Consumers' perceptions of circular economy in the hotel industry: evidence from Portugal

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore current consumers' perception towards circular economy (CE) principles and recommendations for the hotel industry. To enhance sustainable solutions and to promote the increase of green practices that translate into economic and environmental benefits, CE principles were addressed, and consumers' perceptions and recommendations taken into account. In the current research, a survey using online questionnaires was employed to gain understanding of the beliefs of hotel consumers towards CE and green practices. The 167 respondents were consumers mainly from Portugal's three main tourist destinations: Porto, Lisbon and the Algarve. The main findings show that even though consumers claim that energy (29.4%), environmental (42.5%) and social (43.1%) sustainability aspects have a positive influence on their hotel selection, only half of those strongly agreeing to such influence were willing to pay extra costs if such sustainability solutions were to be offered in their choice hotels.