Abstract
•ICTs can negatively affect hotel guest experience.•Calm ICT design is introduced into hospitality discourse.•Application of calm ICT design in hotels is reviewed.•Implications for hotel management are discussed.
There has recently been a call for revisiting the effect of ICT on guest experience in hotels. This is because the ICT solutions can act not only as enhancers of hotel guest experience, but also as its inhibitors. In response to this call, the notion of calm ICT design has been introduced. Calm ICT design describes the ICT solutions that are used only when and if required, thus not calling user’s attention at all times. Although this concept is highly relevant to the hospitality industry, it has never been systematically considered within. This paper conceptualizes calm ICT design for application in the hospitality context. To this end, it analyzes the ICT solutions that are currently employed by hospitality businesses from the calm ICT design perspective; discusses how the opportunities offered by calm ICT design can be better capitalized upon by hospitality managers; and outlines directions for future research.