The Corporate Social Responsibility of hotels industries in the midst of crisIs. Best practices in the COVID-19 era

 

George M. Aspridis¹, Eftychia Lagkona², Sofia Metaxidou³, Ioannis Koukoumpliakos⁴  

 

¹Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Design, University of Thessaly, 11-13 V. Griva str, Karditsa, Greece, e-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Adjunct Lecturer HOU.

²Department of Business Administration, University of Thessaly, Gaiopolis, Larissa, Greece, e-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

³Department of Administration and Economy, University of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece, e-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

⁴Department of Management, University of S. Bohemia, Studentska 13, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, e-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

 

 

ABSTRACT

The principles of Corporate Social Responsibility are part of the strategic management of a company but also a tool for promoting this company. In the hotel sector, CSR is present with actions related to human resources, local community, environmental protection and more. In the last year, the appearance of the coronation pandemic has created many problems in the field of tourism. Room reservations have been reduced, flights to and from Greece are sometimes banned, the operation of several units is suspended, and the hotel clientele is reduced. Hotel companies are investing in CSR actions during the COVID-19 era in order to accelerate the improvement of the organization and operation of the unit. Due to the circumstances, several hotels adapted the distance work, tools and technologies were introduced to help employees so they can work better, the importance of harmonizing personal and professional life was highlighted. Many companies have taken significant action during the era of COVID-19.

The aim of the proposal is to present the most important principles for the implementation of CSR in hotel companies especially in the midst of crises (economic, social or pandemic), in order to improve the services provided for the participants. The methodological tool that will be used is literature review, the collection of data about the subject under review in the last year, in order to record the prevailing situations and trends of CSR in hotel companies. To achieve this goal, written texts will be studied (studies, evidence, expert reports, online sources, hotel reports) on the application of CSR in the hotel industry. The content of the written texts, the measurement, and the frequency in the reference of specific words, the special importance that emerges from them and others will be analyzed. The literature review is a tool of both descriptive and quantitative research.

The conclusions are particularly important and any use of them will contribute substantially to the practical application of CSR principles in hotels and especially during crisis.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Covid-19, Hotels, Tourism

 

A good traveler is one who does not know where he is going.

A perfect traveler is one who does not know where he comes from.

Lin Yutang, Chinese philosopher

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Businesses engaged in the tourism economy have to change the way they do business and take on business activities that are socially responsible. In other words, they need to be aware of issues relating to the environment and society, and respect culture and diversity, to be open to dialogue with stakeholders such as municipalities and local organizations in order to gain the favor of the local community, to constantly improve their services (Golja and Nizic, 2010).

More specifically in times of crisis, such as the one we are going through in the last period. The Covid-19 pandemic. The Corona virus (2019-nCov) appeared in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province in China in late 2019 and spread very quickly around the world. The complications of the virus have resulted from the beginning of 2020, in governments taking measures to restrict movement to avoid an outbreak of the flu. As a result, the economic and social conditions of each country change. In the hotel area the impact was significant. For example, in 2020, many units did not work, others malfunctioned, unemployment of human resources in the tourism sector increased, there were many cancellations of room reservations which decreased considerably. Organisations were forced to adapt their operations by taking their own share of responsibility for limiting the spread of virus by inevitable consequence, many hotels not work properly or not at all referring to seasonal accommodation. Inevitably, increased the unemployment rate by the area of tourism and not only as created instabilities in reservations which fell sharply. In this context, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can contribute to the improvement of services provided in the tourism economy.

 

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

 

Tourism, human circulation considered as consumption is fundamentally nothing more than the leisure of going to see what has become banal.

G. Debord, French intellectual

 

The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility began in America in the early 20th century. "Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the integration of a company's social, environmental, ethical and charitable responsibilities towards society, as they are reflected in its operation, processes and basic business strategy and result from cooperation with all stakeholders" according to Rashe et al. (2020 : 28-29). The European Commission defines CSR as "the responsibility of businesses for their impact on society". CSR is a voluntary concept-approach that is beyond the legal obligations of each company. It is a multidimensional concept and refers to the social, environmental, moral, and philanthropic activity of organizations (Vaxevanidou, 2011). The main characteristics of CSR are the self-commitment of enterprises, the connection with the sustainable development of the company and the contribution to the social, economic, and environmental issues and in conclusion the continuity and duration of CSR actions by the company (Farcane and Bureana, 2015).

Corporate Social Responsibility focuses not only on social issues, but also on economic and environmental issues. It aims to limit the impact of business activity leading businesses to sustainable tourism development (Strand et al., 2014).

"Tourism is the temporary movement of people, from the geographical environment of permanent residence to another, for the purpose of mental pleasure" (Laloumis, 2015 : 14). It is a service that has as its main characteristics the intangibility, customer participation, production and consumption, consumability and heterogeneity (Chitiris and Anninos, 2015). Tourist accommodation is divided into main hotel accommodation, such as hotels, youth accommodation hostels and other and non-main hotel accommodation (Laloumis, 2015).

CSR in the tourist economy and especially in hotels has gained even greater value. CSR in the field of hotels has to deal with many and important problems. More specifically, it is necessary to address seasonality in employment, protection of the environment, contribution to economic development, tackling discrimination and shaping policies on intercultural, contribution to the economic development of local communities, respect for human and labor rights, protection of the personal rights of guest – tourists (or better yet hotel guests) and other challenges. The application of CSR principles to tourism and especially to hotel companies, brings positive results in the quality of tourism products and services, and improves the image of businesses. Actions that take place are recycling, sponsorships, the development of human resources, the safeguarding of hygiene and safety rules and whatever this may entail. Regarding the hotel business, CSR's practices concern areas such as human resources, the market, the environment and society. These actions concern all businesses, but some may be specific or preferred according to the business scope, geographical location and corporate philosophy.

The European Parliament resolution of 6 February 2013 on CSR [2012/2098 (INI)] supports the European Commission directive which calls for CSR policies of companies in the various sectors (including tourism) to include positive 'strategies as well as structures to support victims of crime and their families during crises, and for specific policies to be established for any employee who falls victim to crime, whether in or outside the workplace'.

The Association of Greek tourism enterprises considers that sustainable development contributes to the direction of businesses and destinations with environmentally and society-friendly practices that will significantly help in the future to improve the service of Tourism.

 For these reasons and environmentally conscious, tourist accommodation wishing to obtain environmental education with a view to protection of labor and the working environment for themselves and for their customers, as well as through compliance with those measures strengthened safety of all involved. Such organizations are the Green Key, Blue Flag, Travelife Gold, Bio Kitchen et al.

The INSETE[1] believes that sustainable development contributes to the direction of both hotel businesses and destinations with environmentally friendly practices that will significantly help in the future to improve the tourism service. The Greek National Tourism Organization[2] considers that this product is disseminated to all social groups and positively affects the quality of life of citizens. The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels[3] highlights the possibility of proper hospitality and the reduction of losses. The Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasts[4] through studies and field research, proved that 60% of all hotels operated with the new data due to coronary data and this for a short period of time.

 

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research adopted the qualitative research method and utilized two research tools. That of the Bibliographic Review and then the methodological tool of the semi-structured interview. Qualitative research is suitable for small-scale research, where research hypotheses have not been adequately analyzed by the scientific community (Bryman, 2008). Through this, the holistic approach and analysis of the subject under investigation can be achieved. Called upon to answer specific questions such as why and how an event occurs, it allows in-depth analysis of the process.

Initially, a review of the literature was carried out, in other words an investigation of the literature, so that the researchers on the one hand follow the developments around the investigated subject and on the other hand form new ideas. For this purpose, secondary publications on the subject were selected, such as studies, articles, reports of international and national experts, reports of institutions, reports of hotel organizations for CSR, studies of ELSTAT, e-books and texts from websites (Probonas, 2015).

Fifteen semi-structured interviews of approximately fifteen minutes were then conducted. The respondents were from both sexes, middle managers of the hotel industry with different work experience, came from almost all geographical regions and all held a degree related to tourism business management and economic science (Saunders et al, 2014). Ethics and ethics issues (such as the free consent and participation of respondents, ensuring the confidentiality and anonymity of participants, avoiding questions related to personal data, courtesy, consent form and others) were also addressed in the conduct of a survey. There was no recording of the answers but the on-site recording of the answers (Issari and Pourkos, 2015; Saunders etc., 2014).

The purpose of the study is to present and evaluate the CSR practices used by hotels in Greece, to record the malfunctions and problems and finally to submit proposals for improving the use of CSR tools in hotels.

 

4. RESULTS

 

CSR good practices

According to the literature review, hotels are committed to continuously improving CSR's strategy and encouraging partners to apply hotel standards. The aim of hotels is to treat participants fairly, to ensure transparency and accountability, to improve hygiene and safety. The hotels support the local community and actions on social policy issues and respect for Human Rights. They try to reduce the environmental impact and help save energy. Many hotel units contribute to volunteering, participate in the organization of sports and cultural events. They have formulated specific standards for Quality Management in the foods they use. Hotels voluntarily participate in the recycling of municipalities and regions. They also work with NGOs to carry out voluntary actions and help local communities.

 According to surveys, visitors and Greek tourism companies consider that the most important action in the era of COVID-19 is to ensure their customers’ health and the existence of flexible cancellation policies. Customers believe that there should be a reduction in prices while hotels take the view that there should be a change in thetourists’ behavior. Greek tourism companies consider it important to increase cleanliness protocols and to form crisis management teams (PAPEI and Open Tourism, 2020).

The interviews have drawn many useful conclusions about whether or not CSR is implemented. Some hotels had established, among others:

• the provision of quality food to all employees (exactly the same as available to customers), the ensuring of residence for employees, and the movement of employees from their place of residence to the workplace,
• systematic cleanliness of the foreshore and the beach in front of the hotel,
• hosting disabled people at regular intervals,
• the application of the principles of the green economy and circular economy,
• the integration of environmental and ecological actions in daily creative programs for employees and customers,
• providing the necessary operational instruments both indoors and outdoors,
• the implementation of the principles of the green economy and the circular economy,
• the development of infrastructure projects,
• responsibility to all participants and others.

 

Table 1: The most widespread CSR practices in hotel businesses

HUMAN RIGHTS	EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS	EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES	SOCIETY	ENVIROMENT	CHARITY ACTIONS
Well-being of all participants	Hygiene and safety at workplace	Meritocracy in human resources management	Local community activities support	Orthological management of Natural Resources	Sponsorships
Anthropocentrism	Education-edification-instruction	Equal opportunities for all employees	Dialogue/Communication with the local community	Waste management	Sports events organization
The tourist as a guest-traveler	Human-centered administration	Diversity management	Enhanced measures against COVID-19	Local environment and foreshore protection	Cultural events organization
Vulnerable social group support	Non-discriminatory working environment		Infrastructure of the local community improvement	Recycling	Voluntarism/ voluntary actions
Respect for multiculturalism			Cooperation with universities	Green policies	People with disabilities support
				Zero carbon footprint

Source: Personal data processing

 

Application of CSR principles criticism

On the other hand, many hotels are severely criticised for not applying the principles of CSR. For example, many hotels throw away a large amount of fresh and undamaged food that is left over every day. Food is not provided to people who need it (soup kitchens of metropolitan areas, social grocery stores and others), but at the same time it is not allowed to be eaten by the hotel's human resources. Many actions involve more part of the company's marketing and communication policies.

Many hotel companies are not registered in the Greek network for CSR and do not know in detail about the best principles and practices of CSR. They have not signed the UN Universal Covenant on CSR. In many cases, there are also possible links between the hotel's interweaving and corruption with the local authorities in their effort to expand their activities. Awareness of the social role of hotels is needed, beyond the conventional offers of goods and services to customers. Also, in many cases and due to seasonality, critical sectors of the economy and society were not supported, the environment was not protected, there were no policies to improve the quality of life, infrastructure projects and others. In the first period of the Corona virus the stakeholders involved were very sensitive. Unfortunately, this interest declined over time.

Several businesses do not show the necessary interest in human resources and the problems they are possibly facing (although there have been cases where the owner or senior executive accompanied the employees to the doctor and contributed to his recovery).

In general, the larger the hotel unit, the greater the interest in CSR. Small hotels are more interested in good cooperation with local authorities and they develop some basic actions.

 

Diagram 1: Best practices and malfunctions of CSR in hotels

Source: Personal data processing

 

 

 

5. CONCLUSIONS

 

To lose your prejudices you must travel.

Marie Magdalene" Marlene " Dietrich, German actress

 

The results of the study are indicative and in no way representative. The research is a first investigative effort that could evolve as part of a larger nationwide investigation. The research is small in scale due to a lack of resources. Participation in the interviews was small due to the effects of the Corona pandemic and the lack of interest. The results can be applied to hotels (of all categories) that either apply or do not apply CSR principles and contribute to improving the social efficiency of these hotels. And especially in the era of Corona virus and major crises where society and people are more aware.

All hotels regardless of their size must adopt CSR practices. The implementation of these principles is a very difficult and important undertaking that will contribute to the good reputation and the name of the business. These practices should not only be formal but substantive and should be included to the hotel companies’ strategic planning. Enterprises aim to cultivate and develop CSR with the aim of social solidarity culture. In the framework of this strategy, it is necessary to:

• have continuity and consistency in the actions of hotels not to be sporadic,
• develop partnerships with local clubs and society,
• display local products in the hotel cuisine,
• avoid the all-inclusive policy in order to strengthen the economy of the local community,
• inform the hotel's human resources about the hotel's actions regarding CSR,
• continuity develop and train the human resources,
• best practices for protect the environment,
• protect vulnerable social groups,
• categorize hotels in thematic sections, for example ecology and others,
• have greater awareness of all aspects of CSR, and finally,
• have sponsorships to the local community.

It is therefore a voluntary decision of the hotel companies and a force to diversify and gain a competitive advantage through the adoption and implementation of CSR (Lindgreen and Swaen, 2010).

All internal and external customers should not be treated as passers - by, but especially the latter ones, as visitors-travelers and highlight the human-centered approach of management and the social face of the company. It is proposed to implement the ISO 26000: 2010 standard, which is a set of instructions on how hotel businesses operate in a socially responsible manner. This means that the hotel business operates in an ethical and transparent way.

 

6. References

• Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods. 3rd edition, NY : Oxford University Press.
• Chitiris, L., and Anninos, L., (2015). Administration and quality of services. Athens : Association of Greek Academic Libraries. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/11419/4981 (in Greek).
• European Parliament (2013). CSR: accountable, transparent, and responsible business behavior and sustainable development. European Parliament resolution of 6 February 2013 on CSR: accountability, transparency and responsibility in business behaviour and sustainable development (2012/2098(INI)).
• Farcane, N. and Bureana, E., (2015). “History of corporate social responsibility concept”. Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, 17(2), 31 - 48.
• Golja, T. and Nizic, M., (2010). “Corporate Social Responsibility in tourism-the most popular tourism destination in Croatia: comparative analysis”. Management, 15(2) : 107-121.
• Isari, P., and Purcus, M., (2015). Qualitative research methodology. Athens: Association of Greek Academic Libraries. Available at : http://hdl.handle.net/11419/5826 (in Greek).
• Lalumis, D., (2015). Management of tourism enterprises. Athens : Association of Greek Academic Libraries. Available at : http://hdl.handle.net/11419/5283 (in Greek).
• Lindgreen, A., and Swaen V., (2010). "Corporate Social Responsibility". International Journal of Management Review 12, (1).
• Probonas, A., (2015). Combined prosthetics: precision fasteners - telescopic systems. Athens : Association of Greek Academic Libraries. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/11419/2876 (in Greek).
• Rasche, A., Morsing, M., and Moon, J., (2020). Corporate Social Responsibility. Strategy, Communication, Governance. Athens: Review.
• Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, M., (2014). Methods of research in business and in the economy. Thessaloniki: Disigma (in Greek).
• Strand, R., Freeman, R. E., and Hockerts, K., (2014). “Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Scandinavia : An Overview”. Journal of Business Ethics, 1 - 15.
• University of Piraeus and Open Tourism, (2020). Research on the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Greece. Online available on website https://traveldailynews.gr/columns/article/3576, accessed on 26/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Vaxevanidou, M., (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility. Athens : Stamoulis.

 

Websites

• Online available on the website https://insete.gr/, accessed on 30/4/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.gnto.gov.gr, accessed on 30/4//2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.grhotels.gr, accessed on 30/4/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.itep.gr, accessed on 30/4/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.epixeiro.gr/article/1974, accessed on 26/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://sete.gr/el/sunedria-ekdiloseis/sunedria/online-conference-2020-destination-greece-communication-in-challenging-times/, accessed on 26/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.eurocert.gr/content/ISO_260002010_Sustima_Diacheirisis_Koinonikis_Euthunis2/, accessed on 26/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://csrhellas.org/ti-ine-eke/#1585323190241-d07fdb83-573e, προσπελάστηκε στις 26/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website  https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf, accessed on 27/3/2021 (in Greek).
• Online available on the website https://www.snfcc.org/lecture, accessed on 27/3/2021 (in Greek).