Artificial intelligence (AI) has permeated numerous sectors, including the tourism industry. AI-powered technologies such as big data, blockchain, and AI applications are increasingly integrated into the tourism landscape. These technologies have the potential to transform tourism-related operations and experiences by offering personalised services, increasing efficiency, and providing insightful data for decision-making. Big data offer insights into tourist behaviour, enabling tourism providers to anticipate trends and tailor their services accordingly. AI algorithms can analyse this data to produce personalised recommendations and targeted marketing, enhancing customer satisfaction and augmenting revenue. More recently, large language models (e.g., ChatGPT) have revolutionised customer service and interaction in the tourism sector, providing 24/7 customer service, personalised recommendations, and multi-language interaction, enhancing the customer experience and reducing operational costs. Service and social robots, as a form of embedded AI, find their ways into the operations of hospitality companies for room service delivery, cleaning, cooking, provision of information, as robotic waiters, guides or bartenders.
 
However, the increased reliance on AI and robotic technologies also presents significant challenges. These include the potential loss of jobs to automation, threats to privacy and data security, and the risk of AI exacerbating inequality by benefiting tech-savvy tourists and providers to the detriment of those less able to adopt or access these technologies. There are also ethical considerations surrounding AI’s decision-making processes and the potential lack of transparency, often referred to as the “black box” problem. Moreover, AI’s advent challenges traditional pedagogical approaches in tourism education. It necessitates the inclusion of technical and ethical aspects of AI in the curriculum, requiring a multidisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, from an accounting and financial perspective, AI and robotic technologies are assets. Hence, tourism and hospitality companies should not blindly invest in them but implement cost-benefit analysis and understand the economic aspects of these technologies.

The proposed SIG can act as a platform for educators to share experiences, strategies, and challenges in incorporating AI into their teaching practices, facilitating a collective advancement of pedagogy.
 
Despite the tourism industry and education grappling with the implementation of AI and robotics and their ramifications, there is a noticeable absence of comprehensive, interdisciplinary academic exploration into these technologies’ full potential, ethical implications, and transformative power in the tourism industry and education. Hence, there is an urgent need to establish a SIG on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Tourism and Hospitality’. This SIG would facilitate systematic exploration and academic discourse around these technologies, fostering collaborative research, knowledge exchange, and thought leadership in this critical area. In doing so, it would make a significant contribution to academic literature while providing valuable insights to the tourism industry, policymakers, and educators alike.
 
The SIG welcomes a variety of topics from tourist, brand, societal, and technological, and educational perspectives (but not limited to):

• Emerging AI and robotic technologies and their potential in reshaping tourism
• The impact of AI on tourist decision-making
• The role of AI and robotics in enhancing tourist experiences
• Tourist attitudes and trust towards AI applications and robots in tourism
• AI/robotics and brand differentiation in the tourism industry
• The use of AI in customer relationship management in tourism
• Disruption to social engagement and personal interactions in tourism and hospitality caused by AI and robotics
• The economics of AI and robotics in tourism and hospitality
• Task automatability in tourism and hospitality
• Human-AI/robot collaboration in tourism and hospitality
• Job displacement in the tourism industry: The AI challenge
• AI, robotics, tourism, and sustainable development goals: A critical analysis
• The impact of AI and robotics on local tourism development
• Mental health issues associated with the use of AI
• AI-driven decision-making in tourism
• Challenges and solutions in integrating AI and robotics in tourism and hospitality operations
• Robot-friendly hospitality facilities
• Ethical considerations in using AI for tourism education
• Data privacy and the ethical use of AI
• Bridging the educational skill gap – training future professionals for AI-driven tourism, including AI-assisted teaching tools enhancing learning experiences in tourism education, while embracing ethical AI literacy.

Aims and objectives
The principal aim of this SIG is to establish a dynamic platform for the comprehensive study and exploration of AI and robotics within the context of the tourism and hospitality industry and education. The specific objectives include:

• Facilitating knowledge exchange and collaborative research on AI, robotics, and tourism among scholars, industry professionals, other SIGs (e.g., tourism education and business tourism) and technology developers in the field.
• Critically analysing the potential, application, and implications of AI and robotics in the tourism and hospitality industry and education.
• Nurturing new researchers (including PhD students), facilitating collaborations, and contributing to the development of curricula that address the intersection of AI/robotics and tourism/hospitality.
• Advising on ethical considerations and responsible use of AI and robotics in the tourism/hospitality industry and education.
• Leading to academic output through organising seminars, webinars, conferences, and coordinating special issues in academic journals or edited volumes.
• Supporting researchers in forming consortia for international funding applications.