The findings, released by hospitality platform Mews, highlight a distinct divide between transactional needs and personal service. While 59% of respondents support using AI to handle repetitive administrative tasks, they remain resistant to replacing human interaction in high-touch areas. Even for routine tasks like arranging taxis, 44% of travelers prefer a human assistant over 28% who would opt for an automated system.

This preference intensifies as the nature of the service shifts toward personalization. For bar and restaurant service, 72% of guests demand human interaction, while 66% expect a person at the front desk. Crucially, 75% of guests believe that high-quality hospitality depends on staff presence, regardless of the underlying technology. Richard Valtr, founder of Mews, noted that the winning strategy for hotels over the next decade involves unifying systems to liberate staff from screens, allowing them to focus on genuine guest engagement rather than automating the entire journey.

Concerns regarding the labor force also persist, with 67% of travelers expressing worry about staff displacement caused by AI. Half of the surveyed group stated they would be uncomfortable if a hotel reduced its human workforce to adopt new technologies, suggesting that guests value the human element as a core component of the value proposition they pay for.