Corporate Social Responsibility in hospitality: are sustainability initiatives really sustainable? Case examples from CitizenM, Lefay and Six Senses

Purpose In 2016, the United Nations published the agenda for sustainable development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), asking everyone to commit to reach the Goals’ targets by 2030. Accordingly, hospitality brands developed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to deliver positive direct, indirect and induced impacts to the triple bottom lines’ environmental, social and economic dimensions. The purpose of this paper consists in investigating the benefits that companies want to obtain, engaging in these activities. Three very different hotel brands’ CSR are analyzed to consider their undeclared coordination with the UN SDGs namely CitizenM, Lefay and Six Senses. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on secondary qualitative data retrieved from websites. Findings When choosing to commit to CSR initiatives, companies not only behave as good corporate citizens but also pursue their economic interests. By so doing, they receive benefits that vary from improved image and reputation amongst guests to enhanced satisfaction and commitment amongst employees, passing through reduced fiscal burdens and financial savings. Practical implications The UN SDGs seem to potentially create a virtuous cycle in which Goal 8, decent work and economic growth, must be a leading cornerstone. To make the cycle work, socio-economic engagement and factual certainly should be improved and hospitality companies should pay a role both by measuring and publishing the benefits of committing to CSR and funding sustainability research that can be beneficial to their business, too. If this happens and the UN SDGs’ targets are met, the future will benefit from a circular economy, whereby resources will not be disposed of but maintained, repaired, reused, remanufactured and refurbished before being recycled. In other words, sustainability is not only about creating a better life for every living being but also about developing favourable business environments to benefit companies. Originality/value The comparison of hospitality brands’ with theoretically identified benefits represents the starting point of a wider multi-dimensional reflection on coordination between companies’ CSR and UN SDGs. Recommendations to sustain the sustainability virtuous cycle and to look at the future are drawn.