The Ethics of AI in Hospitality and Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities

This innovative and timely book critically explores ethical and governance issues and debates relating to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the hospitality and tourism industries.

The hospitality and tourism sectors are at the forefront of technological advancements, with AI playing a pivotal role in transforming customer engagement, operational strategies, and decision-making processes. Recent innovations, particularly in generative AI applications such as chatbots, content creation, and predictive analytics, have revolutionised how services are delivered and experienced. However, these advancements come with ethical challenges, including privacy concerns in personalised marketing, biases in decision-making algorithms, the lack of transparency in AI-driven processes, issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and disparities that perpetuate systemic biases. The book aims to help businesses, researchers, and policymakers tackle these challenges and adopt responsible AI practices.

This important and topical volume offers academics, researchers, and policymakers an interdisciplinary exploration of the ethical complexities of AI in the tourism and hospitality industries and strategies to foster inclusivity and mitigate these issues.

Sanaz Vatankhah is Senior Lecturer in Business Management and Strategy and the Deputy Director of Business and Management Research (BMRI) at the University of Bedfordshire. Her research interests focus on sustainable business models, ethical AI implementation, and empowering women-led entrepreneurship. She leads internationally funded projects and has published extensively in leading journals, including Journal of Business Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Applied Health Psychology, and The Service Industries Journal.

Yanqing Duan is Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Business and Management Research Institute at the University of Bedfordshire Business School. Her research interests include the use of emerging ICTs, especially AI, and their impact on organisational performance, innovation, decision-making, and knowledge transfer. She has over 250 refereed publications in journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings.

Roya Rahimi is Professor of Marketing and Leisure Management at the University of Wolverhampton and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She leads major research and industry-facing initiatives, contributes to multiple international academic networks, and serves on several journal editorial boards, advancing scholarship and professional practice across marketing, tourism, and digital transformation. Her portfolio includes steering high-profile sector collaborations, shaping research capacity, and driving impactful, interdisciplinary projects within the United Kingdom and internationally.