x=(tourism_work) y=(sdg8) while y=true: automate(x)

Highlights

• Automation is adopted as a strategy to address labor shortage issues in tourism.

• While displacing some tourism employment, automation also creates new tasks and roles.

• Automation can promote decent work in tourism by effective human-machine cooperation.

• Automation may improve and increase working conditions, rewards, and empowerment.

• Preparing for a more automated future requires investment in skills development.

Abstract

Increasing implementation of automation has brought global concern over the future of jobs in various sectors. This study conceptualizes how automation, found in tourism to be driven largely by labor shortage, can be used to promote decent work. Utilizing Grounded Theory to analyze data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with industry practitioners, this study provides rich descriptions of the transformation brought by automation to companies, employees, and wider society and develops a theoretical model to explain ‘Decent Work through Automation’ (DW–A). In doing so, this study opens a pathway for further research on technology and decent work in tourism, including second- and third-order impacts of automation. The paper offers practitioners and policymakers guidelines for responsible adoption of automation.

Introduction

Today's society is marked by the fourth industrial revolution, or ‘Industry 4.0’ (Schwab, 2017). This term is used to describe a set of transformations, both ongoing and impending, brought by rapidly emerging technologies referred to as cyber-physical systems. Technological advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are projected to profoundly impact many aspects of life (ICAR, 2018), introduce new ways of creating value, and disrupt current industries and organizational models (WEF, 2018). The anticipated scale and scope of automation our society will experience due to the use of AI and robots brings an added layer of anxiety to the global concern for jobs (Manyika et al., 2017; UNA-UK, 2018). AI, automation and robotics have the potential to create employment for a lot of people and thus be a significant driver of economic growth (Ernst, Merola, & Samaan, 2018). However, there is a legitimate concern that the use of robots will displace demand for human labor, especially low-skilled workers and those performing routinized tasks, in a broad range of sectors and industries (Das & Hilgenstock, 2018; Frey & Osborne, 2017). The labor-intensive travel and tourism sector is no exception.

The WEF (2018) has projected that in the next five years 75 million jobs will be replaced due to automation, while an additional 133 million new jobs will be created. As a result, a new approach to support job transitions, including reskilling and retraining effort, will be necessary. Even for occupations that will not be replaced entirely by machines, reskilling and upskilling of employees will be required due to the significant change automation will bring to work (Dobrusin, 2019). As an increasing number of tasks within tourism and hospitality services will fall victim to impending automation, companies are faced with deciding to either lay off people as their roles become redundant, or restructure and reinvent existing roles, letting robots take over boring and demeaning jobs, giving more meaningful tasks to humans. Importantly, a new breed of fully automated hospitality services (e.g., robotized hotels) has been introduced as novel offerings in the sector. Following in the footsteps of airline companies to apply self-service technologies, they rely on radical efficiency from needing less human labor.

In order to guarantee that adoption of advanced technologies will promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable growth, the transition to automation needs to be made in a responsible and accountable manner (ICAR, 2018). Policymakers are called to prioritize investments in decent and sustainable work, to put in place plans for job creation, to support transitioning workers, and to provide wider social protections (Benson Wahlén, 2019; UNA-UK, 2018). Equally important is the role companies play in helping workers adapt and prepare for new opportunities brought by AI and robotics. Ultimately, using technological innovation to accelerate the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8, which promotes full and productive employment and decent work for all, requires policymakers and companies to work synergistically (ICAR, 2018). The limited empirical research in this area means despite the increasing automation in travel and tourism it is largely unknown if the underlying people management strategies that come with the adoption of automation are in line with supporting human development and providing safe, stable, and well-paid jobs.

This study aims to better understand whether and how companies use automation to support the provision of decent work in travel and tourism. To that end, the study addresses the following research questions: How and why are travel and tourism companies currently implementing automation? How do these strategies reflect the SDGs and how can automation be leveraged to provide decent work in tourism? We gathered information by way of in-depth interviews with managers of fully automated hotels and restaurants and focus group discussions with a group of tourism and hospitality practitioners whose organizations have adopted varying levels of automation. Themes emerging from the narratives were analyzed to gain a better understanding of the current practice of automation and provision of decent work in the travel and tourism sector. The results contribute to guiding the direction for responsible and accountable adoption of automation in travel and tourism.