The Insignificant Impact of Eco-Green Concept as a Marketing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

Batu City is well-known to visitors as one of the leading tourism destinations in East Java Province. This condition raises the rapid growth of the area’s primary and supporting tourism industries. The increasingly rapid business growth has led to stricter business competition and forced business owners in this sector to adapt and evaluate opportunities to maintain the sustainability of their business. Furthermore, various business innovations are carried out by industries hoping that tourists, including the hospitality industry, will still use their companies. One of the hospitality concepts favored by tourists is the eco-green concept, in which hotels implement environmentally friendly values as the primary strategy for attracting tourists. Is this the right decision and strategy? This study aims to assess the level of significance of the eco-green concept as a marketing tool by companies. This research was conducted in Kampung Lumbung EcoBoutique Hotel Batu, where the hotel was the first accommodation to implement the eco-green concept in Batu City since 2006. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires to guests, interviews with hotel managers, observation, documentation, and literature study. Multiple linear regression with practical and relative contributions is used to analyze the effect value. The main results from this study indicate that the eco-green concept does not significantly impact marketing strategies in the hospitality industry. It happens because there are different values between guest expectations and management’s understanding of the concept of an environmentally friendly hotel. The results also show that adaptation to technological advances is needed to meet guest expectations and maximize the concept of environmentally friendly hotels as a marketing strategy to achieve business goals.