Artificial intelligence is still struggling to fully convince professionals in French hospitality, who remain more cautious than their foreign counterparts regarding its real effects on their daily work.
This is the main finding of Mews, from its study conducted among 1,000 hospitality professionals across five countries: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Canada.
This is the main finding of Mews, from its study conducted among 1,000 hospitality professionals across five countries: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Canada.
Des hôteliers français sur la réserve
According to the study data, in France, 69 % of respondents believe that AI should primarily aim to enhance productivity and the quality of work. A figure relatively close to the average of the four other markets (63 %).
But when it comes to measuring concrete benefits, French professionals are more skeptical.
Only 53 % think AI will create more skilled and better-paid jobs, compared with 68 % in other countries.
They are also 62 % who believe it will help reduce stress and the workload of client-facing teams, versus 74 % elsewhere.
But when it comes to measuring concrete benefits, French professionals are more skeptical.
Only 53 % think AI will create more skilled and better-paid jobs, compared with 68 % in other countries.
They are also 62 % who believe it will help reduce stress and the workload of client-facing teams, versus 74 % elsewhere.
Une IA qui doit répondre aux réalités du terrain
This caution is explained by the specifics of how hotel work is organized in France.
According to the study, French teams devote 30% of their week to direct interactions with customers, compared to 23 % on average in other markets studied.
Therefore, automation expectations are mainly aimed at tasks that can free up time for the staff. Nearly 44 % of French respondents thus want to automate the management of customer complaints, compared with 35 % in other countries.
Requests related to check-in/out, taxis and transportation also rank among the priorities, with 39 % of respondents, versus 30 % elsewhere.
According to the study, French teams devote 30% of their week to direct interactions with customers, compared to 23 % on average in other markets studied.
Therefore, automation expectations are mainly aimed at tasks that can free up time for the staff. Nearly 44 % of French respondents thus want to automate the management of customer complaints, compared with 35 % in other countries.
Requests related to check-in/out, taxis and transportation also rank among the priorities, with 39 % of respondents, versus 30 % elsewhere.
The flaws of AI, a major hindrance
Beyond usage, the study highlights a technical challenge that concerns all markets: data access.
Across the five countries studied, 73 % of hoteliers using AI report having already obtained erroneous, incomplete, or irrelevant results because the tool could not access information hosted in another system. For 23 % of them, this problem occurs regularly.
Across the five countries studied, 73 % of hoteliers using AI report having already obtained erroneous, incomplete, or irrelevant results because the tool could not access information hosted in another system. For 23 % of them, this problem occurs regularly.
