Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry: Developing a Framework for Future Research

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) offers important opportunities for the hospitality and tourism (HT) industry in the context of operations, design, marketing, destination management, human resources, revenue management, accounting and finance, strategic management, and beyond. However, the implementation of GAI in HT contexts comes with ethical, legal, social, and economic considerations that require careful reflection by HT firms. The purpose of this study is to offer a critical examination of the effects of GAI applications across a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the HT industry, in an effort to integrate practical and academic insights and foresights and drive academic research forward. Through the contributions of a purposeful selection of scholars, educators, and industry-practitioners, along the tenets of the stakeholder theory of the firm, this study highlights the potential challenges and opportunities of GAI and considers how academics can navigate the (research) complexities of this rapidly evolving technological phenomenon.