ABSTRACT
The hospitality industry is often considered a laggard in the domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and it is time to rise to the challenge. Responsibility priorities are also evolving, and CSR engagement should respond to such development to stay current. This chapter proposes a new CSR approach based on emerging examples from non-hospitality industries and applies it to the international hospitality business. The approach focuses on how CSR can transform from a business practice into the core of a business and create a sustainable competitive advantage. It differs from the earlier debate on responsibility by reversing the relationship between CSR and business. Instead of embedding aspects of responsibility into core operations, the new breed of responsible companies embeds their operations into a core of responsibility. The nature of hospitality could make a natural fit for such a reversal, and this provides a unique opportunity for hospitality to leap into CSR prominence.
