Structural resources or managerial cognition? Explaining hoteliers’ perceived impact of artificial intelligence in hospitality

The hospitality industry is rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI), yet hotels differ in, how they perceive its impact. This study examines whether these perceptions are, shaped more by structural resources or by managerial cognition. Survey data from 747, hotel managers across five European countries are used to analyze the effects of hotel, size, staff size, business evaluation scope, and cognitive flexibility. Business evaluation, scope reflects the breadth of performance indicators monitored, while cognitive, flexibility captures managers adaptive thinking. Results show that staff size, business, evaluation scope, and cognitive flexibility are positively associated with perceived AI, impact, whereas hotel size measured by number of rooms is not. The findings suggest, that managerial cognition plays a more important role than physical scale in shaping AI, awareness. This study advances hospitality digital transformation research by, highlighting cognitive readiness as a key driver of AI adoption.