Abstract
Since 1990, both people’s recognition of the need for sustainability around the world and environmental management systems in the tourism industry have been growing. Academic studies have primarily focused on the willingness of consumers to pay more to stay in major hotel chains, finding that the incorporation of environmental management systems (EMSs) is a way to save money by reducing costs, while improving the image and competitive advantage of these chains in the market. However, the aggregate environmental impact of tourism activity does not only depend on the practices of industry leaders. It also relates to the degree to which all stakeholders adopt these practices. Boutique hotels fall under the category of small-sized accommodation and are characterized by their size, independent management, and respect for the local environment. Hotel consumers display positive attitudes with respect to green hotel practices, which provides a starting point for motivating hotels to continue working on improving their environmental impact performance. For this reason, the objective of this paper is to determine whether boutique hotel clients are willing to pay more for a hotel with an environmental management system. Two dependence techniques are applied, logit regression and linear regression. The results show that the respondents’ age and income, as well as the strength of their environmental commitment, are determinant factors of whether clients would pay more to stay in a boutique hotel with an EMS. This preliminary study tries to investigate the “willingness to pay” in the Spanish boutique hotels. The originality of this article responds to the demand for a more holistic perspective on the hospitality sector, contributing to the understanding of hotel clients and their willingness to pay more for an EMS.
Highlights
Hotels are major tourism actors and; cause heavy environmental impacts, because they affect the sustainability of the place in which they are developed and operated through the consumption of natural resources [1]
Most existing research focuses on the institution of environmental management systems in major hotel chains [7], but very few studies have examined EMSs implementation in micro, small, and medium-sized hotels [8]
Aggregate environmental impact and per-capita impact do not depend on the good practices of tourism industry leaders alone, and on the extent to which good practices are adopted across the board [9]
Summary
Hotels are major tourism actors and; cause heavy environmental impacts, because they affect the sustainability of the place in which they are developed and operated through the consumption of natural resources [1]. Tourism companies, especially companies in the hotel industry, have signed onto different voluntary initiatives to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, such as the study of Buffa et al [2]. These initiatives include [3] (i) codes of conduct, (ii) better environmental practices, (iii) ecolabelling and awards, (iv) environmental management systems, and (v) environmental performance indicators. There is an increasing influence on the value to hoteliers of taking further steps towards promoting their green practices [4] This practice is known as green hospitality, and it has become more and more important, given that it is no longer a niche movement, but rather a mainstream current [4,5]. Consumers with environmental commitments could be a strong motivation for hotels to improve their environmental performance [12,13]
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