Japan is one of the first countries to have a hotel that is operated by robots. Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan, is the name of the first hotel. The hotel has approximately 20 human staffs and the rest are robots, including a robotic dinosaur that is a receptionist. This hotel is rated 5 stars and because of that, in 2015, a robot named Mario created to be work at Marriott Hotel in Belgium. Therefore, they could start adding robots to the industry. Mario can welcome guests in up to 19 languages. A similar machine, that is run by IBM's human-mimicking computer, has just been put in to work at Hilton McLean Hotel in Virginia, USA.  An engineer at TOSHIBA in Berlin made a receptionist named Chihira Kanae. She, like Mario, can also speak 19 languages and tell random stories. Many people fear that robots are going to replace human jobs, but Marriott's General Manager, Roger Langhout, said that is not going to happen since you can program the robot to a certain extent. 

Japan

• http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/17/hotels/hotels-robot-future-travel/

• A Tour of the World's First Robot-Staffed Hotel (02:22) 

Belgium

• http://stories.marriott.com/robot-at-your-service/

• http://www.4hoteliers.com/itb/newsarticle/487

USA 

• https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/49307.wss

• http://news.hiltonworldwide.com/index.cfm/news/hilton-and-ibm-pilot-connie-the-worlds-first-watsonenabled-hotel-concierge

Technology has developed immensely since a few decades ago. Imagine, going into a hotel, thinking that there would be a human receptionist but all of a sudden it is a robot, how would you feel? The U.S. online bookings company Travelzoo had a survey. It shows that out of 6,000 travelers that were surveyed globally, roughly 2/3 of the people said they would be comfortable being welcomed by robots. 

Since well known hotels worldwide started to have robots, we can assume that this is a trend today. Also, there is high possibility that robots would work in this hospitality industry in the future. 

Karina and Yuko's point of view is it is worth to try to stay at these hotels and see how we like. Manuela has the opposite point of view that it is so weird and will not be comfortable. Some of them are might be interested, some are offensive, yet maybe one day a robot hotel is coming in Canada as well.

Questions 

1) In the long run, say 10 years from now, would replacing humans with robots still be effective? Why?

2) Besides the fear that robots will take human jobs, what are some other down sides to replacing humans with robots?

3) Be creative, what are some other futuristic and innovated ways that hotels can attract more people in the years to come?

Reference

A., Waters. (2016, March 12). The Marriott hotel in Ghent has moved from training staff to building its own, the Belgian hotel has become the first in Europe to employ a humanoid robot, although he had taken the day off from his duties to make an appearance at the ITB Convention in Berlin. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://www.4hoteliers.com/itb/newsarticle/487

E., B. (2015, September 11). Robot at Your Service - Heart of the House. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://stories.marriott.com/robot-at-your-service/

Hilton And IBM Pilot “Connie,” The World’s First Watson-Enabled Hotel Concierge. (2016, March 9). Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://news.hiltonworldwide.com/index.cfm/news/hilton-and-ibm-pilot-connie-the-worlds-first-watsonenabled-hotel-concierge

Meet Connie: Pilot of the first cognitive-powered robot. (2016, March 9). Retrieved October 14, 2016, from https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/49307.wss

Neild, B. (2016, March 23). Japan's robot hotel opens its (automatic) doors. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/17/travel/japan-hotel-robot-opens/index.html

Wong, M. H. (2016, January 12). Japan's robot hotel opens its (automatic) doors. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/17/travel/japan-hotel-robot-opens/index.html