Teaching in the Virtual Worlds: Integrating Immersive and AI Technologies in Hospitality Education

Nansy Kouroupi

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Immersive and AI technologies are reshaping how hospitality competence is taught, rehearsed and assessed, but their value depends less on novelty than on design discipline and governance. This chapter presents a conceptually grounded narrative review of extended reality (VR, AR and social VR) and AI-enabled systems (conversational agents and learning analytics), interpreted through experiential and socio-constructivist lenses and the Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning. Synthesising evidence across four application clusters, it shows where these tools strengthen operational fluency, service recovery, safety and hygiene, communication and data-informed judgement, and where they raise vulnerabilities around generative AI, assessment integrity, privacy and data governance, cost and equity. Drawing on hospitality-industry cases and international policy guidance, it provides evidence-strength signposting and a five-pillar implementation architecture with a constraint-led risk register to support accountable adoption.

Keywords: Hospitality Education; Immersive Learning; Metaverse; AI-Driven Simulations; Virtual Avatars; Pedagogical Innovation; Digital Transformation; Experiential Teaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A19 A2 A20 A22 A23 A29 I2 I23 M19 O3 O33 Z0 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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