its implications for practitioners, governmental agencies, and academia were brought to light. The conclusions are that greater effort at all levels is needed to incentivise smart hospitality.
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References
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Wong, I.A., Huang, J., Lin, Z.(C)., & Jiao, H. (2022). Smart dining, smart restaurant, and smart service quality (SSQ). International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(6), 2272-2297. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2021-1207
Xiang, Z., Stienmetz, J., & Fesenmaier, D.R. (2021). Smart Tourism Design: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on designing tourism places. Annals of Tourism Research, 86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103154
Alter, S. (2019). Making sense of smartness in the context of smart devices and smart systems. Information Systems Frontiers, 22(2), 381-393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-019-09919-9
Arenas, A.E., Goh, J.M., & Urueña, A. (2019). How does IT affect design centricity approaches: Evidence from Spain’s smart tourism ecosystem. International Journal of Information Management, 45, 149-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.10.015
Buhalis, D., O’Connor, P., & Leung, R. (2023). Smart hospitality: from smart cities and smart tourism towards agile business ecosystems in networked destinations. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(1), 369-393. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2022-0497
Buhalis, D., & Leung, R. (2018). Smart hospitality—Interconnectivity and interoperability towards an ecosystem. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 71, 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2017.11.011
Buhalis, D., Papathanassis, A., & Vafeidou, M. (2022). Smart cruising: smart technology applications and their diffusion in cruise tourism. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 13(4), 626-649. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-05-2021-0155
Chandra, Y., & Shang L. (2019). Qualitative research: An overview. In Qualitative research using R: A systematic approach. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3170-1_1
Chang, V. (2021). An ethical framework for big data and smart cities. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120559
Chen, S., Tian, D., Law, R., & Zhang M. (2022). Bibliometric and visualized review of smart tourism research’ International Journal of Tourism Research, 4(2), 298-307. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2501
Dunwoodie, K., Macaulay, L., & Newman, A. (2022). Qualitative interviewing in the field of work and organisational psychology: Benefits, challenges and guidelines for researchers and reviewers. Applied Psychology, 72(2), 863-889. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12414
Duygan, M., Fischer,M., Pärli,R., & Ingold, K. (2022). Where do smart cities grow? The spatial and socio-economic configurations of smart city development. Sustainable Cities and Society, 77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103578
European Commission (2022). EU guide on data for tourism destinations. https://smarttourismdestinations.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Smart-Tourism-Destinations_EU-guide_v1_EN.pdf
Gobierno de España (2022). Plan de Modernización y Competitividad del Sector Turístico. https://turismo.gob.es/es-es/estrategia/02_doc_completo_pmcst_enero_2022_online.pdf
Gupta, S., Modgil, S., Lee, C.-K., Cho, M., & Park, Y. (2022). Artificial intelligence enabled robots for stay experience in the hospitality industry in a smart city. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 122(10), 2331-2350. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-10-2021-0621
Haven, T.L., & Van Grootel, L. (2019). Preregistering qualitative research. Accountability in Research, 26(3), 229-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2019.1580147
Hsu, H., & Tseng, K.-F. (2022). Facing the era of smartness: constructing a framework of required technology competencies for hospitality practitioners. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 13(3), 500-526. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-04-2021-0120
Ismagilova, E., Hughes, L., Rana, N.P., & Dwivedi, Y.K. (2022). Security, privacy and risks within smart cities: Literature review and development of a smart city interaction framework. Information Systems Frontiers, 24, 393–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10044-1
Leung, R. (2019). Smart hospitality: Taiwan hotel stakeholder perspectives. Tourism Review, 74(1), 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-09-2017-0149
Mehraliyev, F., Choi, Y., & Köseoglu, M.A. (2019). Progress on smart tourism research. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 10(4), 522-538. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2018-0076
Moser, A., & Korstjens, I. (2017). Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 1: Introduction. European Journal of General Practice, 23(1), 271-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2017.1375093
Nassaji, H. (2020). Good qualitative research. Language Teaching Research, 24(4), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820941288
Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., & Ladkin, A. (2015). Technology as a catalyst of change: enablers and barriers of the tourist experience and their consequences. In I. Tussyadiah, & A. Inversini, A. (Eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism (pp. 789-802). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_57
Osei, B.A., Ragavan, N.A., & Mensah, H.K. (2020). Prospects of the fourth industrial revolution for the hospitality industry: a literature review. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 11(3), 479-494. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2019-0107
Razmjoo, A., Østergaard, P.A., Denaï, M., Nezhad, M.M., & Mirjalili, S. (2021). Effective policies to overcome barriers in the development of smart cities. Energy Research & Social Science, 79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102175
Stylos, N., Fotiadis, A.K., Shin, D., & Huan, T. C. (2021). Beyond smart systems adoption: Enabling diffusion and assimilation of smartness in hospitality. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.103042
Sun, S., Ye, H., Law, R., & Hsu, A.Y.-C. (2022). Hindrances to smart tourism development. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 13(4), 763-778. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-10-2021-0300
We are social & Hootsuite (2022). Digital 2022. Global overview report. The essential guide to the world connected behaviours. https://wearesocial.com/es/blog/2022/01/digital-2022/
Wong, I.A., Huang, J., Lin, Z.(C)., & Jiao, H. (2022). Smart dining, smart restaurant, and smart service quality (SSQ). International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(6), 2272-2297. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2021-1207
Xiang, Z., Stienmetz, J., & Fesenmaier, D.R. (2021). Smart Tourism Design: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on designing tourism places. Annals of Tourism Research, 86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103154
Published
2026-02-20
How to Cite
Oviedo García, M. Ángeles, Rodríguez-Ortiz, D., & Castellanos-Verdugo, M. (2026). Knowledge and attitudes of hotel managers in Seville on smart hospitality. ENLIGHTENING TOURISM. A PATHMAKING JOURNAL, 16(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.33776/EUHU/et.v16i1.9245
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RESEARCH PAPERS
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