The Flow of Digital Transition: The Challenges of Technological Solutions for Hotels

Abstract

The incorporation of digital technologies in hotels worldwide is moving forward at the same pace as the recovery of the tourism sector itself following the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have looked at this topic from the perspective of suppliers and consumers, but little research has been carried out on hotels’ internal digitalisation processes and understanding their technological priorities to become more competitive. Atomization of hotel business structure and its characteristics and composition have traditionally hindered data collection. This research addresses this gap through close collaboration with the regional associative structure. The initial hypothesis is that digitization in Andalusian hotels flows at different speeds. The aim of the present study is to establish both the current state and the speed of digital transformation in hotels. To this end, there is an analysis of the degree of implementation of digital technologies in the hotel sector based on a case study of Andalusia (Spain). A mixed method approach is used, combining two focus groups that together contain 14 stakeholders, with 183 technological implementation surveys sent to hotels. This approach allows differentiation between the values of hotels specifically and those of accommodation as a whole, using two blocks of questions: technological solutions and tools; and infrastructures, integrations and data analysis. The results allow the validation of the initial hypothesis and show digital transition at two different speeds. The solutions and tools implemented, the technological priorities of future implementation and the use of digital enablers each display very disparate realities. Accelerating the rhythm of digitalisation is a great challenge for all hotels, whatever their category. The study contributes an original theoretical-practical model, whose method can be applied to other tourist destinations, regardless of their nationality. It enables comparisons and measurements, addressing both the typology of technological tools and solutions, and digitalisation issues.