Progress on robotics in hospitality and tourism: a review of the literature

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of research on robotics in travel, tourism and hospitality, and to identify research gaps and directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes 131 publications published during 1993-2019, identified via Scopus, Web of Science, ResearchGate, Academia.edu and Google Scholar. It offers quantitative analysis of frequencies and cross-tables and qualitative thematic analysis of the publications within each of seven identified domains. Findings The paper identifies Robot, Human, Robot manufacturer, Travel/tourism/hospitality company, Servicescape, External environment and Education, training and research as the research domains. Most research studies are dedicated to robots in restaurants, airports, hotels and bars. Papers tend to apply engineering methods, but experiments and surveys grow in popularity. Asia-Pacific countries account for much of the empirical research. Research limitations/implications The analysis was limited to publications indexed in four databases and one search engine. Only publications in English were considered. Growing opportunities for those who are anxious to publish in the field are identified. Importantly, emerging research is branching out from the engineering of robots to the possibilities for human/robot interactions and their use for service providers, opening up new avenues of research for tourism and hospitality scholars. Practical implications The paper identified a myriad of application areas for robots across various tourism and hospitality sectors. Service providers must critically think about how robots affect the servicescape and how it needs to be adjusted or re-imagined to ensure that robots and employees can augment the service experiences (co-)created within it. Originality/value This is the first study to systematically analyze research publications on robotics in travel, tourism and hospitality. ???????????????????? ?? ???? ?????????????????????, ??????????????? ????/??/?? ??????1993??2019????Scopus?Web of Science?ResearchGate?Academia.edu??Google Scholar?131??????????????????, ?????????????????????????????????????? ???? ???????????????????????????????Servicescape????????????????????????????????????????????????????????, ????????????????????????????????? ??????/?? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????, ?????????????????????, ??????????????/??????????????????, ???????????????? ?????? ?????????????????????????????????????Servicescape??????????????, ????????????????(????)? ?????/?? ?????????????????????????? ???????????????????????Servicescape?rService??-??????????