The owner-operator split in the hotel industry: sustainability challenges and opportunities

The hotel industry is often thought of as something of a laggard in the implementation of sustainability initiatives. In this conceptual paper, we examine this assertion in a new context: models of hotel ownership and operation. We focus on current trends in the latter toward ‘asset light’ ownership/operation configurations, materializing in so-called hotel management contracts. It is established that whereas hotel management contracts usually favor the control and manage paradigm, add additional stakeholders and encompass stakeholder detachment, these characteristics of a separation of ownership and operation actually hinder instatement and application of the values-driven collaborative learning processes needed to further sustainable development. Finally, the need to follow up this conceptual discussion with empirical research – focusing on validating, refining and/or adding to the three key issues identified here – is highlighted and key issues for future research are identified.