Mexico City, December 14, 2022.- Daniela Vera Pfeiffer, ESDAI student from Universidad Panamericana, won 1st place in the 7th National Contest of Applied Tourism Research 2022, organized by the Mexican Association of Higher Education Centers in Gastronomy and Tourism (AMESTUR).
Tourism Research Contest
The work carried out by Daniela was under the direction of Mtro. Elías Zardón Menéndez and was entitled Laughter therapy and work stress in the hotel industry..
About the project
The progressive demand of customers for quality services that exceed their expectations requires innovation, diversification of strategies, attention and effort from contact employees.
This has triggered an increase in the levels of stress that hotel workers experience on a daily basis, in addition to increasingly inflexible schedules, heavy workloads and lack of staff training, all of which generate anxiety.
In spite of the great achievements, this has repercussions on people's health and can even disable them or, failing that, cause extreme fatigue .
The purpose of Daniela's research was to analyze the relationship between the decrease in stress levels with the catharsis released through laughter therapy sessions given to employees in the hotel industry.
Laughter therapy in the hotel industry
For the justification and planning of the proposal, Daniela conducted several tests, which served as detectors of essential aspects for the formulation of a manual that serves as a basis for the implementation of the laughter therapy sessions and how to evaluate the results.
However, such evidence also helped define the acceptance of laughter therapy in the hotel setting, as the practice has not yet been tested in settings outside of a complementary therapy for sick patients.
ESDAI Seal
Through these projects, ESDAI students test their ability to analyze, problem-solve and design research protocols that contribute to improving service strategies.
The fact that Daniela has stood out in this AMESTUR competition is undoubtedly an example of the work that can be done by students of Hospitality Management and Hospitality in terms of research topics at a national level.
