Abstract Book of the 6th International Conference on Tourism Management and Hospitality
Year: 2025
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Work-Life Balance (WLB): Perceptions and Understanding Among Hospitality Industry Managers
Andria Hadjistylli
ABSTRACT:
Managers in the hospitality industry face significant challenges, including long hours, heavy responsibilities, and seasonal workloads, which negatively impact their work-life balance (WLB), job satisfaction, turnover rates, and productivity. This study explores the perceptions and self-assessed WLB of hotel managers in Cyprus, a prominent tourist destination, focusing on their understanding of the concept and their satisfaction with their current balance. Key factors examined include working hours, seasonality, family size and gender.The research provides valuable insights into how managers perceive WLB within the unique context of hospitality and underscores the need for industry-specific approaches to WLB policies.
The methodology employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating qualitative and quantitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with hotel managers. This includes open-ended questions, structured inquiries, and numerical measures to capture a comprehensive view of their experiences.Preliminary findings reveal that most hotel managers in Cyprus work an average of 62 hours per week, spend 2–3 hours daily with their families, and dedicate only 0–1 hours weekly to other non-work activities. Surprisingly, 58% of respondents report satisfaction with their current WLB. These results highlight a paradox, challenging the conventional belief that a satisfactory WLB requires working less or having equal time allocation between work, family, and other non-work activities. Additionally, the study captures compelling statements about managers’ perceptions of WLB and collects critical demographic data on hotel management.
Keywords: Cyprus, employee well-being, hotel management, hotel performance, job satisfaction