Mixed method research on the use of smart tourism technologies in hotel businesses

Today, the use of technology in every aspect of life has led people to live lives intertwined with technological tools. Thanks to the conveniences offered by technology, the frequency of use has increased and work has become faster and easier. This situation has also driven hotel enterprises to incorporate technology into their operations. In order to remain competitive and attract guests, hotel businesses must adopt technological innovations. To respond quickly to guest needs and expectations and to improve service quality and satisfaction levels, hotel enterprises benefit from smart tourism technologies. Smart tourism technologies that have been used in hotel businesses increase the income of the business, enable it to make profits and create a positive image by providing a sustainable competitive advantage. Additionally, it contributes to guest satisfaction and the enhancement of personalized guest experiences. The primary aim of this study is to determine the level of use and implementation of smart tourism technologies offered to guests by managers and employees in hotel enterprises. A secondary objective of the study is to identify whether there are differences in the perception levels of managers and employees toward smart tourism technologies, using a developed scale. The research employed a mixed methods approach and adopted an exploratory sequential design. To determine the level of use and implementation of smart tourism technologies offered to guests in hotel enterprises, a qualitative research method was utilized. In this context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 hotel managers operating in the Kemer and Belek regions of Antalya. The obtained data were analyzed using content analysis through MAXQDA 2022 software. To determine the perception levels of hotel employees toward smart tourism technologies, a quantitative method was employed using a survey technique, with data collected from 531 participants. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows 22.0 and SAS 9.4. To determine whether demographic and occupational characteristics had a significant impact on participants' perceptions of smart tourism technologies, t-tests and ANOVA were conducted, considering that the data were normally distributed. Based on the qualitative findings, it was concluded that smart tourism technologies improve service quality, guest satisfaction, and loyalty, enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, accelerate communication networks, save time, and provide ease of use for in-room technologies and sustainability efforts. On the other hand, several challenges were identified, including high costs and budget constraints, lack of infrastructure, shortage of qualified personnel, generational differences, guest profiles, and issues related to training. Furthermore, participants expressed that the future of smart tourism technologies may involve changes to traditional structures, evolving guest attitudes toward technology, use of robotics, concerns about unemployment, digitalization, and the implementation of online check-in and check-out systems. Quantitative findings showed no significant relationship between participants' perceptions of smart tourism technologies and variables such as gender or the number of years the enterprise has been in operation. However, significant relationships were found with variables such as age, level of education, job position, length of service in the current establishment, total experience in the tourism sector, and the ownership status of the business. Key Words: Antalya, Hotel Industry, Smart Tourism, Tourism Technology