Investigating the impact of smart hotel technologies on tourist revisit intention: With special reference to chain hotels in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The world tourism sector has entered a digital era with the improvement of Smart Hotel Technologies (SHTs). More hotels are becoming smart hotels, relying on smart technologies to attract more tourists and provide memorable experiences that are full of satisfaction. Sri Lanka is one of the greatest tourist destinations, full of natural beauty. The Sri Lankan tourism sector declined significantly due to the impact of the COVID - 19 outbreak. However, there could be a renaissance with continuous arrival of international tourists to Sri Lanka during the winter season 2023 - 2024. Smart tourism is one of the best alternatives to re-establish the Sri Lankan tourism paradise to provide a secure and high-quality digital experience with greater value. This study aims to identify the impact of smart tourism applications on the revisit intention by using a quantitative approach; data from 109 international tourists across chain hotels were analysed via SPSS. Results revealed that interactivity (β = 0.453, p−value < 0.001) and personalisation (β = 0.273, p−value = 0.003) had significant positive effects on revisit intention, while accessibility and informativeness showed no significant impact. The findings highlight the importance of responsive and customized SHTs in fostering tourist loyalty and offer practical insights for hoteliers to adopt advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and (Virtual Reality) VR.