Stanislav H Ivanov

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Varna University of Management

The technological advances in the last decades are transforming the global economy and society paving the way for the automated economic system, aka robonomics. This editorial provides a brief overview of automation technologies, their application in various sectors of the economy and society, and elaborates on robonomics as an economic system and...

Purpose The purpose of this perspective paper is to investigate the role of robots in tourism’s contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach With a deep analysis of the 17 SDGs and their 169 targets, the authors provide an interpretation on both the positive and negative impacts of robots...

This study explores the influences of the incorporation of service robots in the service delivery systems of tourism and hospitality companies on the perceived discrimination of tourists and tourism employees. In doing so, a conceptual framework is proposed to explain the relationships between robots-based service delivery systems in tourism and ho...

Artificial intelligence (AI) advances have allowed for AI's wide application in marketing. The general assumption of marketing theory currently is that AI should be used by companies to enable more effective marketing, hence it is the supply side in the 'seller-customer' relationship that should use the AI. However, this does not need to be necessa...

This study elaborates on the economics of the Metaverse in tourism and hospitality. It identifies the Metaverse stakeholders from a tourism perspective, namely: IT companies (infrastructure), IT companies (Metaverse presence), tourism and hospitality companies, other (non-tourism) companies, destination management organisations, tourists, and publi...

Religion is one lens in which people understand the world around them and interpret the world around them. However, it is unclear whether religion has an impact upon attitudes towards robots around the world. In this article, the authors investigate how an individual’s religiosity impacts upon perceptions of robots. The article investigates how an...

Purpose To evaluate the role of robots, artificial intelligence and service automation in mitigating the labour shortages in tourism and hospitality. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. Findings Robots, artificial intelligence and service automation have substitution, enhancement and transformational effects on tasks and jobs....

Purpose The proliferation of Smart Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Algorithms (STARA) in the tourism and hospitality (T&H) industry has been shown to trigger negative employee behaviour associated with awareness of these technologies. This study expands the existing literature on technology and organisational behaviour from the...

This paper investigates the structural connections between hotel customers’ general perceptions of technology, their perceptions toward service robots, emotions expectations, brand-related perceptions, and their behavioural intentions toward hotel brands that use service robots. It employs a quantitative approach by analysing data gathered through...

The paper presents how digital technologies could influence the four realms of cultural tourism experiences (entertainment, education, esthetic and escapist). In particular, the paper focuses on digital displays, kiosks, chatbots, mobile apps, augment and virtual realities, holograms, drones and robots, and elaborates on their advantages, disadvant...

This paper verifies the capacity of generative AI (ChatGPT in particular) to design a marketing strategy for a hotel by using the example of a 5-star property in the centre of Lisbon. The indicative solutions and reflexive tactics suggested by Dwivedi et al. (2023) were used to develop the prompts based on which ChatGPT designed the hotel's marketi...

Generative AI has become a disruptive force for the Tourism industry. While its potential for generating unique content has been acknowledged, its feasibility for tourists remains unclear. This paper analyses ChatGPT as an itinerary planner. It compares ChatGPT-generated itineraries for 3 destinations with those developed by tourism experts. The ev...

Purpose – By focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) and tourism automation, this perspective paper aims to investigate how tourism and automation will work to create a world in which tourism has more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Design/methodology/approach – This perspective paper reviews the past developments of a...

The chapter focuses on the economic aspects of generative AI. It looks at the cost–benefit analysis of generative AI implementation in a company, delves into the automatability of tasks by generative AI, evaluates its substitution, enhancement (augmentation) and transformational effects, discusses it economic limitations and its micro-and macroecon...

The research on emotional intelligence in social robots is growing. This paper provides a thematic analysis of the studies on robots and emotional intelligence, synthesising and evaluating current knowledge and research topics. In addition, based on the thematic analysis of the studies, it also provides a conceptual framework explaining the emotion...

Purpose The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is disrupting various industries, including the tourism sector. This paper aims to outline the applications, benefits and risks of ChatGPT and large language models in general on tourism. It also aims to establish a research agenda for investigating the implications of these models in tourism. De...

This paper aims to shed light on the opportunities offered by smart tourism while also highlighting the potential challenges that lie ahead. This issue focuses on three main sub-topics to help us catch a glimpse of the tourism of the future. The first concerns digitalization, social media, and their economic impact on tourism, the second focuses on...

The paper investigates the attitudes of hoteliers towards the use of artificial intelligence in the decision-making process in various departments within hotels. It evaluates the preferences towards four decision-making approaches (‘human only’, ‘human-in-the-loop’, ‘human-on-the-loop’ and ‘human-out-of-the-loop’) applied to 23 decisions in 8 hotel...

This chapter explores the ways in which Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Service Automation (“RAISA”) will influence the quality of life of tourists, tourism and hospitality employees, and local residents due to the increasing integration of automation technologies into travel, tourism, and hospitality (“TTH”). In order to explain this, the aut...

The research presents the results of a quantitative survey of senior managers’ evaluation of proficiency of employees’ social skills completed in 2019 within the framework of the Next Tourism Generation Alliance, a European Commission funded project. The current and future levels of proficiency, social skills gaps and training are assessed. The sam...

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) offers important opportunities for the hospitality and tourism (HT) industry in the context of operations, design, marketing, destination management, human resources, revenue management, accounting and finance, strategic management, and beyond. However, the implementation of GAI in HT contexts comes with eth...

Purpose The paper aims to evaluate the ways ChatGPT is going to disrupt tourism education and research. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. Findings ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize tourism education and research because it can do what students and researchers should do, namely, generate text (assignments and researc...

Purpose – This study examines the relationships between hospitality work experience factors and employees’ preference to work in a chain or independent hotel. Methodology/Design/Approach – Quantitative data were collected from hotel employees in Bulgaria who worked in independent and chain hotels. A total of 150 valid responses were used to conduct...

This paper examines various models of academic publishing and considers their relative advantages for authors, readers, academic institutions and society. Relevant factors in driving authors’ choice of journal include the journal’s scope, reputation and publishing model used. Authors’ choices are shaped by the expectations of academic institutions...

Изследователските дейности в социалните науки неминуемо включват участието на хора с различни социални и личностни характеристики, което поражда редица етични въпроси. За да се отговори на възникналите етични проблеми и да се гарантират правата на участниците, много институции са въвели задължителни етични стандарти, включително изискване за предва...

The report focuses on some of the digital technologies in tourism and hospitality, namely digital displays, kiosks, mobile applications, smart appliances, intelligent automation, chatbots, biometric technologies, voice-controlled virtual assistants, virtual and augmented reality, drones, robots, and the internet of things. It discusses the scope of...

This editorial presents some of the key changes in the European Journal of Tourism Research in the period 2018-2022. In particular, the journal changed its publishing model and became a Platinum open-access journal, the journal’s scope was amended to focus on European tourism, an online submission system was introduced, and the editorial team was e...

This paper investigates tourists’ preferences toward the humans-robots ratio in the service delivery systems of tourism and hospitality companies and the factors that shape them. The sample includes 1537 respondents from nearly 100 countries. The findings show that a higher preferred share of robots is positively associated with the perceived emoti...

This study surveyed 178 managers and employees of public and private organisations in Bulgaria to evaluate their perceptions towards the effects of LGBT inclusion on the business processes in their organisations, namely, human resource management, operations management and marketing. Non-parametric tests, factor and regression analyses were used to...

Robots are rapidly taking over tasks in the workplace. However, there has been little or no research on the specifics of how the public views the use of robotic technologies in events. In this research note, we use data from a large-scale international survey to learn about how the general public views the use of robots in events and what attitudes...

The first is an academic viewpoint, written by Prof. Stanislav Ivanov from Varna University of Management. He suggests academic research accepts and pays more attention to the economics of technologies in travel, tourism, and hospitality. According to Ivanov, travel, tourism, and hospitality (TTH) are intrinsically connected to technology. At the s...

Purpose This viewpoint is a response to Yeoman's (2022) editorial on Sunderland AFC and the future of tourism. This viewpoint aims to outline the lessons one can learn from Star Wars about the future of tourism. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the live-action movies and series of the Star Wars franchise. Findings The paper derives s...

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have allowed for the wide application of AI in marketing. The general assumption of marketing theory currently is that AI should be used by companies to enable cheaper and more effective marketing, hence it is the supply side in the 'seller-customer' relationship that should use the AI. However, this does no...

This research analyses the current self-reported level of proficiency of environmental skills, the required future level of proficiency, and the gaps between them. Given the increasingly urgent need for the tourism industry to take action to support environmental management practices, this research provides evidence of key environmental skill gaps....

Purpose The hospitality industry in developed countries is under pressure due to labor shortages and it is likely more food and beverage operations will have to be automated in the future. This research investigates the public’s perceptions of the use of robots in food and beverage operations to learn about how the public perceives automation in fo...

Purpose This paper aims to analyse three decision-making approaches that involve humans and artificial autonomous agents, namely, human “in the loop”, “on the loop” and “out of the loop” and identifies the decision characteristics that determine the choice of a decision-making approach. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that a...

As globalisation increases, Higher Education Institutions are challenged to produce more young graduates to meet the corporate world's demand for highly qualified, mobile international managers. Business and management programmes are required to have international components to attract the best students. To date, the majority of research has focuse...

This paper provides a review of research on robotics in crises, disasters, and crisis management, and identifies research gaps and directions for future research. The paper analyses 74 English-language publications between 2000 and 2020 identified through the Scopus database. Seven research domains were identified: “Robot”, “Human”, “Public Adminis...

This study explores the elements of the 'New Normal' in the (post-)viral tourism and assesses the role of technology. The 'New Normal' of (post-)viral tourism includes supply-related elements (operations, marketing , and finance and strategic management) and demand-related aspects (psychological issues and travel behaviour). Companies would need to...

In recent years, there has been a popularization of non-mainstream sexual/cultural practices. The sensation of Fifty Shades of Grey has led to the general public becoming increasingly aware of the kink/BDSM lifestyle. The BDSM/kink/sado-masochist lifestyle has largely thrived under the radar of many in the general public and the subculture/lifestyl...

The impacts that AI and robotics systems can and will have on our everyday lives are already making themselves manifest. However, there is a lack of research on the ethical impacts and means for amelioration regarding AI and robotics within tourism and hospitality. Given the importance of designing technologies that cross national boundaries, and g...

Purpose This paper aims to investigate potential consumers’ willingness to pay for robot-delivered services in travel, tourism and hospitality, and the factors that shape their willingness to pay. Design/methodology/approach An online survey yielded a sample of 1,573 respondents from 99 countries. Independent samples t -test, Analysis of variance...

The paper evaluates the perceptions of Turkish restaurant managers and customers towards service robots. The sample includes 26 managers and 32 customers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that robots are suitable for dirty, dull, dangerous and repetitive tasks. Customers have mostly positive attitudes towa...

The aim of this paper is to identify differences between the people of Generation Z and Non-Generation Z and a potential demand for sea cruises. Data were collected during the period of May-June 2017 in the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil) through a survey of 312 respondents who had never taken a sea cruise. Data were analysed with exploratory factor...

In this article, the authors investigate the way that the public views automation technologies and their usage in tourist transportation based on data from a large-scale international survey. The authors explore the use of robots for the provision of information with regards to travel, the use of autonomous vehicles, and other robot-delivered trans...

Customisation in hospitality has received comparatively low attention. Therefore, the current study fills this gap by exploring customer perspective on the customisable hotel product elements, and the willingness to pay for them. Findings show that contrary to the global trend towards customisation and personalisation, customers prefer to customise...

Purpose This research discusses the role of service robots in gastronomic and dining experiences in a post–coronavirus disease (COVID) world. Design/methodology/approach The research note draws on secondary data to analyse the use of robots as an important mechanism to address the impacts of global disease outbreaks on the food industry, as relate...

Hotel chains are major actors in the hospitality industry. Still, many hoteliers have not decided yet whether to join their properties to a chain or stay independent. The paper explores how the managers of Bulgarian independent hotels perceive hotel chains as a development opportunity. More specifically it evaluated their opinions about the advanta...

This paper identifies the categories of accommodation establishments’ names in Bulgaria and determines the role of a property’s characteristics (category, location, type, and size/capacity) on the chosen name using a quantitative approach. The findings indicate that male, female, and family names, and names indicating geographic toponyms, represent...

COVID-19 pandemic is affecting negatively the tourism and hospitality industry. As people must avoid physical interaction, service robots can be a useful tool to ensure a high level of physical social distance during the epidemic. This paper steps on available secondary data and discusses whether the application of service robots to provide physica...

This paper deepens the knowledge in the field of revenue management (RM) by investigating the extent to which RM practices are adopted by hotels in Italy. Specifically, using a sample of 248 Italian hotels, it aims to identify whether they actually adopt RM practices, to profile them based on the frequency/degree of usage of RM tools, and to invest...

The COVID-19 pandemic has a massive influence upon the working environments of scholars globally. In this paper, we investigate how the changing conditions under which individuals work because of various restrictions have influenced the productivity of scholars based on a global sample of 1073 scholars from 83 countries. The findings show that tour...

This paper investigates the official tourism websites for the Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey to learn about its depiction of the nation for an international tourism market. The research combines Pauwels’ (2012) multimodal discourse an...

Purpose This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies. Design/methodology/approach Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operato...

Adopting a supply-side perspective, the paper analyses Bulgarian hotel managers' perceptions of service robots using a convergent mixed methods design. Struc-tured quantitative data were collected from 79 managers using a questionnaire, while interviews were used for the collection of qualitative data from 20 managers. The findings indicate respond...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the robotic restaurant experience of travellers around the world and understand the components of robotic restaurant experience. Design/methodology/approach – Travellers who had experienced a robotic restaurant were purposefully selected as a sample group for the study. As the robotic restauran...

New technologies offer employers the ability to replace tasks done by human labour with those done by machines. There are challenges for both employers and employees, as employers look for strategies for the implementation of automation technologies and employees may have concerns about their employment being threatened by automation technologies....

This paper provides a comprehensive review of Scopus-indexed English language publications on entrepreneurship in cultural and creative industries and the arts, identifies research gaps, and gives directions for future research. The paper analyses 131 publications published in the period 1982 – 2019 through quantitative analysis of frequencies, cro...

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework of the service delivery system design for hospitality firms in the (post-)viral world. Several theoretical approaches such as resource-based view, value chain analysis, stake-holder theory, PESTEL analysis, positioning strategy, and service delivery system design were adopted. The paper identified t...

The paper analyses the travel intentions of tourists in the post-pandemic world. The sample includes 974 respondents from Bulgaria. The findings show that most of the respondents are ready to travel within 2 months after travel is allowed in the country. For their first trip, respondents will travel in the country, by their car and with their famil...

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 will have a significant influence on travel, tourism and hospitality (TTH) globally. With a massive reduction in tourism globally because of the health crisis, the industry will have to plan recovery and rebuilding of the industry with greater consideration of the biosecurity of customers. A critical element in the reo...

The paper analyses the travel intentions of tourists in the post-pandemic world. The sample includes 974 respondents from Bulgaria. The findings show that most of the respondents are ready to travel within two months after travel is allowed in the country. For their first trip, they will travel in the country, by their car and with their family. Hy...

Adopting a supply-side perspective, the present paper analyses Bulgarian hotel managers’ perceptions of service robots using a convergent mixed methods design. Structured quantitative data was collected from 79 hotel managers through a questionnaire, while interviews were used for the collection of qualitative data from 20 hotel managers. The findi...

The present study discusses the strategic role of gastronomy in destinations from the perspective of three theoretical foundations of strategic management, namely Resource-Based View (RBV), Emergent Strategy (ES), and Positioning Strategy (PS). Several concepts from the field of gastronomy are used, such as gastronomic identity, tourist behaviours...

This viewpoint discusses the impacts of automation technologies on tourism and hospitality jobs by delving into the mechanisms through which automation eliminates, transforms, and creates job positions in the industry. It elaborates on the tourism and hospitality jobs of the future, the skills that tourism and hospitality employees would need, and...