Proactive mindsets in tourism-oriented business

In tourism-oriented businesses, customer complaints represent critical moments that can either damage or strengthen customer relationships depending on how effectively they are resolved.Despite extensive research on complaint management and service recovery, limited attention has been given to the role of proactive mindsets in enhancing resolution skills among hospitality professionals.Anchored on Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, this exploratory, qualitative study investigates how proactive thinking is perceived to contribute to complaint resolution and identifies strategies that cultivate such mindsets.Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with 18 hospitality managers from various tourism establishments in Surigao del Sur, Philippines , and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.The findings suggest that managers with a proactive mindset demonstrated heightened anticipation, preparedness, and adaptive problem-solving, which they reported as improving perceived resolution effectiveness and customer satisfaction.Furthermore, the study identified actionable strategies-such as anticipatory scenario-based training, frontline empowerment practices, and data-driven pattern tracking-that successfully strengthened proactive approaches within hospitality teams.While relying on self-reported perspectives, this research provides valuable descriptive insights into developing a proactive service culture.