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In today's dynamic business milieu, the imperative of eco‐consciousness in hospitality cannot be overstated. This study focuses on Lebanon's burgeoning hotel industry, investigating its journey towards sustainability. Through qualitative content analysis and interviews with eight hotel managers, we unveil a crucial revelation: the integration of green practices not only enhances customer satisfaction but also engenders loyalty and positive referrals. This strategic pivot not only bestows hotels with a competitive edge but also positions them as champions of eco‐friendly experiences, resulting in tangible financial benefits and an expanded market share. Consequently, this fosters environmental sustainability within the sector, echoing its broader implications in environmental management discourse. Moreover, our research significantly contributes to institutional theory and stakeholder theory, offering valuable insights into the antecedents and consequences of green initiatives within organizational contexts. By delving into the intricate dynamics between institutional pressures and stakeholder expectations, the study provides a nuanced perspective on the drivers behind the adoption of sustainable practices in Lebanese hotels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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After the COVID-19 crisis, a considerable contraction emerged in the labor supply of the hospitality industry. This investigation aims to identify some factors that justify the intention behind an ex-worker in tourism changing their occupation. In particular, we investigate if the change is motivated by skill mismatches or by a willingness to find more stable and rewarding jobs. Several datasets were combined to obtain multilevel information on all the unemployed from the hospitality industry between September 2022 and August 2023. A probit model was used to estimate the intention to change occupation, considering different personal, regional and occupational characteristics. Our results demonstrate that, for overqualified individuals, the intention to change occupation is motivated by trying to find better conditions and not by the mismatch per se. In contrast, the underqualified are significantly affected by the mismatch, which make them more vulnerable. Generally, movers are significantly influenced by the odds of having higher job stability and better wages (especially higher overtime premium) and are more frequently younger and higher educated individuals. Therefore, employers and policymakers should promote better wages, job stability, training, and career progression opportunities to reduce turnover in the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the relationship between green transformational leadership (GTL), employee green behavior (EGB), and the mediating role of green organizational support (GOS) in fostering environmentally friendly practices within organizations. Drawing upon Resource-Based View Theory (RBV) and social exchange theory, the study investigates how leaders' behaviors and organizational support influence employees' engagement in pro-environmental initiatives. Using a quantitative research approach, data were collected from a sample of 350 hotel employees through self-administered surveys. CB-SEM was employed to analyze the hypothesized relationships among the variables. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between GTL and EGB, suggesting that leaders who demonstrate environmentally conscious behaviors and inspire their followers to embrace sustainability principles are more likely to foster green practices among employees. Furthermore, the study reveals that GOS mediates the relationship between GTL and EGB, highlighting the importance of organizational policies, resources, and initiatives in facilitating environmentally responsible actions. These results contribute to the existing literature by shedding light on the mechanisms through which leadership and organizational support can promote sustainability initiatives in the hotel industry. Practical implications for hotels include the importance of fostering a culture of environmental consciousness, providing training and resources to support green initiatives, and empowering leaders to exemplify and promote green behaviors among employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the role of death anxiety as an important mechanism underlying the relationship between fear of Covid-19 and hotel frontline employees' (FLEs) sense of work alienation. Importantly, the study proposes FLEs' intrinsic spirituality as being a relevant boundary condition. Results, based on time-lagged survey data (three rounds, 2 weeks apart) from 203 FLEs in 91 hotels and analyzed using structural equation modeling, reveal that death anxiety mediates the association between fear of Covid-19 and work alienation. In addition, FLEs' intrinsic spirituality moderates the direct relationship between fear of Covid-19 and death anxiety and the indirect relationship between fear of Covid-19 and work alienation, such that the relationships are weak when intrinsic spirituality is high (vs. low). The study offers several important suggestions that can help hospitality managers address FLEs' sense of work alienation during traumatic conditions. Highlights: Death anxiety mediates the relationship between fear of Covid-19 and work alienation. Intrinsic spirituality moderates the link between fear of Covid-19 and death anxiety. Intrinsic spirituality moderates the indirect fear of Covid-19-work alienation link. The findings can help hotel managers address FLEs' sense of work alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quantitative study addresses the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept and strategies in the hotel industry. It explores a business's sustainability and ethical impact on the brand relationships with hotel guests. The present research aims to empirically evaluate the presence and degree of hotel's CSR perception by customers and its influence on customer loyalty in the hospitality business, both directly and indirectly. For the latter, this study examines the impact of CSR on customer loyalty mediated by customer experience, customer satisfaction, customer happiness and customer trust in the hotel brand. Research data was collected using an online survey that scoped active users of travel-related social media groups in a European country. This study has employed the PLS-SEM method to analyse complex multivariate data from the completed online survey. The completed research has determined the direct CSR and indirect effects on customer loyalty via customer satisfaction and customer happiness. Meanwhile, this study has not found evidence of customer experience and customer trust influence on loyalty to the hotel brand as mediators of CSR. The findings stemming from this study improve comprehension of customer loyalty drivers in the hotel sector and build evidence for the benefits of CSR concept implementation through management strategies for the hotel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the help of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the hospitality industry has undergone a considerable change that has affected both the guest experience and the efficiency of operations. Through chatbots and virtual assistants, AIdriven solutions have become essential for improving interactions with guests, making personalized suggestions, and making reservations easier. Predictive analytics, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and facial recognition technologies have made operations more efficient by improving security, finding the best pricing strategies, and automating routine tasks. Dynamic pricing algorithms look at market conditions and changes in demand in real-time, which has changed how revenue management is done. Contactless technologies, which AI has made simpler, are crucial to keeping things clean. AI-powered surveillance has strengthened safety and security measures. HR analytics and internal communication chatbots help managers streamline work processes and get employees more involved. IoT sensors make predictive maintenance possible, preventing equipment from breaking down by predicting when it needs maintenance. When voice recognition technology is built into a room, guests can use their voices to control amenities. Data analytics and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems also use AI to learn about guests' likes, dislikes, habits, and feedback, which helps with targeted marketing and providing more personalized services. Using secondary data, this study concluded that the hospitality industry continues to use AI and technology, and the sector moves forward thanks to the positive feedback loop between new ideas and happy customers. The study's findings show how AI solutions have changed hospitality, including making things better for guests, making things run more smoothly, and always trying to provide the best service possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study focuses on the role of cloud computing adoption and its impact on firm performance in the hospitality industry of Henan, China, with a focus on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the study analyses this relationship within the technological and environmental contexts of the region, providing empirical evidence of the impact of cloud technology adoption on the performance outcomes of SMEs. Method: The research employs a quantitative research design, using surveys as the tool for data collection. The population of the study consisted of SME managers in the hospitality sector of Henan. Thus, the quantitative research methodology helped evaluate the relationships between the variables of the present study. The statistical analysis of the data gathered through the survey evaluated the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The empirical findings of the present study revealed a significant impact of cloud computing adoption on the environmental, financial, and social performance of SMEs in the hospitality sector. Conclusion: The present study offers data-driven insights into the ways to maximize the benefits of cloud computing in the technological and environmental contexts of SMEs. However, the findings of the study are limited to the context of the hospitality sector of Henan, therefore, its findings do not reflect the other industrial sectors in varying regional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hospitality industry has been highlighted as an important economic sector that is vulnerable to climate change. However, this industry is also considered to have a substantial contribution to the degradation of the environment by consuming excessive quantities of energy, producing approximately 8% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Previous studies have proposed the circular economy as an optimal concept to address this issue by eliminating waste and maximizing resource utilization. In light of that, many hotels are striving to shift the traditional linear economy into a circular economy by adopting green marketing into their business operations. However, they still face many obstacles in making an effective transition to a circular‐style economy due to the lack of an appropriate approach. To fill this gap, this study aims to develop a framework to give insights on which aspects can foster the circular economy transition process through green marketing implementation. Therefore, this study proposes a hybrid method that integrates an exploratory factor analysis with a fuzzy synthetic method and a decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory to structure the hierarchical model and provide guidance to decision‐makers for future improvements under resource constraints. The results reveal that advantage acquisition and behavior transition are the most influential aspects in accelerating the transition to the circular economy in the hospitality industry. The crucial theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restaurants were significantly shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to intensify their use of social media to communicate with customers. Our objective was to identify which digital marketing strategies generated higher customer engagement during the pandemic, according to variations in the intensity of sanitary restrictions. We manually extracted 639 Facebook posts by 16 restaurants in two Canadian cities (one in a metropolitan area, one in a peripheral region), and coded them according to type of verbal move, format (image, text), and emoji use. The engagement rate was two times higher for restaurants in the metropolitan area, which also used three times more emojis per post on average. The engagement rate was also five times higher for nationally branded restaurants than for independent restaurants. When the pandemic hit, restaurants started to use more text and more directive verbal moves to convey crucial and precise information to customers, notably about sanitary restrictions. Emojis and expressive verbal moves also helped increase customer engagement. While being direct was more efficient in times of crisis, directive verbal moves continued to be used after most sanitary restrictions were lifted. Being direct, thus, appears to be a good digital marketing strategy in the "new normal". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastronomy represents one of the main defining national cultural elements and is essential for shaping territorial identities and for tourism development, attracting both domestic and international tourists. The landscape in the center of Bucharest has gradually changed under the influence of entrepreneurial initiatives within the hospitality industry, showing at present a rather cosmopolitan urban environment. Despite the significant number of international catering units, better adapted to global tastes, Romanian-themed restaurants represent a landmark of the capital city. In this context, our study focuses on the Romanian authentic local gastronomy offered by the themed traditional restaurants in the center of Bucharest as a stimulating factor for different types of consumers. Aiming to answer several research questions, this research has a complex multi-fold methodological approach, appealing to triangulation which gathered, as main analytic methods, mapping, semantic analyses, and text visualisation, and the interview method (originally and appropriately applied for this case study to experienced employees). The main results show a complex gastronomic landscape that gathers various types of restaurants but outlines those with a Romanian ethnic theme in the center of Bucharest. The study of Romanian restaurants' menus reveals elements of authenticity (e.g., traditional dishes and their regional denominations, local rural ingredients, old recipes, and cuisine techniques) as factors of attractiveness for consumers and as competitive advantages in their market. Moreover, interviews with staff representatives outline restaurants' atmosphere, originality, and price–quality ratio of their food as the main attractive elements for both autochtonous customers and tourists and which offer an advantage in the market. The present study may interest multiple stakeholders, focusing on the development and evolution of the hospitality industry in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper reviews the literature and presents case studies on the construction of unforgettable experiences in the search for a competitive advantage in the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries. Methodologically, an analysis of the existing bibliography is carried out, contextualizing it with observations made in the field. Initially, the objective is to identify in the existing literature good experience design and management practices and the elements that build the perfect experience. Secondly, case studies are carried out in order to discover whether this literature has been applied and with what results. The results found show that many companies continue to ignore the importance of experience design and management, even though there are a few success stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze the relationship between career opportunities and employee engagement, as well as the mediating effect of the glass-ceiling phenomenon within the hospitality. Methodology – Beside desk research, this paper employs the empirical research undertaken by use of a specially prepared online questionnaire. Research was conducted between October 2023 and April 2024 with participation of 567 women employed in the hospitality, while proposed relationships were tested by using the partial least squares method for structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM, SmartPLS software). Findings – The research results showed the existence of a positive relationship between broken glass-ceiling and employee engagement, that career opportunities are positively related to employee engagement and elimination of the glass-ceiling effect, and that the glass-ceiling effect mediates the relationship between career opportunities and employee engagement within the hospitality. Implications – This is one of the first studies which addresses the topics of glass-ceiling, career opportunities and employee engagement in the hospitality by using specific methodology (questionnaire and PLS-SEM). The research findings may be used as a basis for decision making process for retaining employees in the hospitality on the long run by eliminating glass-ceiling effects, improving career opportunities and employee engagement.

This edited transcript documents a dialogue between Rodney Westerlaken, editor-in-chief of Research in Hospitality Management, and Dr. Stefan Hartman, Head of Department at the European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI) at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. The conversation explores multifaceted dimensions of the tourism and hospitality sectors, encompassing the changing landscape of destination management, the influence of futureoriented research and the urgent imperatives arising from contemporary global challenges, such as over-tourism and sustainable development. The dialogue offers valuable insights into the future trajectory of tourism and hospitality research, emphasising the pivotal role of adaptive governance, stakeholder collaboration and scenario planning in shaping sustainable tourism practices. Furthermore, it underscores the significance of balancing economic interests with societal and environmental concerns in the evolving tourism landscape. In this insightful conversation, Dr Hartman's extensive urban and regional planning background, coupled with his current role at the European Tourism Futures Institute, provides a unique perspective on the future of tourism, leisure and hospitality. Dr Hartman's work focuses on adaptive tourism areas and sustainable destination development, offering valuable insights into the complex interplay between policy, industry and community in shaping tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hotel Management School Leeuwarden and the European Tourism Futures Institute organised a webinar to discuss and explore how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the hospitality and tourism industry in the future. The webinar brought together a panel of academics, including Professor Iis Tussyadiah from the University of Surrey, Professor Stanislav Ivanov from the Varna University of Management, and Frederik Jan van der Meulen from Hotel Management School Leeuwarden, to discuss the multifaceted applications of AI in the industry. The speakers shared their insights through a series of presentations, underscoring AI integration's strategic, economic and sustainability aspects. AI is presented as a critical element in enhancing customer experiences, optimising operational processes, and shaping the industry's future landscape. The speakers discussed the role of generative AI in improving the industry's resilience, the economic implications of AI's integration and the challenges and strategies for sustainable AI adoption. This webinar goes beyond traditional AI debates by analysing AI's strategic function in future-proofing hospitality and tourism businesses, its economic impact and its role in sustainability. The speakers' crucial insights can help the hospitality and tourism industry embrace AI, highlighting the delicate balance between innovation, ethics and sustainability. This webinar's extensive discussion of AI as a tool for efficiency and industry transformation makes it valuable for academics and industry professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted an inductive study of discourse associated with the U.S. luxury hotel category, from its beginnings in 1790 through 2015, to explain how cultural processes contribute to elite category endurance. Analyzing data from historical archives, interviews, and observations, we use both qualitative and quantitative methods to reveal how the endurance of an elite category is an ongoing cultural accomplishment that occurs via periodic redefinition of its "symbolic boundary"—that is, the set of meanings and practices that distinguish the elite from nonelite. Modeling the boundary in terms of semiotic codes of opposition, we find that the encoding of the symbolic boundary serves as a temporary settlement that conveys both the category's elite exclusivity and its cultural consonance with broader societal beliefs, tastes, and practices. Over time, however, with industry and societal changes, tensions erupt in the balance between the needs for exclusivity and consonance, propelling a redefinition of what it means to be elite. Our research extends current theorizations of elite category endurance by revealing how the elite symbolic boundary is neither permanent nor unassailable; rather, we show how it changes to enable long-term elite category endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]