GenAI in Hospitality Sector Study 2026 - LNU - Group 07

This study aims to investigate the perception of customers regarding the impact of generative AI on their decision-making in choosing the services offered in the hospitality industry, such as hotels, restaurants, and travel services, especially when traveling abroad. Using a qualitative research design based on structured interviews, this study investigates the impact that GenAI has on trust, human interaction within service experience, and information processing.

The findings show that GenAI can be used as a cognitive decision-support tool that enables users to process large amounts of information efficiently, reduce uncertainty, and make more structured, faster decisions. This is very valuable in an unfamiliar international travel context, as there often is restricted access to digestible and reliable information. Furthermore trust in GenAI is not unconditional, while users often find information efficient and useful, they are still aware of its limitations. This results in consumers adopting a hybrid approach, adopting AI as a guiding tool, while still making the final decision personally.

The study also explores a shift in human interaction, where an over reliance on GenAI diminishes the social interactions with service providers. Despite the fact that GenAI increases convenience, it also potentially can reduce the experimental and social aspect of hospitality service. Overall, the findings of this study show that GenAI increases decision quality and efficiency, but also introduces new challenges correlated to reduce human interaction, dependence, and trust. Thus suggests that there is a need to balance technology with the human element of service.

This study is guided by the research question: How do customers perceive the influence of generative AI on their decision-making when selecting hospitality services during international travel?