Corporate social responsibility: what are top hotel companies reporting?

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the level of socially responsible behavior of the top ten hotel companies. Design/methodology/approach -This study used content analysis method to identify and describe social responsibility (SR) patterns in web sites, annual reports and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports for the top ten hotel companies as listed in Hotels magazine. Findings -The findings reveal that 80 percent of the hotel companies analyzed reported socially responsible activities relating to some form of charitable donations. A diversity policy was reported by 60 percent of the hotel companies, while 40 percent provided some mention of SR in their vision or mission statements. Some companies were highly focused on providing a balanced approach to SR while other hotel companies were less focused in their efforts. The areas of SR that seemed to be lacking with regards to reporting were environmental, and vision and values. Research limitations/implications -Future studies should collect data from hospitality organizations and potential shareholders via interviews and surveys. Practical implications -With rising consumer awareness regarding corporate responsibility (CR), it is important for the industry to begin profiling their efforts at SR as part of their overall corporate and business strategies. Originality/value -This is one of the first research papers looking at CSR in the hospitality industry. It provides some practical implications about reporting of socially responsible activities for hospitality organizations.

Corporate social responsibility in tourism small and medium enterprises evidence from Europe and Latin America

“…For Goodwin (2011) one of the main features of tourism is that the client is transferred to the same places in which the sector "creates" the experience, have direct contact with workers and can see directly their conditions. In the same way, responsibility for tourism should also take special care of the supply chain, both in tour operators (Wijk & Persoon, 2006) and hotels (Bohdanowicz & Zientara, 2009a;Holcomb, et al, 2007).…”

“…Some research has also looked at altruism motivations of CSR in tourism (Ayuso, 2006;Rivera, 2004;Tzschentke, Kirk, & Lynch, 2004). CSR actions are heterogeneous given the wide diversity of tourism, but the most common fall under environmental management, community dialogue and employee relationships (Holcomb, Upchurch, & Okumus, 2007;Karani & Day, 2011). For large firms, working conditions in the supply chain organizations are especially important.…”

Advancing the Sustainable Tourism Agenda Through Strategic CSR Perspectives

“…Governments are urged to step in and monitor the tourism industry's practices (Cooper et al, 2008;Leiper, 2008). Evidently, the hospitality businesses are also responsible to play their part in exercising good governance (Guillet & Mattila, 2010;Holcomb et al, 2007).…”

“…Dodds & Kuehnel, 2010;Graci, 2009;Graci & Dodds, 2008Holcomb, Upchurch, & Okumus, 2007) it may appear that this area of study still remains relatively under-researched, particularly when considering research which links hospitality enterprises and strategic CSR. Of course, there are different opinions and perceptions about what should be the locus of interest in tourism management.…”

Eco-labelling of accommodation facilities and its perception by rural tourists: Case study of Vojvodina

“…Professional organizations from global to the local level, as well as government and non-government organizations in many countries became involved in this process. Soon, the management structure of the industry realized the need of introducing a system of operations and programs relating to the protection of the environment through environmental management, hospitality environmental programs, and assessment of environmental impacts, monitoring indicators and environmental control (Holcomb, Upchurch, Okumus, 2007;Bhattacharya, Sankar, Korschun, 2008). Managers, consumers and other participants in tourism notice the positive results of implementation of environmental responsibility, as part of corporate social responsibility (Waldmann, 2005;Nicolau, 2008).…”