Stress Management Strategies through a Mindfulness Approach among Front Office Employees in Hotels

This research explores work stress management strategies through mindfulness approaches for hotel front office employees in Semarang Regency. Using a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach, 15 front office employees from 5 starred hotels participated in an eight-week mindfulness program adapted for the hospitality context. The findings identified five main stressor categories with emotional demands in guest interactions as the dominant stressor (intensity score 8.4/10). The implementation of the mindfulness program resulted in a 25.9% decrease in stress levels and a 22.5% increase in mindfulness. Four key mechanisms were identified in the mindfulness process: enhanced awareness, emotional regulation, response de-automatization, and perception change, with emotional regulation emerging as the most dominant mechanism (31.8%). Management support (26.7%) was the main supporting factor, while time constraints (34.5%) represented the biggest obstacle in mindfulness implementation. This research contributes to the development of a contextual mindfulness-based stress management model for the hospitality industry and provides practical implications for hotel management in implementing effective employee wellness programs.