Autonomous Enterprise as a Model of Hotel Operation in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The article aims to identify modern technological solutions in the field of automation and robotization of business processes that change the way hotel enterprises operate in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the research problem was expressed in the form of a question: what tools favor the dynamic digital transformation of hotel functioning models and the implementation of the paradigm of intelligent and autonomous entities operating in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel market? During the empirical research, the use and implementation of new solutions in the field of innovative technologies supporting the optimization of processes taking place in hotel enterprises were considered. In addition, technologies and tools were identified that are considered strategic from the perspective of implementing the concept of an autonomous hotel carried out under the influence of the crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the specific purpose of the article, a survey was conducted using the questionnaire method with the Computer Assisted Web Interview technique alongside a self-developed questionnaire. The survey was carried out in June–September 2021 among 462 representatives of hotel companies operating in the three-, four- and five-star standards. The results of the diagnostic survey were statistically analyzed using the Statistica and RStudio software packages. To interpret the obtained data, the descriptive method, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis were used. As a result of the conducted research, it was noticed that the COVID-19 pandemic obligated hotels to automate processes that made it possible to connect devices within digital ecosystems and to optimize processes inside vertical and horizontal value chains. Such activities enabled the creation of a new model of hotel functioning referred to as an autonomous enterprise. Nowadays, one of the most important strategic behaviors of hotel entities is the ability to quickly counteract crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related choice of the right course of action, as well as the ability to immediately make the right decisions. The research results may motivate the implementation of new technologies in the area of transforming and developing digital business models by hotels. The issues presented in the article are an attempt to fill the gap by pointing out practical experiences related to the use of individual technological solutions and their effectiveness in process automation and implementation of autonomous models of functioning of entities in the hotel services sector.