Using Mihalic et al.’s (2012) hotel sustainability business framework as its lens, this study provides an empirical analysis of a leading western hotel chain’s sustainability priorities in its entry and subsequent operations in China’s emerging hotel industry. A qualitative study of company documentation and semi-structured interviews with 12 senior managers at Marriott International in China indicated that seven sustainability strategies were prioritised by the chain (i.e., domestic employee development and satisfaction, resource allocation and education, guest satisfaction, domestic government engagement, the power to change participation, and the need to establish a positively differentiated labour-market position). This study and proposes a range of sustainability research opportunities in emerging hotel industry contexts. In addition to this, a range of practical implications for sustainability management in emerging hotel industry settings are presented.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	strategic sustainability; Marriott hotels; Chinese hospitality industry; emerging markets
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Commercial services
Research Field:	Hospitality management
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Management and productivity
Objective Field:	Management
UTAS Author:	Wickham, MD (Dr Mark Wickham)
UTAS Author:	French, LE (Dr Linda French)
UTAS Author:	Wong, TL (Dr Tommy Wong)
ID Code:	137638
Year Published:	2020
Deposited By:	Management
Deposited On:	2020-02-24
Last Modified:	2020-08-17
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