Mind the gap: researching ‘sustainability in hospitality’ at the edge of academic and industry interests

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the research line ‘sustainability in hospitality’ for Stenden University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands). To comply with the official requirements for a Dutch university of applied sciences (UAS), a research line should be based on an explicit or latent knowledge demand from the industry; it should add to the academic debate and its design should enable both undergraduate students and staff to get involved as researchers. This study aims at developing a research line ‘sustainability in hospitality’ that fulfils these requirements. To reach this aim and considering the existing gap between academic research and practitioners’ interests, a mixed methodology was used: an analysis of academic journals and in-depth interviews with 14 key informants from the hospitality industry. Data obtained were compared to look for commonality of interests. Results confirm that there is also a gap in hospitality management studies between academic and industry interests, and suggest that professionals are less interested in environmental issues than academics and that they are in need of guidance for a more integrated approach to sustainability. Future research should further explore the relevance of major academic themes for practitioners and investigate the role of management literature in forming the understanding of professionals about sustainability and its challenges.