COVID-19 as a driver of automation and robotisation in travel, tourism and hospitality. Presentation based on: • Stanislav Ivanov, Craig Webster, Elitza Stoilova, & Daniel Slobodskoy (2020, April 3). Biosecurity, automation technologies and economic resilience of travel, tourism and hospitality companies. https:// doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/2hx6f • Faruk Seyitoğlu & Stanislav Ivanov (2020, April 3). Service robots as a tool for physical distancing in tourism. https:// doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/k3z6m

1. COVID-19 as a driver of
automation and robotisation
in travel, tourism and
hospitality
Stanislav Ivanov
Email: stanislav.ivanov@vumk.eu
Web: http://stanislavivanov.com

2. stanislavivanov.com
Dr. Stanislav Ivanov
2
• Professor and Vice Rector (Research), Varna
University of Management, Bulgaria
(http://www.vum.bg)
• Editor-in-chief of the European Journal of
Tourism Research (http://ejtr.vumk.eu)
• CEO of Zangador Ltd. (http://www.zangador.eu)
• Member of AIEST (https://www.aiest.org)

3. stanislavivanov.com
3
Published in 2019

4. stanislavivanov.com
Presentation based on:
• Stanislav Ivanov, Craig Webster, Elitza Stoilova, &
Daniel Slobodskoy (2020, April 3). Biosecurity,
automation technologies and economic resilience of
travel, tourism and hospitality companies.
https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/2hx6f
• Faruk Seyitoğlu & Stanislav Ivanov (2020, April 3).
Service robots as a tool for physical distancing in
tourism. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/k3z6m
4

5. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
5

6. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• COVID-19 may change the habits of travellers
▫ Health concerns in choosing a destination or a service
provider > making cleanliness a visible part of the
product
▫ Perceptions of overcrowding
▫ Handshakes?
▫ Will wearing masks be the ‘new normal’?
▫ Shift of preferences from ‘high touch’ to ‘high tech’?
6
We do not
know yet!

7. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• COVID-19 would raise the biosecurity
awareness of TTH owners, managers and
employees.
• COVID-19 pandemic may actually encourage more
proactive thinking and planning with regards
to biosecurity – e.g. protocols to be put into place to
limit interactions from humans and will likely
incorporate more automation to prevent outbreaks
of the magnitude of the COVID-19 outbreak.
7

8. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
8
Source: https://newsroom.hilton.com/corporate/news/hilton-defining-new-
standard-of-cleanliness

9. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
9
Source: https://thepointsguy.com/news/virus-killing-robot-hotel/

10. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation
and robotisation
• Digital assistants
10

11. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
11
https://www.regalhotel.com/uploads/ricwc/
promotion/room/720x475/Mobile_key.jpg
• Mobile keys
Photo credit: Sezam24
• Kiosks

12. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation
and robotisation
• Room service robots
12
Source: Best Western Premier Sofia Airport
• Chatbots

13. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Many employees may not want to go back to the
employers who laid them off.
• Others may prefer to work in another industry that
had not experienced the shock that tourism
suffered.
• Immigrant workers may not be able to obtain work
visas easily or they may be subject to compulsory
quarantine when they enter the country.
• Thus the labour supply in tourism and hospitality
may actually shrink in the post-viral world.
13

14. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
14
Source:
https://www.wsj.com/article
s/marriott-to-furlough-
thousands-of-corporate-
jobs-in-u-s-and-abroad-in-
response-to-travel-collapse-
11584834631

15. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• COVID-19 challenged the corporate social
responsibility claims of TTH companies. Large
hotel corporations were among the first to
announce lay-offs based on booking forecasts.
Reputation losses were inevitable.
• TTH companies may consider automation
technologies as a way to minimise dependence
on human labour, and potential future lay-
offs and negative word of mouth.
15

16. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• COVID-19 pandemic would force owners and managers
of surviving TTH companies to search more
aggressively to decrease the fixed costs of their
companies.
• A TTH company with a high level of automation has
fewer human employees compared to a company
with low or no automation that serves the same number
of customers; hence, it has lower labour costs and
lower fixed costs. When they face sharp and
prolonged drop in demand during epidemics, they do
not need to lay off many, if any employees.
16

17. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Automation technologies decrease the cash
outflow of the company and help it remain liquid.
• TTH companies with high automation would not
need to deal with rigid labour laws and
negative publicity when they fire employees
during a pandemic.
17

18. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Legislation in the post-viral world may force TTH
companies to consider the use biometric
technologies for measuring the health status of
employees and tourists in real time.
• Legislation may require TTH companies to
decrease their service capacity – e.g. fewer
seats in restaurants, fewer guests in hotels, fewer
passengers in airplanes.
• The health and safety measures will likely add to
the cost of running a business > stimuli to
automate many tasks.
18

19. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Biometrics
19
Photo credit: Stanislav Ivanov Source: https://hospitalitytech.com/cali-group-expands-use-facial-recognition-tech

20. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Automation technologies are a useful tool to
enforce physical distancing during an epidemic
20
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/09/starship-technologies-is-sending-its-autonomous-robots-to-more-cities-as-demand-for-contactless-delivery-rises/

21. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Automation technologies are a useful tool to
facilitate social connectedness during an
epidemic
21
Source: https://robohub.org/robots-
providing-social-support-while-
were-social-distancing/

22. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Automation technologies provide an additional
source of competitive advantage for TTH
companies in the post-viral tourism – customers
and employees might feel more secure if their
contacts with other human beings are minimised.
Moving from ‘high touch’ to ‘high tech’
services.
• Chatbots, mobile, wearable or implanted devices
might be used to inform guests and employees
that the environment is safe and other people
around them are not likely to be infected.
22

23. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 as a driver of automation and
robotisation
• Avatar tourism
23
Source: https://www.xprize.org/prizes/avatar/articles/avatars-when-we-can-t-be-there-in-person

24. stanislavivanov.com
COVID-19 provides opportunities, but
use automation technologies wisely:
24
Technologies for
physical
distancing
Technologies for
social
connectedness

25. stanislavivanov.com
THANK YOU
FOR THE
ATTENTION!
QUESTIONS?
25