Ethical Issues in Hospitality: Management Implications for Youth Tourism in Romania

Youth travel includes “all independent trips for periods of less than one year by people aged 15–29 which are motivated, in part or in full, by a desire to experience other cultures and build life experience” (World Tourism Organization). By the year 2020, there will be around 370 million young travelers that will spend more than USD 400 billion. According to the Federation of International Youth Travel, young tourists are the first in visiting different or unexplored tourism destinations and their nonconformist spirit can transform an unknown place into a big attraction. Fearless and adventurous, Student and Youth Travel Association stated that youth travel offers the possibility to increase willingness to learn, to know, to explore, and also increases self-esteem and confidence. Youth tourism is a growing sector all over the world and in Romania also and is relevant for hotel managers, including for the development of an ethical code in dealing with tourism future challenges. Therefore, the authors aimed to investigate the ethical behavior of youth travelers and the implications for hotel management in Romania based on quantitative research. The objectives were to assess youth tourists’ ethical behavior in hotels in Romania and the necessity of ethical management practice, that is, what hotels managers should do in case of customers’ drug abuse, violence, and disrespect or when facing theft from employees or guests. The authors also propose a qualitative approach, starting from highlighting and describing the most stringent issues of managerial ethics in hospitality. The results have shown some perspectives on customers’ drug abuse, violence, and disrespect or even theft and can represent a basis in developing good practice solutions for practitioners in hotels.