Navigating Green Paradoxes in Hotels: A Multistakeholder Framework and the Role of Managerial Values

ABSTRACT This study develops a context‐sensitive analytical framework for understanding tensions encountered when hotels implement green practices in a developing‐economy destination. Guided by the Resource‐Based View, Institutional Theory, Paradox Theory, and Self‐Determination Theory, the study used a multimethod qualitative design. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews, open‐ended qualitative questionnaires, and observation in Khanh Hoa, Vietnam. The purposive, maximum‐variation sample encompassed stakeholders associated with hotels ranging from unrated to five‐star categories, local tourism officials and academic experts. The analysis identified four recurring tensions—financial, service, labor, and legitimacy—whose salience and expression varied across stakeholder positions. In addition, managerial intrinsic values appeared as an exploratory interpretive condition through which environmental action was framed in terms of personal stewardship and place attachment. The framework offers managers and policymakers a nuanced understanding of how to navigate competing demands in everyday hotel operations.