THE VIABILITY OF SERVICE ROBOTS IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AS PERCEIVED BY MANAGERS IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES
Keywords:
service robots, hotel industry, managerial perceptions, technology acceptance, hospitality management, Cebu CityAbstract
The integration of service robots in hospitality has gained global attention, yet limited research exists on managerial perceptions in developing economies. This study examined how hotel managers in Cebu City, Philippines perceive the viability of service robots across five dimensions: manpower replacement, robot capacity, investment effectiveness, performance, and automation accuracy. Using a quantitative descriptive-correlational design, data were collected from 20 hotel managers and supervisors across nine top hotels in Metro Cebu through purposive sampling. Results revealed consistently negative perceptions (overall aggregate mean = 2.82, interpreted as "Low"), with managers disagreeing that service robots could effectively replace human employees. The performance dimension received the lowest rating (M=3.15, Disagree), while automation accuracy showed the highest relative acceptance (M=2.52, Disagree), with managers acknowledging robots' superiority in multilingual communication and computational tasks. Chi-square analysis indicated no significant relationship between demographic profiles and perceptions. Findings suggest that while managers recognize specific technological advantages of service robots, they maintain strong reservations about their holistic implementation in hospitality settings. The study contributes to the technology acceptance literature by documenting resistance factors in non-Western contexts and offers practical recommendations for educational institutions to enhance human capital through language training and critical thinking development.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ella Marie L. Riña, Jeanette Felisilda, Colien Borres, Andrew Abesia, Lenzy Diann Magsalay, Flornel Joy Macahine, Glenn R. Andrin, EdD., PhD., Mario Ramil R. Pepito, PhD., Earl Dave V. Rocha, PhD. (Author)
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