Since the borders reopened, many hotels have been struggling to rebuild their pre-Covid workforce.
"We have a shortage at night. We were going through a real staff shortage at that time," M Social Hotel Auckland general manager Nigel Edwards said.
"So a colleague of mine I used to work with in Shanghai suggested that we try a robot."
Enter Hari (pronounced Harry).
That stands for Hotel Automated Robot Implement — and it's been delivering room service to guests at the hotel for the last few months.
Made by Keenon Robotics in Shanghai, it's programmed to go to any hotel room and can control the elevator.
"Talk about fair pay agreements and visas and being accredited, and payroll — none of that carry on," Edwards said. "Hari's the man!"
Others, like the Sudima Hotels, are following suit, with service robots in their restaurants.
"We're hoping in the next couple months to be able to deliver house keeping services like delivering linen to the teams working on the floor and we hope to be able to roll out a portage service in the future so bags can be delivered to rooms as well,"chief operating officer Les Morgan said.
But what does that mean for real jobs?
The robots aren't taking over yet, according to Tourism Industry Aotearoa's Rebecca Ingram.
"They're looking at what technologies are available to them to make it better or to automate some of these things that can be automated," she said.
"They're looking at how can we make sure our people are adding to the face-to-face experience."
"The idea obviously is that the robot won't replace any existing staff, they're simply there to complement service," Morgan said.
"It allows the team to focus on meeting people and addressing guest needs."
SHARE ME