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Tourism Employment and Firm Strategies: Current Issues and Main Challenges

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 5956

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 Tenerife, Spain
Interests: tourism; entrepreneurship; corporate social responsibility
Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 Tenerife, Spain
Interests: business and management; environmental management; corporate social responsibility; tourism
Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 Tenerife, Spain
Interests: decent work; quality of working life; diversity management; tourism employment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tourism is a labor-intensive, people-focused service industry and its survival and sustainability depend, to a large extent, on the work factor. Human resources are particularly relevant in tourism because workers are key in providing services (García-Mestanza et al., 2019)  in a working environment characterized by harsh conditions and demanding clients (Zhao et al., 2011). Workers are one of the most valuable resources of tourism firms because, with their effort, firms can achieve better business results and greater competitiveness. Moreover, tourism occupies a prominent position as a driving force for job creation and is mentioned in the UN 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8, 12 and 14 (United Nations, 2015).

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a collapse in the tourism industry, affecting its workforce with unprecedented intensity (Baum et al., 2020; ILO, 2020) and casting a long shadow of profound economic, social, political, and cultural impacts (WBCSD, 2020; He & Harris, 2020). Additionally, the pandemic is expected to impact employment in the tourism industry by triggering new processes and fueling previous trends like digitalization and automation. It will also reinforce the need for quality of work as an important element in the promotion of employment in the coming years (UNWTO, 2019). Quality of work is understood as a multidimensional concept that sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives, considering issues such as labor relations, rights, gender gaps and work-life balance (García-Rodríguez et al, 2020). The strategic and responsible management of human resources in tourism firms is, therefore, essential for the competitiveness and sustainability of the tourism industry in a global context.

Taking all this into account, in this Special Issue, we invite papers that analyse present and future employment in the tourism industry, from the perspectives of both the workers and tourism firms. In this sense, the Special Issue is devoted but not limited to aspects such as digitalization, robotization and automation and their impact on tourism employment; quality of employment; internationalization of firms and labor markets; diversity management strategies in the workplace; new competences needed and their relation with education and skills development.

References

Baum, T., Mooney, S. K., Robinson, R. N., & Solnet, D. COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality workforce–new crisis or amplification of the norm? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 2020

García-Mestanza, J., Cerezo Medina, A., & Cruz Morato, M. A. A Model for Measuring Fair Labour Justice in Hotels: Design for the Spanish Case. Sustainability, 2019. 11(17), 4639.

García-Rodríguez, F. J., Armas Cruz, Y., González-de-la-Rosa, M. Decent work in hospitality: scale development and validation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 2020. Available online: https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/09669582.2020.1865386

He, H., & Harris, L. The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing Philosophy. Journal of Business Research. 2020

ILO. COVID-19 and the world of work. 2020

United Nations. Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs: New York, USA. 2015

UNWTO, World Tourism Organisation: The Future of Work and Skills Development in Tourism. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284421213 (accessed 27 April 2021)

WBCSD. Corporate social responsibility: Meeting changing expectations. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 2020

Zhao, X. R., Qu, H., & Ghiselli, R. Examining the relationship of work–family conflict to job and life satisfaction: A case of hotel sales managers. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2011. 30(1), 46–54.

Prof. Dr. Francisco J. García-Rodríguez
Prof. Dr. Yaiza Armas-Cruz
Prof. Dr. Manuel González-de-la-Rosa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human resosurce management in tourism
  • tourism employment
  • diversity management in tourism
  • education and skills development in tourism
  • digitalisation, automation and robotisation
  • decent work and quality of work in tourism
  • corporate social responsibility and employment in tourism firms
  • human resources management and competitiveness in tourism firms

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 406 KiB  
Article
CSR Perceptions and Brand Attitudes in Chinese Luxury Hospitality: The Moderating Effect of Ads vs. Media Reports
by Jiaen Hu, Luis Miguel López-Bonilla and Jesús Manuel López-Bonilla
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7689; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15097689 - 08 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1571
Abstract
The fit between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and luxury is a debated topic and there is limited understanding regarding how the CSR initiatives of a luxury hotel are differently perceived and responded to by customers. The present study analysed the fit between CSR [...] Read more.
The fit between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and luxury is a debated topic and there is limited understanding regarding how the CSR initiatives of a luxury hotel are differently perceived and responded to by customers. The present study analysed the fit between CSR and luxury in China’s luxury hospitality industry by investigating customers’ CSR perceptions as well as their brand attitudes. According to the attribution of CSR motives, this study classified consumers’ four CSR perceptions, including CSR washing, corporate hypocrisy, corporate citizenship, and shared value creation. An experimental study was implemented with 400 luxury customers. It was found that when the CSR information of a hotel was disclosed by advertisements, participants reported stronger perceptions of CSR washing and corporate hypocrisy as well as weaker perceptions of corporate citizenship and shared value creation than when the CSR information was disclosed by media reports. Different CSR perceptions were found to differently influence customers’ brand attitudes. Their brand attitudes were positively influenced by the perceptions of corporate citizenship and shared value creation and were negatively influenced by the perceptions of CSR washing and corporate hypocrisy. In view of this, the present study argued that the fit between CSR and luxury in the hospitality industry is associated with whether consumers perceive CSR initiatives positively or negatively. Full article
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19 pages, 1013 KiB  
Article
Examining the Impact of Frontline Service Robots Service Competence on Hotel Frontline Employees from a Collaboration Perspective
by Yunsik Kim
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7563; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15097563 - 05 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2071
Abstract
With the increasing adoption of frontline service robots (FLSRs) in hospitality workplaces, collaboration between frontline employees (FLEs) and FLSRs has become a necessity. The existing literature focuses on the customer perspective of FLSRs; however, this study explains the mechanisms through which employees’ willingness [...] Read more.
With the increasing adoption of frontline service robots (FLSRs) in hospitality workplaces, collaboration between frontline employees (FLEs) and FLSRs has become a necessity. The existing literature focuses on the customer perspective of FLSRs; however, this study explains the mechanisms through which employees’ willingness to collaborate with FLSRs are built. By incorporating robot service capability and perceived risk as external variables into a technology acceptance model, this study investigated the mechanisms of FLEs’ willingness to collaborate with FLSRs. The results showed that the service capability of FLSRs plays a significant role in increasing FLEs’ willingness to collaborate, whereas perceived risk decreases their willingness to collaborate. These results indicate that the level of service capability of FLSRs and the management of perceived risk are important in shaping FLEs’ positive attitudes toward collaborating with FLSRs. Therefore, this study extends the literature by investigating how FLEs and FLSRs relate to each other from a collaboration perspective. Full article
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22 pages, 934 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Potential of Social Farmers’ Networking as a Leverage for Inclusive Tourism
by Annapia Ferrara, Concetta Ferrara, Sabrina Tomasi, Gigliola Paviotti, Giovanna Bertella and Alessio Cavicchi
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5856; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15075856 - 28 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1156
Abstract
Social entrepreneurship plays a key role in making tourism an inclusive activity. Literature on the topic is increasing but needs to pay more attention to collaboration, which is crucial for social enterprises. To overcome this gap, the present study focuses on the impact [...] Read more.
Social entrepreneurship plays a key role in making tourism an inclusive activity. Literature on the topic is increasing but needs to pay more attention to collaboration, which is crucial for social enterprises. To overcome this gap, the present study focuses on the impact that social entrepreneurs’ drivers and barriers towards collaboration might have on providing decent work in rural tourism. The research considers the case of social farming, which has important implications for developing inclusive tourism. By applying the coding technique to twelve in-depth interviews with social entrepreneurs in the Marche region (Italy), the research reveals different themes and sub-themes influencing the four pillars of decent work identified by the International Labour Organization. Results show that the drivers towards collaboration positively impact new employment opportunities and social security for social entrepreneurs and the most fragile people targeted by their services. Instead, the lack of resources for social businesses and the low embeddedness are the main dimensions hindering the provision of well-being through tourism. This study provides managerial and policy implications to sustain inclusive tourism activities in social farming. It concludes with the main limitations and possible directions for future research. Full article
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