This study explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer perceptions and behavior in restaurants, airline companies, and hotel sectors within the hospitality industry of Iran. The primary objective is to analyze how AI affects customer trust, brand engagement, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and tourists’ readiness to use AI technologies. Using a comparative analysis approach and surveys, this research tests hypotheses about the effects of artificial intelligence on various dimensions of customer interaction. The findings highlight significant relationships between the quality of artificial intelligence and customer engagement metrics, such as trust and brand loyalty, which are crucial for understanding and predicting customer behavior in response to technological advancements. This study lays the groundwork for theoretical assumptions about sustainability in these sectors in developing countries, providing a basis for future empirical research that could validate these assumptions and explore broader implications of AI integration in enhancing sustainable practices within the hospitality industry.

One of the key elements for the development of an agro-tourism destination can be specific gastronomy. In this context, research and understanding of the motivation of tourists who visit those destinations can influence the development of the concept of their sustainability, which was the goal of this research. The research was conducted during 2022 on a total sample of 607 respondents who stayed in agro-tourism destinations in the Republic of Serbia. The paper presents motivational factors that potentially influence the frequency of gastronomic tourists to try local gastronomic specialties and food in agro-tourism destinations. The results indicate that the cultural experience dimension, excitement dimension, interpersonal, relation dimension, and sensory appeal dimension show a significant influence on the visitation of agro-tourism destinations by gastronomic tourists, while the health concern dimension factor does not show statistical significance. The results undoubtedly indicate that certain socio-demographic characteristics of gastro-tourists have an impact on the development of an agro-tourism destination, in the direction that the more educated as well as women have more positive attitudes towards the influence of motivational factors on the development of an agro-tourism destination.

This study investigates the perceptions of employees in the hotel industry of the Republic of Serbia regarding the acceptance and importance of artificial intelligence (AI). Through a modified UTAUT model and the application of structural equation analysis (SEM), we investigated the key factors shaping AI acceptance. Research results show that behavioral intention and habit show a significant positive impact on AI usage behavior, while facilitating conditions have a limited but measurable impact on behavioral intention. Other factors, including social influence, hedonic motivation, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy, have minimal influence on the examined variables. The analysis reveals the crucial mediating role of behavioral intention, effectively bridging the gap between various predictors and AI usage behavior, thereby highlighting its significance in the broader context of technology adoption in the hotel industry. The primary goal of the study, which closes significant research gaps, as well as the manner in which it uses a specific model and statistical analysis to accomplish this goal, shows how innovative the work is. This method not only broadens the field’s understanding but also offers valuable insights for shaping sustainable development practices in the hospitality sector in the Republic of Serbia.

This study examines attitudes toward achieving a sustainable balance in ecotourism using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model, focusing on economic and environmental factors shaping sustainable practices. Data were collected from tourists, local residents, and managers in Serbia and Croatia, encompassing diverse perspectives on natural resource conservation, economic benefits, and community engagement. The results indicate that natural resource conservation significantly contributes to local participation, tourist awareness, and community engagement, with notable differences observed among respondent groups. Economic benefits also positively influence these mediating factors, emphasizing their role in achieving sustainability goals. The MGA revealed significant differences between respondent groups, highlighting that managers and local communities in Croatia demonstrated higher levels of awareness and participation compared to Serbia, while differences among tourists were less pronounced. This research contributes to the sustainable tourism literature by integrating perspectives from various stakeholder groups and emphasizing the importance of community involvement and environmental preservation. Practical implications include recommendations for policymakers and managers to develop strategies that encourage stakeholder participation and promote sustainable tourism development.

Food and gastronomy certainly occupy a special position in rural promotion. The aim of the research was to determine to what extent the local population believes that the gastronomic offer affects rural prosperity. The results show that all the factors of the tourist offer are of satisfactory quality and have a significant influence in predicting the rural development of countryside in Serbia, and that respondents in the middle age category believe that gastronomy determines rural prosperity. Material status has no statistical significance in the difference in the perception of the impact of gastronomy on rural development, but in relation to the age category, results show a statistically significant difference. The research has an obvious importance in the theoretical and applied aspect, as a complement to the existing literature, as well as an aid in the strategic planning of the development of rural settlements in Serbia.