Attitude of Customers and Employees towards the Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) in the Egyptian Hotel Industry

Abstract

Research into environmental management systems (EMSs) began in the late 1990s with studies that focused on the driving forces, costs and benefits and nature of such systems. However, very little research has been done to investigate the attitude of hotels stakeholders towards such systems. In recognition of this gap, this research studies the attitude of both of customers and employees –as two main stakeholders-towards EMSs in the Egyptian industry. A single case study design in which a mixed methodology of both quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed to fulfill the research objectives. Semi-structured interviews with three levels of employees – executive, supervisory and general and a structured questionnaire distributed to the hotel customers were employed as data collection tools. The findings revealed that customers have a positive attitude towards environment. However, despite this positive attitude, findings revealed that there is no significant relationship between customer attitude towards environment and their willingness to pay. Findings, also, provided some significant contributors that boost the positive attitude of customers towards green practices in hotels. From the employees' perspective, results indicated that commitment to the EMS is negatively affected if the adoption of the system by the company was perceived to be merely a means to save costs, improve company image and attract green customers. The study provides valuable insights to help hotels managers design their own strategies and policies which entails most of the environment related attributes which the customers and employees alike are concerned with. Knowing these attributes would enable hotels attract more segments of customers and increases their market share.