Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

The hospitality industry faced unexpected challenges by Covid-19 pandemic and still struggles to recover. The social, political, and economic changes have created uncertainties and have accelerated the need for new technologies adoption in the hotel sector. The implementation of new technologies may lead to optimized business processes, improved customer services, and increased business performance. This paper examines and contributes to the understanding of how IT readiness, business readiness and stakeholder’s readiness affect business decisions regarding IT investment and transformation. To address these issues the paper uses the TOE (Technological- Organizational- Environmental) framework, which examines the important aspects and factors influencing the decision-making process of new technologies’ adoption and use. The technological context refers to the existing IT infrastructure, employees’ IT skills and their tendency to use new technological tools, all of which affect the technological readiness of a firm. The organizational context is associated with business characteristics, such as the firm’s size, culture, structure, and human resources affecting the business readiness to accept technological changes. Finally, the environment refers to the industry’s characteristics, periods of uncertainty (e.g., health crisis), competitors’ pressures, and legislation, which influence stakeholders’ readiness and engagement in the use of new technologies.