Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in Asian luxury hotels : Policies, practices and standards

Abstract

The tourism and hospitality industry claims to embrace the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) but it seems unclear how and if companies integrate CSR activities into the core business and how they demonstrate real impacts and positive changes. The purpose of this research is to understand how Asian luxury hotels communicate about their CSR policies, practices and standards. It gives insights of best practices of CSR from luxury hotel groups that operate predominantly in Asia. The findings reveal that CSR is a blurry subject and there is a lack of an overall accepted definition and guidelines. The reporting of CSR activities by the Asian luxury hotels includes various overall activities, many of which are normal business practices. Many of these hotel groups are adopting international standards and most of them underline the importance of the environment and society. The study concludes that the motivation for CSR is oriented towards sustaining the basis for their operations. The outcome of the research suggests that further studies should analyze different hotel segments, such as local hotels or small-medium size hotels, in one particular country or comparing between various countries.