This study aims to map and analyzes the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) research in the hospitality industry, offering a comprehensive overview of influential works, thematic clusters and future research needs.
A bibliometric review of 3,086 English-language publications retrieved from Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus was undertaken. VOSviewer was used to conduct citation, co-citation and keyword co-occurrence analyses, enabling identification of leading authors, journals, collaboration networks and emergent themes.
The analysis identified four primary research themes synthesized from the co-citation and keyword co-occurrence clusters: AI-powered automation and robotics, sentiment analysis and opinion mining, generative AI and conversational agents and AI-powered smart hospitality and Internet of Things (IoT) integration. The paper develops a theme-based research roadmap that links the identified clusters to future research questions on ethical governance, human-AI collaboration, employee AI literacy, sustainability, multimodal sentiment analysis, automation and robotics, cross-cultural algorithmic adaptability and explainable AI.
The review is limited to two databases and English-language sources; conference abstracts and gray literature were excluded. Future studies could include additional databases, longitudinal qualitative assessments and cross-language comparisons to enhance understanding.
Managers can use the thematic map and roadmap to prioritize investments in AI-driven automation, data analytics capabilities and staff upskilling while addressing ethical, cultural and sustainability considerations.
This study focused exclusively on AI within hospitality and, based on 3,086 publications from Scopus and Web of Science, provides one of the most comprehensive hospitality-specific mappings of AI. The study develops an evidence-based thematic framework and research roadmap that complements existing reviews across hospitality and tourism.
