One of the major innovations used to streamline the process of guest check-in in the hotel setting is facial recognition technology. Nevertheless, its implementation raises serious ethical and functional issues that should be carefully examined. This paper explores these issues, with special emphasis on privacy, data security, and potential bias in facial recognition algorithms. It presented the results of a mixed-method analysis based on case studies of hospitality organizations that have already implemented facial recognition systems, as well as a survey of 500 industry professionals and guests. The findings show that 65% of guests were concerned about the collection and storage of biometric information, and 70% of the professionals cited operational factors, such as the high cost of implementation and integration. The research also notes that the efficiency of the check-in process increases by 15 %with the use of facial recognition, but also states that data must be strongly protected to safeguard guests' privacy. Moreover, 80% of the participants found the necessity of open ways of consent and a clear vision of data use. The results indicate that it may be true that, despite the ability of facial recognition to positively affect the efficiency of operations, ethical issues or concerns, data protection, and operational challenges must be resolved. Future studies are needed on enhancing the accuracy of the algorithm and developing universal ethics in the industry.
 

Facial recognition, guest check-in, operational challenges, privacy concerns, data security, biometric data, consent processes, operational efficiency