Sustainability during the COVID pandemic : analysis of hotel association communication
Journal article
Zutshi, Ambika, Creed, Dr Andrew, Bhattacharya, Ananya, Croy, Glen and Dahms, Sven. (2022). Sustainability during the COVID pandemic : analysis of hotel association communication. Current Issues in Tourism. 25(23), pp. 3840-3853. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2057842
Authors | Zutshi, Ambika, Creed, Dr Andrew, Bhattacharya, Ananya, Croy, Glen and Dahms, Sven |
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Abstract | Hotels have implemented substantial sustainability initiatives. However, these efforts might be compromised during a crisis. How did sustainability in hotels fare during the COVID pandemic? To investigate, we reviewed national and regional hotel associations’ publicly available stakeholder communications during the COVID crisis. We collected data over four time periods to identify foci and changes. From website content analysis, viewed through a critical sustainability lens, six communication themes emerged. These were (1) operational procedures and technology; (2) staffing; (3) financial support; (4) health and hygiene; (5) marketing; and (6) community network building. Our findings revealed that hotel associations’ public communications were dominated by economic aspects, indicating a demotion of sociocultural and environmental elements of triple bottom line (TBL) considerations. That is, sustainability became largely silenced during the crisis, thus raising questions as to the centrality and meaningfulness of the previous sustainability efforts. The research contributes an in-depth insight that the hotel sector prioritizes economic elements during a crisis, which is problematic if a crisis is long-term and for any recovery efforts. We recommend centralizing sustainability in communications to sensitize and signal attention to strategic core needs. |
Keywords | Crisis; triple bottom line; strategic sustainability; COVID; website content analysis; hotels |
Year | 01 Jan 2022 |
Journal | Current Issues in Tourism |
Journal citation | 25 (23), pp. 3840-3853 |
Publisher | Routledge |
ISSN | 1368-3500 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2057842 |
Web address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500.2022.2057842 |
Open access | Published as non-open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 3840-3853 |
Publisher's version | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Jun 2022 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 16 Mar 2022 |
Deposited | 06 Aug 2024 |
Additional information | © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. |
Place of publication | United Kingdom |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/90w71/sustainability-during-the-covid-pandemic-analysis-of-hotel-association-communication
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