ABSTRACT
Five-star racism displays the tendency of those five-star hotels and restaurants to limit frontline staff to Caucasians. This leads to unequal career opportunities for Black and Minority Ethnic employees. It seems that qualifications and competences are not what matters in recruitment and promotion but more the managers’ selective perception based on biases and prejudice about a certain group of employees. Graduates of hospitality management studies are the future managers and game changers, and it is crucial that they understand the negative impact of racism and discrimination not only on the image of the five-star hospitality businesses, the employee performance and satisfaction, but also on the society as they reinforce inequality and perceived superiority of a certain race or group. The priority of most of those organizations is profit and financial results, ignoring thus the human, ethical, and societal consequences of their decisions. The chapter underlines the dimensions of racism and discrimination in five-star hotels and restaurants, discusses the reasons behind such practices, and concludes with some recommendations based on sustainable development goals.
