Hospitality Guests Interest in Using Digital Tools in Common Areas of Accommodation Facilities

Nowadays, digital technologies play an increasingly important role in the tourism industry, including accommodation facilities. Modern hotels, guesthouses and recreational complexes are introducing digital tools not only within the accommodation, but also in common areas to increase guest comfort, streamline operations and improve the overall experience of the stay. However, not every guest prefers the choice of digital advancement of the industry, and therefore there is room to find out the interest in using digital tools to set future of modern business strategies in accommodation facilities. The integration of these automated solutions highlights a growing need to understand shifting consumer behavior in shared hotel spaces. The main objective of this paper is to analytically evaluate the interest of hospitality guests in using digital innovation tools in common areas in accommodation services, when having their stay in them. Specifically, the investigation focuses on modern interactive features including chatbots, voice virtual assistants, mobile reservation applications, smart lighting control, and QR codes for services or navigation. Quantitative research using questionnaire as the main research method targeted to Slovak public- tourism participants as the main research sample, utilizing a finalized dataset of 201 relevant respondents. Evaluation of the results using several methods as Kruskal-Wallis test showed their current attitudes towards the use of actually available digital tools. The nonparametric testing demonstrated statistically significant differences in preferences based on key demographic variables. The findings point to the visible orientation to digital services preference and slow transformation at tourism market facing the digital era, providing valuable insights for strategic hospitality management and tailored technological implementation

Accommodation · Digital transformation · Hospitality · Hospitality industry · Preference · Recreation · Reservation · Sharing economy · Tourism · AI in Service Interactions · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Sharing Economy and Platforms