Sustainability in Hospitality: Industry Research Project Report

This research report explores the importance of sustainability in the hospitality industry, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on Portugal Airlines, the report examines the impact of the pandemic on sustainability practices, including sanitization measures and the reduction of plastic usage. It also provides recommendations and strategies for maintaining sustainability and mitigating losses, such as promoting self-service and using sustainable materials. The methodology employs an interpretivism research philosophy, and the findings contribute to understanding how hospitality organizations can enhance their performance and attract customers through effective sustainability practices during challenging times. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments.

Research Project
Report

Executive Summary
Sustainability is important for organizations because it ensures that the company is able
to conduct its business operations in an effective manner. Apart from this, it can be stated that
there are different strategies which the companies can implement in order to enhance their
overall efficiency as well as gain a competitive advantage in the industry. The respective report
is based on Portugal Airlines that offers services to the customers across different destinations.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 has impacted the airline as well as the hospitality industry to a
great extent and it is thus important for the company to develop strategies that are effective and
can help in achieving the goals in a significant manner. The rationale for undertaking this
research is to study the importance of sustainability because it has been useful in various real
scenarios since it is helpful for carrying out business effectively, in the long-term as well. The
outbreak of Covid-19 has impacted the overall business of them organizations and many
organizations have incurred losses. Therefore, it is significantly important for the organizations
to take into account the different aspects and develop strategies that will help them in covering
the losses that have been incurred because of Covid-19.

Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................4
Contextual Background...........................................................................................................................4
Rationale for Research.............................................................................................................................5
Research Scope........................................................................................................................................5
Research Objectives................................................................................................................................5
Research Questions.................................................................................................................................5
Literature Review......................................................................................................................................5
Meaning of sustainability........................................................................................................................5
Effect of current practices of sustainability in airlines industry...............................................................6
Some recommendations/strategies for maintaining sustainability in reducing the losses occurred due to
COVID....................................................................................................................................................7
Methodology..............................................................................................................................................7
Main Body and Findings.........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................17
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................20
Appendix..................................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
The respective report aims to analyze the overall importance of sustainability in the
hospitality industry during the pandemic. Sustainability can be referred to as a type of approach
that is primarily inclined towards creating value for long-term for the organization by
considering the way in which a business operates. It can be said that hospitality industry is one of
the most significant industries in the world that comprise of different activities such as lodging,
transportation, travel as well as accommodation (Adamov and et.al., 2020). It can be said that
sustainability is important for any business because it helps it in attracting a greater number of
people as well as building a strong brand image of the company. It is important for any
organization to implement effective sustainability practices as well as strategies to help the
customers have a positive experience. As a result, they would consider returning back. Also, with
an increase in the level of awareness among the people, many organizations operating within the
hospitality industry have started to include sustainability practices to ensure that the practices are
conducted in an effective manner. organization chosen for this report is Portugal Airline, that
offers various flight services to the customers in order to serve their needs as well as preferences.
The outbreak of the pandemic has impacted the way in which organizations operate as well as
the level of their profitability. The respective report will explain the meaning of sustainability
and the current practices of sustainability in airlines during COVID. Also, it will also provide
recommendations better strategies for maintaining sustainability in mitigating the losses occurred
due to COVID.
Contextual Background
The respective report is based on analyzing the importance of sustainability in changing
hospitality industry in the in this pandemic situation (Adeyinka-Ojo and et.al., 2020). The
outbreak of them pandemic has impacted the hospitality industry to a great extent and it is
important for the companies within the industry. this is because it will enable the companies to
conduct their business operations in an effective manner and at the same time, attract a greater
number of customers (Taş Gürsoy, 2020). Due to Covid-19, people have become conscious
about their overall health as well as safety. And hence, it is important for the organizations to
develop effective strategies as well as implement measures in order to eliminate any issues that
can affect the overall business.

Rationale for Research
The main rationale for undertaking this research is to develop an understanding about the
impact of Covid on the hospitality industry (Yarbrough, 2020). Also, this research will be helpful
for the readers as well as the chosen organization to develop effective strategies that are
sustainable and would help the company in achieving a higher level of performance. another
rationale behind undertaking this report is to analyze the overall importance of sustainability on
the organization as well as its performance.
Research Scope
The scope for this research is that the geography area of this research is only limited to
the United Kingdom and the people working within the hospitality industry. Also, Portugal
Airline is the organization that has been chosen for the completion of the research (Amicarelli
and et.al., 2021). Apart from this, the inclusion criteria for this research report are that the people
belonging to this industry will be included to provide responses for the interviews. This is
because they are in a better position to provide the responses for the same. The research will be
based on the opinions of respondents who have been chosen for the interview.
Research Objectives
 To identify the meaning of sustainability.
 To assess the current practices of sustainability in airlines during COVID.
 To be able to recommend better strategies for maintaining sustainability in mitigating the
losses occurred due to COVID.
Research Questions
 What is the meaning of sustainability?
 How COVID situation has affected current practices of sustainability in airlines industry?
 What are some recommendations/strategies for maintaining sustainability in reducing the
losses occurred due to COVID?
Literature Review
Meaning of sustainability
Sustainability is to maintain or hold underlying pattern of resilience, health and flexibility
leading to a condition of this planet to be flourished in all the regions and aspects (Chen and

et.al., 2021). It has been carried out in one-of-a-kind regions for instance manufacturing
operations, herbal resources explorations, way of life of humans, and lots of comparable
modifications for you to reduce the harm to nature for over making use of these factors. It a
broadly widely wide-spread practice for living a healthy existence and saving the nature from
any harm in order that current and destiny generations can live peacefully without making any
compromise to any of the herbal resources. In different phrases, it's miles a manner which for
long term survival.
Sustainability is a business method to creating lengthy-time period cost by using
considering how a given company operates in the ecological, social and monetary surroundings.
Sustainability is built on the assumption that growing such strategies foster business enterprise
sturdiness. In other words, it can be stated that sustainability is an important aspect for an
organization because it significantly contributes to the overall success as well as growth of the
company (Cho, Cho and Zhang, 2021). A business that is environmentally aware and conscious
is able to attract a greater number of customers. This is because sustainable businesses consider
their impact on the society as well as the environment. also, there are various benefits of
sustainability for a company such as it is able to attract a greater number of customers as well as
serve their needs in an effective manner. in the contemporary world, more and more businesses
are implementing sustainable strategies in their business operations ibn order to improve
efficiency as well as reduce the overall negative impact on the business.
Effect of current practices of sustainability in airlines industry
The airline industry is one of the largest industries that can significantly contribute to the
overall growth of a country. The outbreak of the pandemic has transformed the way in which
companies within the airline industry conduct their business operations. This is because people
have now become conscious of about travelling during this time. Currently, there are various
practices of sustainability that have been implemented in the airline industry in order to eliminate
any kind of issues. It can be said that the outbreak of the pandemic has affected the working as
well a ss functioning of the airline industry. This in turn affected the survival of the industry to a
great level. The pandemic led to creating huge losses for the respective company and thus, taking
the same into account, there are various practices that have been adopted by companies within
the airlines industry as well as the hospitality industry. For instance, regular sanitization as well

as other safety measures are being taken by the firm. also, as far as the airline industry is
concerned, the passengers are provided with safety kits along with healthy eating options
(Dhyani, Dimri and Gairola, 2020). The primary reason for adopting these sustainability
practices is to attract a greater number of customers. On the other hand, the hospitality industry
has also implemented various sustainability measures such as use of plastic has been eliminated.
It can be said that the effect of these current practices has helped the business in attracting a
greater number of customers as well as ensuring that they are able to work in an effective
manner. reducing the use of plastic has been very beneficial for the company.
Some recommendations/strategies for maintaining sustainability in reducing the losses occurred
due to COVID
There are certain recommendations or strategies that can be suggested for maintaining
sustainability so as to reduce the overall losses that have been incurred because of covid. The
people have now become very conscious about travelling to different places and staying at a
particular hospitality organization. For instance, it is recommended that the organization should
cut down its use on the plastics and hence, promote the use of sustainable materials (Ferrero-
Ferrero, León and Muñoz-Torres, 2021). Apart from this, it is also recommended that the
companies within the hospitality industry should regularly sanitize and clean the rooms before
the guest check-in so that they are able to ensure the safety of not only the employees, but also
the guests as well. The outbreak of Covid-19 has impacted the overall business of them
organizations and many organizations have incurred losses. Therefore, it is significantly
important for the organizations to take into account the different aspects and develop strategies
that will help them in covering the losses that have been incurred because of Covid-19. Apart
from this, another recommendation that can be made is that self-service should be promoted in
both hospitality as well as the aviation industry. This is because it can help in enhancing the
chances of the customers returning back. This is because there will be less contact among the
guests and hence, the overall health of the passengers and the guests for the hospitality industry
will be ensured. If these recommendations and strategies are adopted by organizations within the
industry, the companies will be able to conduct their business operations in an effective.

Methodology
Research Philosophy – It is an essential factor of the studies examine and may be
defined as a belief about the way in which information approximately the research have to be
gathered, analyzed as well as used. It can be stated that research philosophy is a huge a part of
the research as it enables in figuring out the studies approach in addition to the strategies for that
method (González-Serrano, Añó Sanz and González-García, 2020). There are exceptional types
of studies philosophies that may be used for completing the studies examine in an effective
manner. Interpretivism and positivism are the two types of research philosophies that the
researcher can use for completing the research. In context to this study, the researcher has used
interpretivism research philosophy as it will assist in deciphering the information accrued by the
researcher. This is also because the respective studies philosophy is primarily based at the
precept which states that the researcher observes the social global. It also can be said that
research philosophy is essential because it explains the readers about the researcher’s view point.
Research Approach – Research method is some other important factor for research and
can be defined as a plan and method about the broad steps about the distinct strategies of data
series, analysis in addition to interpretation. The research technique is of kinds inductive in
addition to deductive (Ha and Bae, 2020). It may be stated that research approach is vital and
may help the researcher in finishing the studies project in a powerful way. In context to this
report, the researcher has used deductive research technique as it will assist in deciphering the
connection among the special variables. Therefore, it may be said that by means of adopting
deductive method, the researcher can be capable to complete the study in a powerful way and
reap the dreams of the observe.
Research Strategy – A research strategy can be defined as a step-by-step plan of action
that helps the researcher in aligning their thoughts as well as efforts. This in addition enables
them to behavior the research in a systematic manner and hence, produce exceptional effects to
be able to upload to the existing know-how of the readers in addition to the control of the
respective agency, Portugal Airline. It may be said that the research approach is an critical issue
of a studies as it assists the researcher in choosing the proper facts collection technique. Case
study, cognizance businesses, qualitative interviews in addition to quantitative surveys are a
number of the examples of research approach. In context to this research, it is able to be stated

that the researcher has used quantitative survey a good way to collect effective statistics from the
participants. Apart from this, secondary resources of statistics have additionally been used to
gather the maximum dependable as well as legitimate records.
Research Design – Research design can be defined as the framework of the different
research methods as well as techniques that are used by the researcher for the completion of the
study. It is important for the researcher to choose the most appropriate research design so that
they are able to utilize the methods which are suitable for the study (Lee, McCole and Holecek,
2020). There are different types of research design such as cohort study, case study, cross-
sectional design etc. In order to complete the respective study in an effective manner, the
researcher has used descriptive design. This is because it will enable the researcher to explain the
different information in an effective manner.
Data Collection – Data collection may be known as the method of gathering true as well
as dependable records. It is critical for the researcher to undertake the maximum suitable
technique of data collection to ensure that powerful data has been collected. Primary and
secondary are the two forms of statistics collection methods that can be used for this studies.
Questionnaire, interviews and recognition institution are examples of number one methods of
information collection (Orefice and Nyarko, 2020). On the opposite hand, books, journals,
reviews, online websites and so on. Are the examples of secondary sources of information. The
records collection approach can both be primary or secondary based totally on the requirement of
the study. In context to this research, each number one and secondary resources have been used.
A questionnaire has been used for the primary information series whereas books and journals are
used for secondary statistics collection.
Time Horizon – It is about the time-frame which should be determined for the research.
It is categorized into classes which include move sectional in which records keeping the equal
perspective of different authors and longitudinal in which observations may additionally differ in
each case. This layer defines the time-frame for the studies – move-sectional or quick time
period have a look at, involving collection of statistics at a selected point of time; longitudinal –
collection of facts repeatedly over a protracted period of time with a view to examine statistics.
There are sorts of time horizons specifically Longitudinal and Cross-sectional. Longitudinal
research are repeated over a prolonged duration. Cross sectional studies are limited to a

particular time frame. This research is likewise restricted to a particular time frame and
consequently the move sectional time horizon is used.
Sampling – Sampling is a manner used in statistical analysis wherein a predetermined
wide sort of observations are taken from a larger populace. Sampling is a method used in
statistical evaluation in which a predetermined sort of observations are taken from a bigger
populace (Papathanassis, 2021). The technique used to sample from a bigger populace relies
upon at the sort of evaluation being carried out, however it may encompass smooth random
sampling or systematic sampling. In studies terms a sample is a collection of humans, devices, or
items which might be taken from a larger populace for measurement. The sample ought to be
representative of the population to make certain that we are able to generalize the findings from
the research sample to the populace as a whole. A sample length of fifty has been chosen for this
research record.
Validity and Reliability – Reliability and validity are principles used to evaluate the
high-quality of studies. They propose how nicely a manner, technique or check degree
something. Reliability is about the consistency of a degree, and validity is set the accuracy of a
diploma. Reliability refers to how always a way measures something. If the identical end result
may be usually completed by means of way of the usage of the same techniques under the equal
events, the size is taken into consideration dependable (Scuttari, Pechlaner and Erschbamer,
2021). Validity refers to how as it have to be a technique measures what it's far supposed to
degree. If studies has high validity, meaning it produces consequences that correspond to actual
homes, characteristics, and variations within the physical or social global. High reliability is one
indicator that a dimension is valid. If a manner isn't dependable, it probable isn’t legitimate. The
purpose of organising reliability and validity in research is essentially to make certain that
records are sound and replicable, and the effects are accurate. The proof of validity and
reliability are stipulations to assure the integrity and first-class of a measurement device.
Ethical Considerations - Voluntary participation of respondents within the research is
important. Moreover, contributors have rights to withdraw from the look at at any level if they
desire to achieve this. Respondents need to participate on the basis of knowledgeable consent.
The principle of knowledgeable consent involves researchers imparting enough statistics and
assurances approximately taking component to allow people to apprehend the results of

participation and to attain a completely informed, considered and freely given decision
approximately whether or no longer to accomplish that, without the exercising of any strain or
coercion. The use of offensive, discriminatory, or other unacceptable language wishes to be
avoided in the formulation of Questionnaire/Interview/Focus institution questions. the researcher
has taken into account the different ethical considerations into account in order to ensure that the
research is conducted in an efficient manner.
Planning of the research
Planning is considered to be an important aspect for research and this is because it helps
the management in developing effective strategies as well as implementing the same to achieve
the goals and objectives (Sebby and Brown, 2020). There are different types of tools that can be
used by the researcher in order to track the progress of the different activities that are a part of
the research. For instance, a Gantt chart has been used for tracking the different activities in an
effective manner. It can be said that a Gantt chart is useful and has various benefits such as there
is an improved communication between the team members. Also, effective strategies can be
developed and implemented in an effective manner.
Main Body and Findings
Theme 1: Knowledge about the importance of sustainability on hospitality industry
Q1. Do you have any knowledge about the importance of sustainability on hospitality
industry?
a) Yes 35
b) No 15

a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
35
15
Chart Title
Interpretation – From the above graph, it can be concluded that out of the total 50
respondents, 35 were aware of the concept of important of sustainability for hospitality industry.
They said that they had heard about the same or had heard about the same in the future. Apart
from this, it can also be concluded that the remaining 15 respondents stated that they did not
have any knowledge about the concept of the same. It can be said that sustainability is important
and can affect the overall growth as well as success of the company. It is important to ensure that
effective sustainable practices are implemented so that the goals as well as objectives are
achieved.
Theme 2: Impact of sustainability on a hospitality organization
Q2. What is the impact of sustainability on a hospitality organization?
a) Improved efficiency of business operations 12
b) Greater access to potential customers 15
c) Enhanced brand image 23