A Cognitive Mapping Approach to Circular Transition Efforts Within Hospitality Organisations : The Case of Plastics

Abstract: This qualitative study investigates circular transition efforts in accommodation businesses through a cognitive lens. The circular economy has been proposed as a solution to the global problems of resource overuse and pollution. The tourism industries have been identified as critical contributors to a macroeconomic circular shift. However, even though literature on circularity in tourism exists, it mostly focuses on specific resources, guests’ pro-environmental behaviour, and barriers and drivers of circular transitions. Accordingly, there is a lack of research on the actors involved in circular transitions in tourism and their cognitive structures. Since past research has high- lighted the importance of stakeholders’ values for the success of sustainable transitions, this study analyses how sustainability managers in accommodation organisations frame their transition to circular plastic and other resource use. This study’s findings indicate that differences in cognitive structures were especially visible between respondents of organisations with different levels of progress in their circular transition. Particularly reduction and reuse of specific products were high- lighted by all respondents, while recycling was not as focused on as literature suggested. The respondents in organisations further along in their circular transition ex- plained that they viewed it as an economic, environmental, and social opportunity, while the other respondents viewed it mostly as an economic threat. Another point of differentiation seems to be the motivation for the organisational shift, with organisations in the beginning stages being more motivated by external pressures, while the other respondents primarily mentioned internal values. The respondents’ cognitive structures were specifically busy around the topic of collaboration, both internal and external. Overall, the cognitive maps of the respondents of organisations in successful circular transitions were more comprehensive than those of the other respondents and their underlying value system intrinsically linked with circular and sustainable issues.