By Shaniel Bernard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and Simone Bianco, Ph.D. Student, Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech Operating a hotel business is a resource-intensive venture. For example, although hotels showcase various on-premises amenities in their marketing activities intending to maintain existing guests, and entice new ones to choose their property, […]
By Jihwan Yeon, Ph.D. Student, Pennsylvania State University Introduction Hospitality firms are actively engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to generate strong relationships with stakeholders while aiming to benefit their own performance. For example, McDonald’s has mapped its Scale for Good initiatives to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking meaningful actions toward its stakeholders […]
By: Brian Testorf, Sean Cuthbertson, & Jonathan Jaeger, MAI, LW Hospitality Advisors As one of the earliest forms of lodging establishments, the bed and breakfast inn (B&B) has long been prevalent in American society. The Association of Lodging Professionals defines a bed and breakfast inn as “a small lodging establishment consisting of four to eleven guestrooms, with six […]
By Shanshan He, Isabella Very Why should we care about climate change? Climate change related disasters are regularly making headlines: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, severe droughts, heatwaves as well as coastal erosion have caused countless instances of infrastructure damage, job loss, and even fatal emergencies in hotels, restaurants and vineyards. Some of the most urgent impacts, such […]
By Minu Agarwal and Prashant Das In this article, we adopt a real estate perspective and explore the sustainability implications of hotels. First, we provide a background on sustainability, describe how it relates to the hotel sector and synthesize literature on the economic implications of sustainability. Further, we provide and explain trends on sustainability certifications, […]
By Christian E. Hardigree, J.D. Today’s hospitality conversations are rife with dialogue about sustainability, initiatives ranging from linen reuse programs, to donating toiletries, to auto dimming lights, to food sourcing, etc. Hospitality practitioners’ quest to define the ROI (return on investment) is often at foiled by a concept that includes intangible metrics and differing definitions of […]
By Manisha Singal and Yinyoung Rhou There is general consensus today that business plays an ever increasing role in society and a corporation’s responsibility goes beyond just making profits. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) however has evolved from the understanding that a company should look after not only its investors and customers but […]
By Emily Horton Hostels: typically one’s mind pictures a grungy dorm-style hotel filled with overstuffed backpacks and its owner, a 20-something college student trekking their way through Europe. Huffington Post’s “22 Things You Should Know Before Staying in a Hostel” list captures popular American beliefs about hostels; they are home to bed bugs, mildewed showers, […]
By Christopher Muller A conversation between Mr. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, and Dr. Christopher Muller during the September 2011 12th annual European Food Service Summit in Zurich, Switzerland (edited 2014). [Muller]: So we get to just have a conversation. Can we talk about Starbucks and social responsibility, the leadership of how you drive not […]
By Rachel Black Finding a neutral definition of the term terroir is not an easy task. For some, it can mean the soil and microclimate that imparts a distinct taste to a wine. For others, the concept of terroir includes the human expertise and craftsmanship that goes into growing grapes and making wine. In the […]