The study employs a qualitative research methodology, involving interviews with experts and hoteliers to explore their understanding and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospitality industry. The interviews focused on the participants’ perception of IT adoption, the benefits and challenges of adopting AI technologies, and the factors influencing AI adoption. The data analysis was carried out with deductive coding following the literature review and interpreted using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. This framework helped classify the factors influencing AI adoption into technological, organizational, and environmental factors. The study reveals a mismatch between experts and hoteliers’ understanding of AI and indicates a need for a comprehensive and targeted approach to educating hoteliers about AI's benefits, challenges, strategic and operational implications, and providing a clear roadmap for its integration into existing systems and processes. This study underscores the critical gap in the industry's ability to fully leverage available technologies without external assistance and the necessity to bridge this gap to facilitate AI adoption in the hospitality sector.