•Examined occupational health issues in hospitality.•Identified key elements of barriers to successful employee wellness programs.•Suggested improvements for wellness initiatives in hospitality workplaces. This study conducted a comprehensive review of work conditions and health risks/problems for various hospitality workers and summarized the various health and wellness promotion programs available in the workplace with the aim of identifying the key elements of successful employee wellness programs. In this review, physical health problems, such as musculoskeletal disorders, lung diseases, and dermatologic diseases, as well as mental health problems that are common among hospitality employees were discussed. In addition, different types of wellness programs that may help employees to overcome these health problems were included. In the next stage, interviews with hotel staff holding multiple positions were conducted to identify the most significant health challenges and assess their preference for various types of wellness initiatives. Using MAXQDA Pro, health-related categories and themes were extracted from the interviews. Participants believed that the lack of time, physical challenges and stress are the top three wellness challenges in the hospitality industry. In order to tackle the challenges, they stated that hospitality businesses should provide various wellness initiatives including healthy eating and weight management, smoking cessation, stress management, exercise programs, and fitbits or other wellness tracker devices.