Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing IntelligenceHospitality is a highly competitive market that struggles to improve its performance. Today,
the use of technology is a critical factor for more efficient performance. For this reason,
hotels are increasingly willing to adopt information systems to optimize the performance of
their operations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the information systems’ maturity
levels of Portuguese independent hotels and small hotel chains, to map them regarding
hotels’ characteristics and identify patterns among those maturity levels.
The literature indicates that hotels are becoming more willing to adopt information systems
to optimize their operations, but it is always dependent on the decision-makers. The NEC
(Network Exploitation Capability) Model (Piccoli et al., 2011) was employed to evaluate
Portuguese hotels' information systems adoption. Quantitative and qualitative techniques
were employed to perform this research. Six hoteliers, from the 77 hotel companies
surveyed, were also interviewed, wich represented almost 10% of hotels. The results
revealed that some hotel characteristics influence the information systems’ maturity level,
which, in average, has a value of 2.7 out of 5. Nevertheless, hoteliers, on average, give a selfclassification
of 3.51.
Besides measuring hotels’ information systems’ maturity, the study goes deeper. It explores
the type of systems used by hoteliers, their main drivers and the limitations to invest in
technology or in factors that do not only influence their information system’s maturity.
Additionally, this study shows how hoteliers see the technology on their day to day
operations and staff qualification investment. Finally, this srudy corroborates the positive
impact of technology on promoting business maturity, which consequently boosts hotels’
performance and competitiveness
