Trust is the Heartbeat of Hospitality, Reframing Staff Behaviour in South Asian Hotels : An Empirical Pilot Study from Bangladesh

Under South Asia’s competitive hotel industry, guest trust is often assumed to come from visual aesthetics and online reputation. While South Asian hotels are rapidly adopting digital engagement strategies, many fail to invest in training frontline staff in emotional intelligence and ethical behaviour. This paper argues that trust is primarily built through human interactions, not hotel interiors; particularly via emotionally intelligent staff behaviour. A survey of 24 hotel staff and supervisors in Bangladesh revealed that over 75% ranked staff behaviour as highly relevant to trust-building, with honesty, empathy, and punctuality being the most valued qualities. However, 95% of respondents reported hiding their true emotions at work, and nearly half lacked formal emotional intelligence training; exposing a critical skills gap in trust-building strategy. This study also explores whether emotionally intelligent staff behaviour, such as honesty, empathy, and consistency, contributes more to guest trust than surface-level hospitality cues. Findings from a small-scale survey (n=24) suggest a strong perceived link between emotional labour training and guest trust outcomes. It helps to support the need for staff-centred trust-building strategies in South Asian hotels. This study facilitates by addressing the overlooked behavioural dimension of trust in Bangladeshi hotels where staff are generally expected to perform emotional labour without formal training or institutional support.

在南亚竞争白热化的酒店行业中，宾客信任通常被认为源自视觉美学与线上口碑。尽管南亚酒店正快速落地数字互动策略，但多数酒店并未投入资源对一线员工开展情商（emotional intelligence）与职业操守培训。本研究提出，宾客信任主要依托人际互动而非酒店内饰建立，尤其取决于具备情商的员工行为表现。针对孟加拉国24名酒店员工及主管开展的调研显示，超过75%的受访者认为员工行为与信任构建高度相关，其中诚实、共情与守时是最受重视的职业素养。然而，95%的受访者坦言在工作中会掩藏真实情绪，近半数受访者未接受过正式的情商培训，这暴露出酒店信任构建战略中存在的关键性技能缺口。本研究还探讨了具备情商的员工行为——如诚实、共情与言行一致——是否比表层待客礼仪更能提升宾客信任。小型调研（样本量n=24）的结果表明，受访者普遍感知到情绪劳动培训与宾客信任成效之间存在紧密关联，该结论佐证了南亚酒店亟需推行以员工为中心的信任构建战略。本研究填补了孟加拉国酒店业此前被忽视的信任行为维度研究空白：在当地，员工通常被要求开展情绪劳动，却缺乏正式培训与制度支持。