The travel and hospitality industry in the 21st century cannot be conceived, planned, advertised, run, or researched without the use of digital technology and innovation. Sustainable development in this sector cannot be achieved without considering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The use of technology not only enhances the industry's profitability but also helps it to respond effectively to pressing global sustainability issues such as pandemics, climate change, energy crises, workforce shortages, and hyperinflation. Furthermore, technology allows the sector to fully evaluate its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of tourists, businesses, the environment, and destinations. However, implementing technology is not a simple process and involves various opportunities, costs, and challenges that differ depending on the geopolitical and socio-economic context.
With the drive towards disability inclusion, digitalisation, technological innovations, and inventions can play a significant role in universal design and reasonable accommodation for older people and populations with disabilities in the Global North and South—such forms one of the key pillars of accessible tourism and hospitality. In the context of the above and in response to the thoughtful need for new and sustained study of the developments, interrelationships, potentialities of the topic, and synergies, this edited book explores the trends, opportunities, challenges, and complexities of digitalisation and technology integration in the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as strategic shifts that will contribute to emerging research streams. The book comprises contributions that generate theoretical insights, empirical findings, and evidence-based recommendations by focusing on emerging and forecasted technologies used in the tourism and hospitality industry, such as blockchains, robots, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, big data, and analytics. The aim is to provide a better understanding of how disruptive technologies and digitalisation are currently being utilised and how they currently and potentially influence various stakeholder groups, as well as their future possibilities and impossibilities. The third volume, in a three-volume set, primarily covers how these new technologies impact consumers and employees of tourism-related services.
