Stressors and Integrative Coping Approach to Maintain Mental Wellbeing Among Hotel Employees in Malaysia During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the tourism and hospitality industries with losses of multi-billion dollars and caused unprecedented mental wellbeing hazards globally. The COVID-19 has suddenly increased the stressful and challenging working conditions in the hospitality and tourism industries. Despite a significant number of studies on mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health studies and coping strategies among hotel employees in Malaysia are almost non-existent. Thus it is the purpose of this study to answer four research questions as follow; i) What are the types of stressors affecting hotel employees during the COVID-19 pandemic; ii) How these stressors influence the mental wellbeing of employees; iii) How different coping strategies exert influence towards mental wellbeing of employees, and iv) Does religious coping strategy significantly contribute towards positive mental wellbeing. Mainstream coping strategies highlight problem-focused, emotional-focused, and avoidance-focused but lacking the role of religion-focused coping. This study intends to use the mixed method of data collection. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with hotel employees to gather information regarding sources of stress in the workplace during COVID-19. Then quantitative data will be collected using a survey questionnaire from 350 hotel employees from the east coast region (Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang). Finally, data analysis using SmartPLS will be implemented to examine the relationships among variables and to test the hypothesized model. The findings of this study will shed some light on stressors during COVID19 and the effective strategies for developing positive mental health among hotel employees in Malaysia.