Tourism and Hospitality for Sustainable Development

The tourism and hospitality industry, particularly in the 21st century, can no longer be imagined, designed, marketed, managed or studied independently of digital mediation and technology. In addition to increasing the industry's profitability, technology also enables the industry to respond positively to pressing global challenges such as pandemics, climate change, energy crises, staffing challenges, and hyperinflation, among others. Technologies are, however, not a perfect-finished whole or a straightforward process to implement efficiently and ethically. The opportunities, costs, and challenges differ in geo-political and socio-economic contexts. With the drive towards disability inclusion, digitalisation, technological innovations, and inventions can play a significant role in universal design and reasonable accommodation for the aged and population with disabilities in the Global North and South, which are critical pillars of accessible tourism and hospitality. In the context of the above and response to the thoughtful need for new and sustained study of the developments, interrelationships, potentialities of the topic, and synergies, this edited book explores the trends, opportunities, challenges, and complexities of digitalisation and technology integration in the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as strategic shifts that will contribute to emerging research streams. The book comprises contributions that generate theoretical insights, empirical findings, and evidence-based recommendations by focusing on emerging and forecasted technologies used in the tourism and hospitality industry, such as blockchain, robots, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, big data, and analytics. The aim is to better understand how disruptive technologies and digitalisation are being utilised, how they currently and potentially influence the various stakeholder groups, and their future possibilities and impossibilities.