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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of employees’ different disability types on lodging guests’ perceptions of service quality delivery and stereotyping. The study also explores the influence of consumer characteristics (i.e. gender, education, religiosity, generational identity and relationship to a person with a disability) on service delivery quality perceptions and stereotyping.

Using different types of disabilities, the study uses a controlled experiment, followed by a survey, to evaluate consumers’ perception of service quality delivery of a hotel front office staff member.

The results suggest that there are no significant differences in the perceptions of service quality delivery and stereotyping for service employees with disabilities with the exception of employees with a visual impairment. The study found that participants, who had a close friend or family member with a disability, expressed less stereotyping than those who did not have a close friend or family member with a disability.

Real service encounters can be used where participants might be more involved in the service process than in a controlled experiment setting.

The findings provide support to human resource management in strategically placing people with disabilities into front-line positions because they satisfactorily represent the image of the company and guests consider their service professional and reliable.

The study’s findings support that employers should tap into the under-utilized workforce of people with disabilities and avoid pre-existing stereotyping.

A major concern of hospitality companies making employment decisions about hiring people with disabilities is guests’ attitude. This is the first study in hospitality that examines service quality delivery of employees with different types of disability serve guests.

This study aims to examine the individual and contextual predictors of managerial attitudes toward employees with chronic depression (EwCD) in the hospitality and tourism field, the relationship between managerial attitudes toward EwCD and levels of organizational citizenship behavior, and the mediating role of personality in this relationship.

Empirical data were collected through an online survey of 305 managers working in the hospitality and tourism industry in the USA. SmartPLS 3 software was used to conduct a partial least squares-structural equation modeling analysis.

Organizational and individual characteristics of managers, such as pressure to be productive in the workplace, previous experience with depression, levels of anxiety and personality characteristics, are strong predictors of attitudes toward employees with depression. Personality mediates the effect of managers’ attitudes toward organizational citizenship behavior.

The study provided support that managers who have experienced depression are more understanding of the needs of EwCD and, consequently, can reduce related stigma in the workplace. Likewise, open and agreeable managers who do not feel the constant pressure to showcase high performance and who score low on anxiety and high on organizational citizenship behavior can create a safe working environment free from prejudice and discrimination toward EwCD.

Examining depression in the hospitality and tourism industry becomes even more critical as mental health issues are increasing in the workplace. This research contributes to the hospitality and tourism literature, which seldom investigates managerial perspectives of mental illness and sheds light on the desirable managerial personality traits necessary for creating an inclusive workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of diversity management research published in hospitality and tourism-specific and business discipline-based journals. The study objectives include attempting to assess the progress of diversity management research in hospitality and tourism, identifying gaps between the general business diversity management literature and the hospitality and tourism literature and providing hospitality and tourism scholars with suggestions to advance knowledge in diversity management.

The study is a critical review of the existing diversity management literature in the general business and hospitality and tourism disciplines in an attempt to identify gaps and make suggestions for expanding this knowledge in the hospitality and tourism fields.

There are significant gaps between the diversity management scholarship conducted in hospitality and tourism disciplines and the general business field. Diversity management research in general business is far more in-depth and uses sociological and social psychological theoretical frameworks.

There are lessons to be learned from the general business literature that uses strong theoretical foundations deeply grounded in sociological, psychological, social-psychological and management theories. The general management literature also explores the conditions under which diversity management adds value or creates challenges for organizations.

The hospitality and tourism industry has employed large numbers of ethnic minorities, women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for decades. As such, it is critical that scholars explore the implications of such a diverse workforce not only on organizational outcomes, but also on individual and group performance. The general business diversity management research suggests that workgroup composition can influence individual and group performance, as well as the quality of co-worker relationships. Given the team-oriented, interdependent nature of work in the hospitality and tourism industry, it is imperative that researchers conduct studies that help practitioners understand the most effective perspectives and approaches to diversity management.

The critical literature review demonstrated that there is extremely scarce research on diversity management focusing on employees with disabilities. It is imperative to shed more light on best diversity management practices, workplace etiquette of this under-represented group of employees and their interaction with their co-workers.

This study’s results provide insight into areas of exploration that can significantly enhance the scholarship on diversity management in the hospitality and tourism literature.

This exploratory study aims to investigate consumers' perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intention for restaurants that employ a significant amount of service staff with disabilities. The influences of consumers' characteristics and dining occasions on purchase intention were also examined.

The authors employed a single-factor (dining occasion) experimental design. A convenient sample was used and a total of 192 consumers participated in this study.

Consumers demonstrated a moderately positive purchase intention for a restaurant that employs a significant amount of service staff with disabilities; however, the purchase intention varied by dining occasions. The likelihood of choosing this type of restaurant was higher in a family/friends occasion than in business or romantic occasions.

This study employed a convenient sample and the findings might be limited to the casual dining restaurant context. Future research should examine the relationship between purchase intention and perceived social responsibility, restaurant image, or specific disabilities.

This study suggests that hiring a significant amount of service staff with disabilities might be a better strategy for restaurants that target family/friends gatherings. Meanwhile, managers need to be more strategic when they assign employees with disabilities to serve guests who are in a business or romantic dining situation.

This is the first study that empirically investigates consumers' perspectives on restaurant service staff with disabilities in the USA.

The purpose of this research paper is to describe the results and implications of the training professionals' competencies in the hospitality industry in the USA.

A qualitative implicit method, in‐depth interviews using pictures were conducted with ten training professionals, where metaphors were widely used and links between concepts were identified. The qualitative software Atlas ti was used in creating a consensus map: a display showing the required competencies of training professionals in hospitality.

The training competencies that resulted from the current study are imperative for the effectiveness of training and development such as teamwork, inspiration‐motivation, creativity, mentoring, keeping current, proactiveness, active listening, staying healthy, training measurement, consistency, and love and passion for the profession.

In‐depth interviews using pictures is an implicit research technique that attempts to reveal the unconscious thoughts and opinions of training professionals. The study took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, a unique tourist destination, and the interviewees were employed by large hotel‐casino corporations. Future studies need to research different sizes of hospitality institutions and different tourist destinations.

Human resources management can use the outcome of the study as a guide for compiling competency‐based job analyses for training positions, and consequently recruit and appraise training professionals based on these job specifications. Moreover, the outcome of the paper can be proven beneficial not only for hospitality executives, and future and current training professionals, but also for educators since training and teaching show‐case many similarities.

Improved and efficient training will result in lower employee turnover since employees will rate higher in job satisfaction and consequently that will result in better customer service and returning business for the company; a win‐win situation for all involved stakeholders in a hospitality company.

Both hospitality executives and future and current training professionals should find these research results most interesting as they reveal the necessary competencies that will enable them to best train and develop hospitality employees.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of onsite restaurant business volume on slot machine gaming volume at a Midwestern racino property. The results provide management with critical estimates for use in determining the overall value of the restaurant space. Additionally, operators are able to examine whether it makes sense to operate restaurants at a loss, based on the notion that the dining outlets are contributing to gaming volumes.

Time series multiple regression analysis is used to analyze daily performance data, providing an estimate of the change in the dollar amount of slot wagers resulting from a one‐unit increase in the dollar value of restaurant sales.

The theoretical model advanced herein explained 81 percent of the variation in the aggregate, daily dollar value of slot wagers. A one‐dollar increase in the variable representing overall restaurant sales produced a $91 increase in slot wagers (or $7.44 in slot win).

Regression analysis does not prove cause and effect. The result was produced from a single data set. Operators are encouraged to examine their own data via the method and model advanced herein.

The results provide management an opportunity to examine whether the slot win associated with the restaurant operations exceeds the operating losses incurred by the restaurants, and, if so, by how much.

This is the first study to examine empirically the relationship between restaurant and gaming business volumes at a racino. Specifically, no published study includes statistically derived estimates of the impact of changes in on‐site restaurant volume on a racino's slot wagering volume.