Hotel chains and sustainable development: degree of internationalization, SDGs and dynamic capabilities as drivers of successful performance

Nowadays, many researchers are concerned with the study of sustainable business practice and its drivers and business outcomes. In a global and dynamic environment, such as the tourism sector, it is necessary to pay attention to management strategies to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. In this paper, we focus on the study of hotel chains with different degrees of internationalization and how SDG engagement can serve as an engine to develop dynamic capabilities to improve their business performance. Based on Stakeholders and Dynamic Capabilities theories, we propose a research model. Next, using a variance-based structural equation modelling approach, we corroborate that more internationalized hotel chains are more involved with the SDGs, enabling them to improve business performance and to better adapt to the turbulent environment. Thus, as long as the higher degree of internationalization implies greater awareness and a greater deployment of dynamic capabilities, the performance of hotel chains will increase. These findings allow us to draw important managerial implications and provide a theoretical framework as a reference for scholars in the sustainable management field.