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This paper aims to bridge the extended reality framework and the luxury hospitality literature by providing insights into how immersive technologies using artificial intelligence (AI) can shape luxury value and consumer differentiation.

The authors conducted three experimental studies comparing immersive AI versus traditional hospitality across luxury contexts (hotels, restaurants and spas). Study 1 investigates the effect of immersive AI (vs traditional hospitality) on customers’ behavioral intentions and the need for differentiation using virtual-assisted reality. Study 2 tests the underlying mechanism of the need for differentiation and luxury value in an augmented reality context. Study 3 provides additional support for the proposed underlying mechanism using virtual-assisted reality in luxury hospitality.

The findings reveal that immersive AI (vs traditional) luxury hospitality reduces customers’ behavioral intentions of using such services and perceived luxury value. Moreover, the findings indicate that the intention to use immersive AI (vs traditional) luxury hospitality services is contingent upon customers’ need for differentiation.

The findings have important theoretical and managerial implications for immersive technologies in luxury hospitality. They shed light on the dynamics between integrating immersive AI into luxury hospitality and its impact on customers’ differentiation motives and perceived luxury value. The findings reveal the detrimental effect of using immersive AI (vs traditional hospitality) within this context.

The luxury segment of the hospitality industry has experienced substantial growth in the past decade. Unfortunately, the notion of perceived luxury values has received scant attention, and there is a lack of valid framework to capture consumers’ value perceptions in the context of luxury hospitality services. Using luxury restaurant as an example of luxury hospitality services, this paper aims to establish the structure of luxury hospitality values and their measures and to investigate the relationship between luxury hospitality values and purchase intentions.

A survey questionnaire was developed to test the proposed luxury value framework. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical linear regression were used to test the hypotheses.

Four luxury restaurant value dimensions including functional value, hedonic value, symbolic/expressive value and financial value were identified. The study results further reveal that a consumer’s purchase intention is influenced primarily by hedonic value, followed by functional value and financial value. Interestingly, unlike in the context of luxury goods, the purchase of luxury restaurant services is not substantially influenced by symbolic/expressive value.

Hospitality firms catering to the affluent might use the luxury value framework to better understand what drives their customers’ purchase intentions, and use such knowledge to create new services or to improve current product offerings. In addition, luxury hospitality companies can use this luxury value framework to position their brands/products.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that empirically tests a luxury value framework in the luxury hospitality context and investigates the relationship between luxury hospitality values and purchase intentions.

The world of luxury hospitality is predominately perceived in a positive format; however, what this chapter discusses is the negative side to the luxury hospitality. The chapter critically examines the hotels' role in breaches of human rights and their possible involvement in illegal practices such as human trafficking and modern slavery. It provides an overview of the problem, the key terms and the stages of hotel involvement in this procedure. It examines the underlying reasons for the status quo, including discretion and secrecy accompanying luxury service. It highlights the vulnerability of the luxury sector relating to repercussions in terms of reputation and loss of trust. The chapter further examines the concept of duty of care and the breaches of it in relation to hotel staff. Particularly, it examines the industry-wide problem of alcohol and drug abuse among employees and the possible reasons behind it, followed by possible best practice solutions.

This research aims at understanding techno-based strategies deployed by the hospitality industry by exploring the emerging technological product and process innovations that are actively being used in the hospitality space to deliver enhanced guest experiences. It also aims at gaining perspective about the challenges of technology adoption faced by the Indian luxury hotels that have traditionally been driven by high-touch, unscripted and personalised service.

This paper adopted a two-pronged methodology for data collection – in-depth semi-structured interviews with General Managers of Luxury Hotels in India and literature-based innovation output (LBIO). NVivo12 software was used to carry out a qualitative thematic analysis of the data. The primary data collected was then triangulated with secondary data gathered through literature review of academic papers, industry reports and studies on the use of technology for enhancing and co-creating customer experience in luxury hotels.

The research brings in to focus the importance of technology and high-tech, state-of-the-art tools in facilitating the co-creation and delivery of experiences in the context of luxury hospitality. However, it also emphasises that the high-touch dimension is the core of hospitality in luxury and premium hotels and should remain the primary driver of this segment. Luxury hotels will have to fine-tune and tailor their services and provide the right mix of high-tech and high-touch, depending on the micro-niche segments to which they cater.

Practitioners, researchers and educationists in the hospitality industry would find the implications of this study useful in context of the evolving technology imperative and the present customer-centric business environment where hotels are constantly striving to meet the exponentially rising bar of guest expectations.

This study is the one of the few empirical explorations of the techno-based strategies adopted by luxury hotels for co-creating enhanced and high-value experiences leading to critical implications for both hospitality and tourism theory and practice.

This paper aims to examine the joint effects of product type (hospitality services vs goods) and consumers’ need for status (low/Patricians vs high/Parvenus) on consumers’ attitude change toward their favorite luxury brands. As an ever increasing number of customers can now afford luxury products, it is important to understand how affluent consumers react to the less affluent mimicking behaviors.

In all, 265 luxury consumers with annual household income of more than $100,000 and experiences of luxury consumption in the past three months were recruited. A 2 (product type) × 2 (need for status) factorial design was used to test the hypotheses.

This study demonstrates that when faced with mimicking behaviors by less affluent consumers, Parvenus exhibit more negative attitude toward their favorite luxury goods brands than luxury hospitality brands. Conversely, Patricians exhibit similar levels of attitude change across the two types of luxury brands.

The findings suggest that luxury hospitality companies may find it easier to expand to less affluent markets than their luxury goods counterparts, in particular when the majority of target consumers are Parvenus.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine consumers’ reactions to mimicking behaviors by the less affluent in the context of luxury hospitality services, and it adds to the knowledge on the joint effects of product type and status seeking on luxury consumption.

This chapter aims to introduce luxury brand management strategies applied in the hospitality industry and illustrate how luxury hospitality business operators can create, communicate and sustainably manage luxury brands. This chapter introduces the definitions and dimensions of luxury brands, followed by an exploration of the concept and importance of luxury brand sustainability. This chapter then explores how to maintain long-term luxury hospitality brand sustainability by applying a luxury brand framework. This chapter uses a case study featuring the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (FSHR) to understand how a luxury brand communicates and maintains its sustainability through its various dimensions through the process of brand creation, communication and management. The chapter ends by providing practical implications for existing luxury hospitality brand organisations in the arena of customer service.

Despite the severe impact of the COVID-19, Maldives was one of the top destinations which witnessed decent tourist arrival amid the pandemic. This study aims to analyze luxury hospitality experiences of guests amid COVID-19 pandemic.

This study is exploratory in nature. This study analyses 4,302 real-time customer reviews using sentiment and thematic analysis with the help of NVIVO 12 plus and Leximancer.

The findings suggest travel products as well as services associated with luxury resorts needs to be revisited. Staff needs to be more professional and must be proactive while redesigning services specially in situations like pandemic. While redesigning services in situations like pandemic, staff needs to be proactive, professional and must follow all protocols. Major negative experiences included long waiting time to avail frill services, privacy intrusion by bloggers and influencers, service quality issues. We recommend enhancing service quality followed by investing more in training and development, increasing the number of foreign languages spoken by staff and disseminating localized culinary experiences will enhance the experience quality with guests.

This study has several limitations: first, this study limited itself to 15 luxury resorts of Maldives, which may not serve as a true representation of all luxury resorts of Maldives. The next limitation of this study is that the authors have collected customer reviews from TripAdvisor only, and the reviews were only in English language.

The findings of the research can be beneficial for the policymakers, hospitality practitioners and academicians who study luxury tourism industry to carve appropriate strategies for enhancing the customers’ luxury experience like leveraging customization in all areas and enhancing service quality, food quality, training and development of employees.

Maldives has become one of the most expensive traveler destinations and is home to world’s most expensive resorts. This study is original in nature and has a forward-looking approach which studies the disruptive effect of pandemic, intangible nature of luxury as a concept can be used by hospitality industry to redesign the luxury customer experience which can improve marketing strategies aiming to potentiate this niche. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study will be the first one to capture the real customer experiences of luxury resorts of Maldives.

Following Airbnb’s recent turn to the luxury market, this paper aims to explore how Airbnb hosts construct meanings of luxury as enacted in their hosting practices.

Semi-structured interviews with 46 Airbnb hosts were undertaken using purposing sampling.

Study findings reveal that social and personal meanings of luxury manifest in host practice, with “home feeling” representing the epicentre of the luxury peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation experience.

Although this study draws from host views, it represents a first attempt to empirically examine perceptions and applications of luxury within P2P accommodation. The study provides a conceptual framework which may serve as a point of departure for further research into which luxury service dimensions guests value.

The findings of the study carry implications to the wider hospitality context. Specifically, hospitality practitioners need to reconceptualize luxury hospitality provision to promote a “homotel” accommodation model which highlights the offering of physical and social luxury dimensions in addition to elements of personalized service and home-like hedonic benefits.

The study offers a conceptual framework of the luxury P2P accommodation servicescape, which identifies two distinct luxury offerings that may be informative to both P2P accommodation providers and hospitality practitioners.

This study is an empirical exploration of the tech-based transformation strategies being adopted by luxury hotels in India to assuage the fear psychosis and restore guest confidence in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It sheds light on the “new normal” and its overarching implications for hotel operations from the user experience perspective.

A mixed method strategy was adopted for data collection. Qualitative data was gathered from a video analysis of two webinars with high-profile panels of thought leaders about the challenges arising from the global health crisis and related post-pandemic recovery strategies. This data has been triangulated with desk research and data collected through an online survey which sought to map guest sentiments with respect to resuming the use of hospitality services and their attitude towards the proposed tech transformation initiatives in the Indian luxury hospitality industry.

The research data indicates that despite their pandemic-related trepidations, people still have a strong urge to be social and to travel. Technology can play a pivotal role in creating safe spaces for social distancing, facilitating a contactless guest interface to alleviate guest concerns for safe hygiene and rebuilding customer confidence to address the trust deficit.

Hospitality organisations must be discerning in the investments they make in new technology and contactless experiences because hasty investments in extensive automation may be perceived as gimmicky by guests. Intelligent and astute use of technology tools can minimise human error, optimise service efficiency and enhance guest experience through elevated levels of personalised hospitality in luxury hotels by judiciously marrying high touch with high tech.

This study is the one of the first empirical explorations of the tech transformation strategies adopted by luxury hotels in the Indian context in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores their efforts for the continued co-creation of high value experiences based on consumer perspectives, with implications for both hospitality and tourism theory and practice.