The stress-induced impact of covid-19 on tourism and hospitality workers

Abstract

This study explores how COVID-19-induced stress (CID) influences organizational trust, job satisfaction, self-esteem, and commitment in tourism and hospitality organizations. A total of 427 tourism affiliated employees in South Korea participated in an online survey. Using structural equa-tion modelling (SEM), the proposed conceptual model reveals that CID stress in tourism/hospitality employees is negatively related to organizational trust, job satisfaction, and self-esteem which, in turn, is positively related to organizational commitment. CID stress also indirectly affects organizational commitment. The findings have significant strategic implications for tourism and hospitality organizations-specifically, the provision of instrumental resources (e.g., safety glasses, latex gloves, hand sanitizers, facial masks) to alleviate their employees’ work-related stress during pandemics.