“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer:” ChatGPT in tourism and hospitality

Abstract

Purpose

ChatGPT has been receiving mounting research attention recently. However, its application and challenges to adopt for tourism and hospitality businesses remain relatively unexplored. To address this research gap, this study aims to systematically assess the application of ChatGPT and its challenges within the domain of tourism and hospitality.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts bibliometric and content analyses of papers retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus. Particularly, it systematically reviewed the tourism and hospitality research to identify critical applications of ChatGPT in the context of tourism and hospitality. In addition, this study identified challenges associated with the application of ChatGPT in this context.

Findings

It has been revealed that the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, in tourism and hospitality research is ascending, with an opportunity to advance the existing knowledge in customer service research. In addition, the results suggest an ongoing interest in assessing the role of AI and language modeling for tourism education and human resource management.

Research limitations/implications

The results are constrained by the used search keywords and electronic databases. Additionally, this study covered only papers published in English. However, the findings shed light on existing knowledge concerning ChatGPT’s transformative potential, identify areas for further exploration and offer guidelines for practice in the tourism and hospitality industry. The findings also revealed various challenges that various stakeholders should keep a closer eye on to ensure the effective and safe use of ChatGPT accordingly.

Originality/value

This study initiates a discussion on ChatGPT’s role in tourism and hospitality and underscores the importance of comprehensive AI integration within the sector.

研究目的

近年来, ChatGPT受到了越来越多的研究关注。然而, 它在旅游和酒店业中的应用及其面临的挑战仍然相对未被探索。为填补这一研究空白, 本研究系统评估了ChatGPT在旅游和酒店业中的应用及其挑战。

研究方法

本研究通过对从Web of Science（WoS）和Scopus检索的文献进行文献计量分析和内容分析。特别是, 系统回顾了旅游和酒店业的研究, 以识别ChatGPT在这一背景下的关键应用, 并识别了与其应用相关的挑战。

研究发现

研究揭示了生成式人工智能（如ChatGPT）在旅游和酒店业研究中的应用日益增多, 为推动客户服务研究的现有知识提供了机会。此外, 研究结果表明, 对人工智能和语言建模在旅游教育和人力资源管理中的作用存在持续的兴趣。

研究创新

本研究开启了对ChatGPT在旅游和酒店业中作用的讨论, 并强调了在该行业中全面整合人工智能的重要性。

实践意义

本研究受限于所用的搜索关键词和电子数据库。此外, 本研究仅涵盖了英文论文。然而, 研究结果揭示了关于ChatGPT变革潜力的现有知识, 确定了进一步探索的领域, 并为旅游和酒店业实践提供了指导。研究还揭示了各利益相关者应密切关注的各种挑战, 以确保ChatGPT的有效和安全使用。

Citation

Altinay, Z., Altinay, F., Tlili, A. and Vatankhah, S. (2024), "“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer:” ChatGPT in tourism and hospitality", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-03-2024-0139