Environmental Sustainability and the Hospitality Customer Experience: A Study in Tourist Accommodation

Moliner Moliner,Estrada Estrada,Monferrer Monferrer,Rodríguez Rodríguez

doi:10.3390/su11195279

Abstract

Academic research on sustainability in the hospitality industry is scarce and fragmented, and requires a general structure to lend coherence to its approach. There is a need for empirical research to fathom the question of environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry and to study the interaction between the two concepts. This paper aims to close these gaps by establishing the nature of the relationship between customers’ perceptions of the environmental practices in tourism accommodation and their customer experiences and levels of satisfaction. The working hypotheses, based on a review of the literature on environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry, are tested in an empirical study of 412 Spanish customers who stayed in various types of tourist accommodation. The main conclusion is that the relationship between environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry can be demonstrated. This paper also validates a measurement scale based on the most accepted dimensionality of the construct: cognitive (think), affective (feel), behavioral (act), sensory (sense) and social (relate).

Highlights

Two of the most relevant terms in tourism at an academic and professional level are environmental sustainability and customer experience
Looking at each hypothesis proposed in the model and the results obtained after its estimations (Table 6), environmental sustainability emerges as a determining factor of the tourist’s experience in their accommodation (H1: λ = 0.480, t = 7.182), understood from a multidimensional approach of five second-order factors
The results of testing the proposed model demonstrate that environmental sustainability has a direct and positive influence on the customer’s experience in the accommodation and, indirectly, on their satisfaction

Summary

Introduction

Two of the most relevant terms in tourism at an academic and professional level are environmental sustainability and customer experience. This paper asks how far the hospitality industry’s efforts in environmental sustainability influence a more positive tourist experience, and, indirectly, satisfaction. We start from the hypothesis that the environmental sustainability tourists perceive improves their experience, which positively influences satisfaction. Environmental sustainability is a major concern for governments and the public at large [1]. This concern has been driven by the undesirable consequences of economic and demographic growth on the consumption of natural resources [2]. The tourism sector is no stranger to this concern for the planet given its significant impact on the natural environment and the consumption of non-renewable resources [3]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion