Digital Transformation in Hospitality Operations: Revolutionizing Service Delivery, Efficiency, and Guest Experience

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_7How to use a DOI?

Keywords

digital transformation; hospitality operations; artificial intelligence; contactless technology; service robotics; Internet of Things; cloud PMS; guest experience; cybersecurity; sustainability

Abstract

The hospitality industry is experiencing a structural revolution driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and accelerated by post-pandemic digitalisation. This paper critically examines how digital transformation reshapes hospitality operations through the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, cloud computing, and data governance. Drawing on a narrative literature review of academic and industry sources published between 2019 and 2025, the study identifies five transformation pillars—contactless and mobile self-service, AI-driven analytics, service robotics and IoT, cloud-based integration, and data governance. Evidence shows that these technologies enhance service efficiency, personalise guest experiences, and improve resilience, while introducing challenges of privacy, cybersecurity, and workforce adaptation. The review integrates these findings with three transformation theories—the socio-technical systems theory, resource-based view (RBV), and service-dominant logic (SDL)—to construct a conceptual framework linking technology adoption to organisational transformation. The framework reveals that digital capabilities, when aligned with human competencies and service culture, create sustained competitive advantage and operational agility. The paper concludes that digital transformation in hospitality is both technological and humanistic; success depends on strategic sequencing of innovation, governance, and continuous learning. Recommendations include prioritising guest-facing digitalisation, upskilling employees, embedding ethical AI practices, and aligning smart-room systems with sustainability goals.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - L. D. Graham
AU  - B. K. Sasraku-Neequaye
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/24
TI  - Digital Transformation in Hospitality Operations: Revolutionizing Service Delivery, Efficiency, and Guest Experience
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied Arts, Design, and Sustainability (ICAADS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 114
EP  - 121
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_7
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-527-0_7
ID  - Graham2025
ER  -