Hotels in contested spaces of America's gun culture

Dioko, Leonardo (Don) A.N., Frank Guo Juncheng and Rich Harrill

Annals of Tourism Research, 2025, vol. 111, issue C

Abstract: This study theorizes how America's hotel industry endures despite the country's divisive gun culture. Exactly how hotels flourish in contentious gun environments remains enigmatic because entrenched theories maintain that crime and gun violence inhibit tourism and hospitality industry performance. Using panel data spanning 11 years across 44 U.S. states, we examine levels of gun violence, mortality, firearm regulations, and their combined influence on hospitality organizations. Robust cross sectional time series estimation assessed their influence on nine hotel industry performance indicators. Findings reveal gun laws mitigate gun violence's impact on hotel industry performance but may, paradoxically, also diminish it. It appears America's discordant gun culture induces behavioural self-segmentation among travelers, compelling hotels to adapt and evolve as safe havens in contested spaces to thrive.

Keywords: American gun culture; Gun violence; Firearm legislation; Hotel industry performance; Panel regression; Contested spaces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:111:y:2025:i:c:s0160738325000325

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.103926

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