Relational antecedents of sustainability orientation in hospitality and tourism firms: the mediating role of absorptive capacity

Abstract

Interest in the literature on tourism destination sustainability has grown notably in recent years, underlining the need for a greater strategic commitment by hospitality and tourism firms (HTFs). However, it is necessary to understand why certain firms develop a greater sustainability orientation (SO), delving into how the relational factors determine the SO of HTFs, which has been demanded, but not addressed. The aim of this paper is to analyze the mediating role of absorptive capacity in explaining the influence of bonding capital and bridging capital on the SO of HTFs in destinations. The empirical study was developed in a sample of 238 HTFs in Peru. Specifically, we focused on the UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Cities, which include the historic centers of Lima, Cusco and Arequipa. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) to analyze the results, we found that bonding capital has a direct effect on SO and a mediating effect through absorptive capacity. Bridging capital has no direct effect, influencing SO only through absorptive capacity. Thus, we highlight the importance of absorptive capacity as a key element that drives social capital, especially the bridging dimension, towards a higher SO. Managers of HTFs should combine relationships with agents inside and outside the destination to reinforce their strategic commitment to sustainable development.

Keywords:

• Social capital
• sustainability orientation
• absorptive capacity
• bonding capital
• bridging capital
• cultural tourism destinations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 This classification is based on Granovetter's (1973) approach to the strength of ties, focusing mainly on the frequency and intensity of interactions. Putnam (2000) also incorporates considerations on the density, dispersion and heterogeneity of networks.

2 SUNAT is the Spanish acronym for the National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration. This is a technical institution attached to the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Government of Peru. Thus, it contains information on all national government taxes, as well as on the international traffic of goods, persons and means of transport.

3 MINCETUR is the Spanish acronym for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, and offers information about tourism, and crafts companies and foreign trade.

4 In order to carry out the pre-test, we had the cooperation of 10 company managers from the studied population including the different activities -restaurants, hotel, travel agencies and museums-, and of 8 academics specialized in tourism and sustainability issues. The academics and managers collaborated in the pre-design of the questionnaire and the managers tested the survey.

5 The variables were measured using 7-point Likert scales. All items can be found in Appendix 1.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 with Grant PID2020-117398GB-I00.