The tourism sector has been one of the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
due to restrictions on mobility and fear of social contact. In this context, business
innovation through digital transformation is presented as a great opportunity for the
tourism industry and the inclusion of social robots in service tasks is an example.
This transformation requires new methodologies, skills and talent that must be promoted to improve the innovative tourism ecosystem. With this research, we try to
determine how the inclusion of social or service robots in hotels can improve the
image and perception held by clients or guests. For that, we frst analyse the degree
of knowledge and sentiment generated by social robots through a social listening
study in social networks. In addition, we determine whether these perceptions on the
subject are in tune with other more formal felds, such as scientifc research, or with
the strategies followed at a national or international level by companies, agencies
and organisations related to the technology and innovation of social robotics. For
both objectives, we use the Simbiu social listening tool, a software-based program
on Talkwalker, and we obtain interesting results. Basically, people on Twitter have
a neutral or positive feeling about the use of social robots, and people who write in
English have a more positive attitude towards social robots than Spanish speakers.
After COVID-19, are necessary changes in strategic decisions of the hospitality and
it is essential to continue investigating the role of social robots in this new context.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume
