South African Hospitality Research Articles

Sustainability-Oriented Resilience and Regenerative Adaptations in the Hospitality Industry: Lessons from Gauteng

The South African hospitality sector faces significant challenges, including economic instability, climate change, and evolving consumer preferences. To effectively address these issues, hotels must adopt innovative resilience and regenerative strategies. This study is based on insights from resilience theory, service-dominant logic (SDL), and ecological modernisation theory. To find out how these challenges are addressed in practice, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with hotel managers in the province of Gauteng to collect data for an in-depth thematic analysis. Examples of resilience strategies mentioned by the interviewees include effective crisis management, income diversification, and building robust community partnerships. Asked about regenerative practices, the respondents listed waste reduction, enhancing biodiversity conservation, and investing in sustainable infrastructure. These practices correspond to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 1, which target the development of resilient infrastructure and poverty eradication. The authors advocate for a holistic approach to hospitality management, which integrates innovation, active community engagement, and environmental stewardship, fostering meaningfuland enduring advancements within the industry.

A Cybersecurity Collaborative Model: Best Practices Sharing Among South African Tourism and Hospitality Businesses

In an increasingly interconnected digital landscape, cybersecurity has emerged as a paramount concern for South African tourism and hospitality businesses, especially those mostly serving international travellers who depend on online services for bookings and payments. This abstract introduces a comprehensive research study that centres on developing a collaborative cybersecurity model. The primary objective of this model is to facilitate the exchange of best practices among South African tourism establishments, thereby fortifying their collective defences against evolving cyber threats. This research study is based on a systematic literature review that encompasses a diverse array of tourism and hospitality businesses, including hotels, travel agencies, and tour operators. The study delves into existing collaborative initiatives, explores the perceived advantages of information sharing, and examines the challenges that may hinder the effective implementation of collaborative cybersecurity practices. The literature highlighted numerous cybersecurity risks associated with these types of businesses but also revealed a common shortage of dedicated cybersecurity resources and expertise. Collaborative models are regarded as a promising avenue to address these deficits. Businesses actively participating in collaborative networks report tangible benefits, including improved threat intelligence, cost-effective cybersecurity solutions, and enhanced capabilities for incident response. The outcomes of this research endeavour aspire to offer practical insights and actionable recommendations for South African tourism and hospitality businesses, policymakers, and industry associations seeking to cultivate a culture of cybersecurity collaboration. Ultimately, the collaborative model advocated herein contributes to the creation of a more secure online environment for local and international tourists visiting South Africa. This, in turn, safeguards the reputation and long-term sustainability of the tourism and hospitality sector in the country.

Determinants of Employee Engagement in the South African Hospitality Industry During COVID-19 Lockdown Epoch: Employee Perception

Employee engagement has emerged as an important concept in hospitality management as well as in human resources management fields. The purpose of the study was to assess the determinants of employee engagement in the South African hospitality industry. The study was conducted against a backdrop caused by volatile uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environments in which business and hotels in general operate exposing employees in the hotel industry to serve in very difficult conditions due to the nature of the diverse and changing needs of their clients. The study used a sample of 260 employees from 15 hotels within and around eThekwini municipality territorial jurisdiction. A cross-sectional survey was used based on a deductive research approach. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using a questionnaire. Research findings submits that hotels that put a strong emphasis on cultivating engaged workers reap substantial rewards. Employees who report being engaged at work have been shown to perform better at work, as employee involvement is related to organisational results such as efficiency, organisational citizenship, and overall job performance. The researcher recommends that organisations should examine the possible relationships between engagement and performance-related outcome variables that indicate improving engagement, as these provide a competitive advantage over rivals.

COVID-19 and Hospitality Operations: What happened and what’s next?

Unlike other global natural-, industrial- and intentional disasters of the past, if any impact was felt in South Africa, it was due to uncertainty within the tourism sector and guests being hesitant to travel. COVID-19 has had an economic and catastrophic impact on hospitality businesses, and particularly in the South African hospitality industry, resulting in changes in how the industry operates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether reactions to lockdown and the subsequent collapse of domestic and international travel should have been approached differently, and what hospitality leaders anticipate for the near future of the industry. The significance of the study is to highlight that better planning should have occurred to have reduced the negative impact of the disaster. Returned emailed qualitative questionnaires from hospitality industry partners provided insight into the weeks before lockdown. The results indicate that there was a contingency plan in place within the larger hospitality operations but the timing was too short to allow adequate implementation. Smaller operations have been the most affected, with losses of contracts, employee incomes, and positions. The economic effects on the operations will require months to resolve, with many smaller operators not being able to survive.

The Glass Ceiling: Career Progression Barriers for Female Employees in the South African Hospitality Industry

This study examined the glass ceiling phenomenon in the South African hospitality industry, with a particular focus on four hotels in Gauteng. The primary aim was to investigate the different perspectives held on the glass ceiling by exploring the key factors inhibiting women in the hospitality industry from proceeding to the next level of the corporate hierarchy, and, ultimately, to reach senior executive positions. Data was collected through informal semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire that was targeted at men and women in lower to top management positions within the different hotels. The key findings show that the glass ceiling indeed exists, as a fluid and dynamic phenomenon, which takes on various ever-evolving shapes within different work environments. Many women resonated with the nature of the glass ceiling. The literature depicts the glass ceiling as an overarching and all-encompassing phenomenon affecting women. The study sheds more light on the circumstantial nature of the glass ceiling and shows that certain factors exacerbate the effects of the ‘glass ceiling’ phenomenon. A study found that a combination of variables affected the careers of women and their work life balance. The study revealed that the circumstantial nature of the glass ceiling and its dynamic nature makes it impossible for there to be a uniform solution to navigating one’s career around it or to shatter it. This finding challenges the existing view of the glass ceiling and how women should be attempting to shatter it.

Generational Diversity as a Powerful Workplace Tool in the South African Hospitality Industry

Globalization, advances in technology, climate change, and population growth are influencing the transformation agenda of the workplace. As with any industry, tourism and hospitality have a diverse blend of older generation workers with institutional memory and a younger, more technology-oriented generation. This research aimed to understand the effect of generational differences on employee relationships, performance, and engagement, with a specific focus on the challenges experienced and coping strategies employed by various generational groups. A qualitative approach was applied and entailed semi-structured interviews with 16 participants employed within the hospitality sector. The findings revealed that, while notable differences exist between generational groups in the workplace, they experience difficulties in the same way, and that some common ground could be found with respect to their demands and expectations. The research proposes that employers invest more in programs that seek to improve the performance and engagement of different generations while developing strategies and policies that seek to address employees’ concerns while augmenting their developmental and coping skills.

A qualitative approach to developing measurement scales for the concept of Ubuntu

Orientation: This article provides a theoretical consolidation of Ubuntu antecedents to encourage understanding of the relationship between Ubuntu and organisational management. Research purpose: The Ubuntu conceptual elements – compassion, survival, group solidarity and respect and dignity – are appraised in the context of South African hospitality management. Motivation for the study: Ubuntu elements were identified as a regional sub-cultural influence in South Africa in Hofstede’s 1983 research on the influence of culture in managing organisations. Understanding the role of Ubuntu in management is argued as being important to effectively manage culturally diverse work teams in South Africa. Research design, approach and method: Qualitative data were collected from judgementally selected hospitality industry participants (stage 1) as to their perceptions of antecedents of Ubuntu applicable to hotel frontline employee management. Consequently, a Delphi method (stage 2) was applied asking eight purposefully selected participants to review the proposed sub-variables of the four Ubuntu elements derived from stage 1 to establish a theoretical Ubuntu measurement scale. Main findings: The research proposes a theoretical measurement scale for the four broad concepts of Ubuntu. Practical/managerial implications: Theoretically, this article contributes to management research for managing service orientated businesses. Practically, this research stresses the importance of Ubuntu motivational forces as mechanisms that service managers can implement in stimulating group collective achievement of organisational goals. Contribution/value-add: Ubuntu research has predominantly been conceptual related only to four elements (compassion, survival, group solidarity and respect and dignity) and no previous research has delineated antecedents for these elements to propose a multidimensional quantitative measurement scale for Ubuntu.

Increasing wine sales through customised wine service training – a quasi-experiment

Purpose The selling of wines is usually performed by a sommelier in the context of an upmarket restaurant. However, many restaurants cannot afford to employ a sommelier and must rely on the food and beverage service personnel to assist customers with the selection of wine. The food and beverage service personnel are generally not qualified to do this. Restaurants usually do not provide training with regard to wine knowledge, wine service skills and wine selling skills. The purpose of this paper was to establish whether wine service training had an influence on the wine sales of a restaurant. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-experimental research design used two restaurants from the same franchise. One restaurant was the control group while the other was the experimental group. Wine sales were monitored and recorded for a period of three months, the second month being used for the training intervention of the experimental group. Findings Although the results were not statistically significant, the results indicated that wine service training increased the wine sales in the restaurant of the experimental group. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in the South African hospitality sector and establishes that wine service training is a necessity for wine sales to explore further in the restaurant industry.

Leapfrogging to empowerment and inclusivity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illuminate an example of current practices and processes that enable transformation in the workplace in a South African multi-unit hospitality and tourism business, affording previously disadvantaged people the opportunity to advance in the organization and participate in the management and ownership of that organization.Design/methodology/approachA constructivist grounded theory methodological framework is used for the collection of data, analysis and theoretical development, utilizing Charmaz’s (2006, 2011, 2014) approach in both the collection and analysis of data as well as the theoretical perspective that emerged from the research process. Intensive semi-structured recorded interviews were conducted with the owner and managers of the company. Following transcription of the interviews, multi-level data coding allowed the move from an inductive to an abductive process with theoretical sampling allowing the shift toward conceptual and theoretical development.FindingsStudy findings provide insight about the processes and practices that enabled previously disadvantaged people to move into management and ownership of a multi-unit South African hospitality and tourism business. Leapfrogging emerged as a theoretical perspective that provides interpretive understanding of atypical upward employment mobility, i.e. “human leapfrogging.”Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study is limited to a single hospitality and tourism company in South Africa that is not necessarily typical of other South African businesses, it provides a vivid illustration of the impact that visionary leadership and a genuine desire to “level the playing field” can have on individuals, both personally and professionally, and their wider communities.Practical implicationsLeapfrogging theory in the context of “human leapfrogging” suggests innovative business practices for fast-tracking marginalized individuals out of poverty and provides an urgently needed theoretical perspective for this process.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, the leapfrogging concept has not previously been applied in the context of atypical employment progression within the corporation, nor has its impact on the corporation and the lives of the affected individuals and their communities been examined.

The impacts of complementary information technology resources on the service-profit chain and competitive performance of South African hospitality firms

The potential of information technology (IT) resources to empower employees, to shape customer service and contribute to the competitive performance of hospitality firms has received much attention. Yet empirical evidence has been lacking. This study draws on the resource-based view of the firm and the service-profit chain framework to develop and test a model of the effects of a complementary system of tangible and intangible IT resources on employee and customer service outcomes and on competitive performance. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 112 hospitality establishments operating in South Africa. Results revealed that the complementary system of IT resources has significant direct effects on competitive performance whilst its effect on customer service outcomes is fully mediated by employee outcomes. Results support the contention that hospitality service is information intensive. In addition to employees, tangible and intangible IT resources demand the attention of hospitality managers and their role in competitive strategy must be considered.

Addressing the Skills Shortage Problem of the South African Tourism and Hospitality Industry: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 2007/2008 SA Host Training Program in the Western Cape Province

The issue of skills shortage has been central to the discussions on economic growth and development in South Africa. Education and skills development are listed as one of the seven “Priorities for Intervention” constraints in the 2006 Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa. The objectives of this study were to establish the competency levels of tourism/hospitality industry employees on a list of nontechnical hospitality skills, assess the skills gap between employer expectations and employee performance on these skills, evaluate the impact of the 2007/2008 SA Host training program in reducing that gap and improving employee skills. The results showed an improvement in employee performance and a reduction in the skills gaps after the training.

Transcendental Leadership versus Management in the South African Hospitality Industry: A Recipe for Success

Transcendental Leadership versus Management in the South African Hospitality Industry: A Recipe for Success

Grooming great graduates

Globalisation has moved the South African tourism, hospitality and sport industries into a complex business environment with the competitive edge being defined in terms of service and value for money. These industries increasingly judge graduate qualities by conceptual, operational and especially emotional expertise. Higher education, on the other hand, demands improved graduate yield and research outputs. This scenario necessitates that universities provide education and training in this field to redefine their traditional graduate profile. The study examined how access criteria, emotional intelligence and academic success define highly soughtafter graduates. A multivariate competency model, explaining 84 per cent of the total variability, was developed based on a sample of 119 first-year Hospitality Management students enrolled at the Central University of Technology. Academic achievement explained 58 per cent and emotional intelligence 16 per cent of the variance. Student performance was classified into four groups and predicted with 80 per cent accuracy. Finally, specific emotional intelligence competencies were closely associated with highly performing graduates. While only 36 per cent of students seem to be top performers, the model provides guidelines on proactively identifying underperformers and the key academic success and emotional intelligence areas to improve the overall performance of first-year Hospitality Management students. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 19(5) 2005: 969-989

South African hospitality beckons

South African hospitality beckons