Purpose: Hospitality companies are highly dependent on the quality of their employees to develop and deliver a competitive tourism offering. As a customer service-centered sector, hospitality businesses need to focus on employee engagement to be successful. However, attracting and retaining employees hasbeen a challenge in this sector (Coelho & Bartolomeu, 2021; Ribeiro et al., 2020;Park & Min, 2020). The sector is known to be demanding (e.g., working hours, schedules, physical abilities), but poorly competitive in terms of the work conditions offered to its workers (e.g., low salaries, precarious employments contracts, limited career development opportunities; Hinkin & Tracey, 2000; Davidson & Wang, 2011). Previous literature has tried to determine the main reasons for hospitality employees to leave their jobs and the measures companies might implement to prevent this situation. Several factors were identified, including the (poor) incentives companies offer to employees in exchange for their work and job (dis)satisfaction (Andrade et al., 2020; Park & Min, 2020; Tan et al., 2020). Focusing in the Portuguese hospitality sector, the present study had twofold aims. First, it sought to identify the incentives (financialand non-financial) that employees value the most and compare them with the incentives provided by their companies. Second, it aimed to examine the effect of provided incentives on employees’ turnover intention, within the context of a theoretical model that includes job satisfaction as a mediating variable. Accordingly, two hypotheses were proposed: Hypothesis 1 - The provided incentives are negatively related to turnover intention, i.e., the higher the numberof incentives, the lower the employee level of turnover intention; Hypothesis 2 – Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between provided incentives andturnover intention. Methodology: To test the proposed research model, a quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional methodological approach was adopted. The study required the participation of current (n=152) and ex-employees (n=42) of the hospitalityindustry, in Portugal, to answer an online survey (total n=194). The survey was made available at several social media and professional platforms, as well as disseminated by researchers’ networks and contacts. A set of questions was prepared to consider both labor situations. The survey was divided into different sections. The first section started with the informed consent, then socio- professional questions were presented, followed by sections created to measurethe level of job satisfaction, turnover intention and, lastly, the incentives offered by companies and the ones most valued by respondents. To guarantee greaterconfidence in results, the survey included measurement scales selected from therelevant literature. To avoid same source bias, a marker variable was also included in the survey. Results: Data were analyzed using SPSS. Regarding the first aim of the currentstudy (n=194), findings revealed that having a base salary (74%), career development opportunities (51%), a good work environment (28%), and training and development opportunities (27%) were the incentives most valued by participants. These were also the type of incentives more referred as being provided by the companies, but in a lower percentage (i.e., 56%, 21%, 21%, 37%,respectively). As for the second aim of the study (n=152), results indicated that perceived incentives, job satisfaction, and turnover intention are significantly intercorrelated (all p < 0.05). Moreover, provided incentives reduce both directly (B= -0.12, p<0.01) and indirectly (B= -0.06; 95% CI= -0.08, -0.03), through increased job satisfaction, employees’ turnover intention (R2=0.26). As the directeffect of provided incentives remains significant (B= -0.06; p<0.01), the mediationthrough job satisfaction is partial. This study provides relevant findings that hopefully contribute to a better management of hospitality employees and increase employee retention in the companies. It shows that is critical to provide the right incentives to guarantee hotel employees’ satisfaction at work, and, consequently, to weaken employee turnover intention. Research limitations: The present study has limitations that should be considered when interpreting the results. Some of these limitations are commonin correlational studies with transversal designs (e.g., threat of common methodvariance, limitations in terms of the causal nexus between variables) and non- probability samples (e.g., reduced generalizability of results). But besides these,it is important to consider that these results were obtained during the Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, it was difficult to find hospitality employees to be partof the sample. Many people were in lay-off situation or were unemployed following companies closure given national lockdown. In addition, the level of satisfaction and turnover intention could be altered during these times. Future research can replicate the study after the pandemic to assess the stability of theresults reported. Originality: This study extends the theoretical knowledge on employees’ retention in the hospitality sector, through the study of incentives and job satisfaction in Portugal. The analysis of incentives, both the incentives provided by companies and the ones valued by employees, is a relatively unusual approach. The comparison between them can help human resource managers adjusting their practices to the expectations of employees, and, by so doing, preventing their voluntary departure from the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]