Really important discussions took place at a Roundtable organised by the Institute of Hospitality – the leading professional membership body for hospitality professionals – on how AI and digital innovation are reshaping hospitality.
The Roundtable event brought together industry experts, hospitality managers, local stakeholders and academics. It was facilitated by Aymen Fetouak (Head of Professional Development, Institute of Hospitality) and hosted in Swansea at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
I shared some of the emergent findings from the Roboot project around what workers value most when working in hospitality and what makes the sector attractive for them; the skills for the future of hospitality work; the challenges hospitality workers and employers face when implementing technology; and the importance of choosing the right tools that are the right fit, support workers and make their work meaningful.
Summary of key discussion points:
- Panellists shared examples of current uses of AI in hospitality, many still in the nascent stage but this is rapidly changing, and the potential to expand the use of AI in workplaces, while doing so in a mindful, considerate way.
- A key aspect of the Roundtable focused on the continuing importance of human interaction within hospitality spaces and the value of creating opportunities for meaningful human connection both for workers and customers. This dimension of hospitality was considered core and there was consensus around the table that this needs to be maintained and kept in mind when bringing new technologies in.
- Discussion revolved around the affordances of AI as well as risks of over-reliance on technology, challenges of implementation, fallibilities of technologies and complexities of using AI as well as broader societal implications
- Potential impacts of bringing more technologies on customer experience were considered. This included ways of enhancing customer experience and making it more personalised, but also the unintended ways in which customer experience could be negatively affected, with impacts on customer loyalty.
- The final part of the discussion was dedicated to skills and the future of hospitality work, and the ways in which educational institutions can work towards equipping future generations of hospitality professionals with the right skills and capabilities. Examples of innovative practices used at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David to engage students and develop their digital skills were shared by Jacqui Jones.
A white paper based on the discussion is forthcoming.
To see the full blog post published on Lincoln Policy Hub, visit: https://policyhub.lincoln.ac.uk/hospitality-5-0-future-proofing-skills-spaces-and-service-through-ai-innovation/