Introduction Scientific and technological progress, changes in social and ethical norms and innovations in business standards do not exhaust all the factors that significantly affect the national and international hospitality industry. Companies in this area are adapting to rapidly evolving market conditions, influenced by digitalization, sustainability standards, viral marketing and less apparent trends. According to Dzhandzhugazova et al . (2016), “innovations of all kinds are essential for both the viability and competitiveness of hotel enterprises” (p. 10387). Consumer demands in the hospitality industry are subject to the same transformation as business supply, as some researchers note (Boella and Goss-Turner 2019; Legrand, Sloan and Chen 2016). This paper provides a critical analysis of tendencies and issues that affect the hospitality industry, evaluates the moral, legal and ethical dimensions of these issues and makes proposals and recommendations based on the research. Tendencies and Issues Affecting Hospitality The development of online marketing and the advent of information technologies have radically transformed the hospitality business all over the globe. Modern guests are given the opportunity to choose the services of any of the vast number of hospitality companies, and the number of advertising in the information field is exceedingly high. Researchers point out that viral marketing and promotion content in social media at the moment may even play an unforeseen role of demotivation of potential clients and tourists (Daif and Elsayed 2019). At the same time, new digital trends and smart technology greatly facilitate the process of booking, check-in and customisation of in-room options for guests (Ristova and Dimitrov 2019). It may be stated that technological progress and the increasing role of digital communication, on the one hand, overload people with information and, on the other hand, provide many amenities. Cultural and managerial trends of modern time also significantly affect the hospitality industry. Compliance with standards of responsibility and sustainability by hospitality market participants is considered one of the most crucial reputational factors. For instance, researchers note that “both major international hospitality companies and small businesses recognize that there are tangible benefits in being proactive in mitigating environmental impacts including real efficiency gains and an improved corporate reputation” (Legrand, Sloan and Chen 2016, p. 19). Also, the significance of HR management in the hospitality sector has increased critically. The success of this business and the satisfaction of guests depends entirely on the performance of the staff. Therefore, large international companies, as well as local organizations operating in this field, spend considerable resources to organize professional labour market analysis, recruiting and training (Boella and Goss-Turner 2019). Thus, human and corporate responsibility factors contribute to the modification of modern management strategies of the hospitality market participants, which differ significantly from those in the industrial age, when the profit was the primary efficiency criterion. Nevertheless, it should be noted that some tendencies of modern hospitality busine