A systematic literature review on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and hotels: past achievements and future promises in the hospitality sector

ABSTRACT The study offers a comprehensive and critical systematic literature review (SLR) alongside an analysis of recent literature regarding the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the hotel industry.The study utilizes the SLR method to consolidate the relevant literature on CSR initiatives in the hotel industry context. Content analysis led to the identification of 100 pertinent studies, which contributed to the formation of diverse research themes, identification of research gaps, exploration of potential future research paths, and the creation of a research framework. The five thematic areas of research are the role of (1) employees in CSR initiatives, (2) customers in CSR initiatives, (3) CSR and business performance, (4) CSR and reporting, and (5) CSR and sustainability. The findings are synthesized into a hotel-based CSR research framework. By providing valuable insights on strengthening CSR in the hotel industry, this study is one of the first SLR study that focuses explicitly on CSR in hotels and will be valuable for both practitioners and researchers.