Social sustainability in the hospitality and tourism supply chains: what can we learn from existing research and what remains unexplored?

Purpose This research systematically reviews the literature on social sustainability within hospitality and tourism supply chains (H&T SCs). The aim is to identify research approaches, emerging themes, geographic and sectoral scopes and current gaps in understanding social sustainability practices in this sector. Design/methodology/approach The review has been carried out using the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines” (PRISMA). The authors analyzed 17 peer-reviewed journal papers from 2008 to the present. Findings Early research focused on qualitative methods and developed countries, while recent studies have shifted to quantitative approaches. There is a notable gap in using multi-criteria decision-making for social sustainability. The review identified eight categories of social practices, with the most attention given to “society and community development” and the least to “human rights.” Research limitations/implications To enhance social sustainability, businesses and policymakers should focus on improving supply chain collaboration, standardizing social sustainability metrics, assessing stakeholder perceptions and supporting small enterprises in developing countries. This review is limited to English open-access journals and excludes studies in other languages. Additionally, by not including articles on sustainable tourism or development – which often emphasize environmental and economic aspects – important social dimensions may have been overlooked. Future research should broaden search parameters to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of social sustainability in H&T SCs. Originality/value This study addresses a critical gap in the literature on social sustainability within H&T SCs, particularly in databases like Web of Science and Scopus, offering new insights and directions for future research.