Hotels offering rooms to homeless in pandemic reap reputation rewards

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364 

Explanation

The study found that hotels that opened their doors to homeless people during an urban blockade generated more positive word-of-mouth marketing than those that offered free accommodations to health care workers and others.

But while there was a positive impact of sharing the good news, there was an opposite impact on tourist booking behavior, with people less likely to book a stay at a hotel where homeless people were living.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Bath and the University of Southampton, was inspired by a news report that offered free accommodation and wanted to investigate how it compared in terms of business benefits to the tourism sector. One of the reasons for this in the research findings is that a previous study identified negative views of homeless people in terms of cleanliness and this is believed to be a factor in the findings.

The researchers said that if hotel management can successfully communicate how to maintain high standards of cleanliness, community initiatives should not pose a long-term risk to reservations.