Drivers for Pursuing Sustainability through IoT Technology within High-End Hotels—An Exploratory Study

Pernille Eskerod,Svend Hollensen,Manuel Francisco Morales-Contreras,Jesús Arteaga-Ortiz

doi:10.3390/su11195372

Abstract

A growing hotel sector makes a significant environmental footprint. Due to a contemporary focus on climate change and high competition within tourism, enhancing sustainability through energy savings is a priority for many hotels. Through technological innovations, Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology provides the opportunity to integrate more systems (e.g., heating, air-conditioning, window-openings) on a platform (also known as smart management), making it easy for a hotel guest to operate room conditions through a single device while also optimizing hotel operations. A research gap on the likelihood of adopting IoT technology to pursue sustainability in the hotel sector exists. Based on explorative case studies of five high-end hotels, this paper offers propositions on drivers for hotels’ use of IoT to deliver on their sustainability goals. This study suggests that a hotel is more inclined to implement IoT if (1) the hotel is focused on energy savings, e.g., due to green certificates; (2) it belongs to an international hotel group; (3) decision makers perceive sustainability to be important for their customers; (4) the target group is more B2B (business) than B2C (leisure); (5) the hotel a five star one; and (6) the hotel guests come from Northern Europe or North America.

Highlights

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [1] defines tourism as a “social, cultural and economic phenomenon related to the movement of people to places outside their usual residence area for personal or professional reasons.” tourism has influences on economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions
We present the theoretical framework, which is based on literature reviews on sustainability and hotels, building management systems and IoT technology related to sustainability within the hotel industry
The findings are organized as follows: First, we present each of the cases individually, with the findings relative to (a) the typology of hotel guests; (b) the degree of awareness and implementation of sustainability practices; and (c) the current use of IoT for reducing the ecological footprint

Summary

Introduction

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [1] defines tourism as a “social, cultural and economic phenomenon related to the movement of people to places outside their usual residence area for personal or professional reasons.” tourism has influences on economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [1] defines tourism as a “social, cultural and economic phenomenon related to the movement of people to places outside their usual residence area for personal or professional reasons.”. Tourism has influences on economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions. Tourism is one of the sectors that contributes the most to different regions’ economies, accruing one of the highest growths in the last decades. Most governments promote tourism as a source of income. The tourism industry generates economic wealth, both directly and indirectly, in the locations visited by tourists, mainly thanks to hostelry, leisure and catering offers. According to the UNWTO [2], in 2018, the tourist sector continued making a substantial difference in the lives of millions of people by fostering both local and global growth, creating employment, reducing poverty and promoting development and tolerance

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