Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management· 2026Q1
Hospitality spirit does not die: Sustaining, consolidating, and reshaping positive professional identity in times of crisis
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Hospitality professionals sustained their roles during the COVID-19 crisis by reinforcing their professional identities through resilience and purpose, leading to intensified meaning-making, commitment, and belonging.
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Key points
- Hospitality professionals sustained their roles during the COVID-19 crisis through resilience and purpose.
- In-depth interviews with 25 US-based hospitality professionals revealed identity mechanisms that intensified professional meaning-making.
- These mechanisms led to increased commitment and belonging within the industry.
- The study proposes a model of spiritual hospitality identities grounded in service and intrinsic calling.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Extreme industry crises disrupt hospitality workforces, yet many professionals sustain or reimagine their roles through resilience and purpose. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as an empirical case of prolonged disruption, this study examines how hospitality professional identities (PIDs) are sustained, consolidated, and developed under crisis conditions. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 25 hospitality professionals in the United States who remained or returned to the industry, the findings reveal a set of interrelated identity mechanisms through which crisis intensifies professional meaning-making, commitment, and belonging. These mechanisms inform an interpretive model of individual, collective, and meaning-based spiritual hospitality identities. Hospitality spirit refers to purpose- and values-driven identity grounded in an intrinsic calling to serve offering theoretical insight into how positive PID enables hospitality talent to endure crisis, remain committed, and sustain the spirit of hospitality work overtime.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting