Sustainable hotels in la Costa Brava

Abstract

Sustainability issues have an impact on almost all of the aspects of hotel operations. Sustainability-driven hotel initiatives and practices will provide a major competitive advantage for the hotel industry and make a significant contribution to the adoption of global sustainable development goals. Therefore, the research aims to determine which are the main sustainable practices the hotels in the Costa Brava apply and how this impact on customers. The purpose of this study is to determine the environmental practices in hotels in la Costa Brava and to establish the contribution that hotels are making towards mitigation of the effects.

The final analysis is the result of the information obtained through qualitative research together with the literature review from chapter 2. The qualitative study has been done through unstructured interviews to eight hotels from different locations in la Costa Brava. The findings display a wide range of benefits in different aspects that hoteliers, employees, and customers can apply in order to reduce the impact on the environment.

The results obtained suggest that the different hotels analyzed indeed implement different sustainable environmental practices in their hotel. Among different findings analysed, it has been found that the perception of the customer's environmental actions in a travel accommodation establishment has a positive impact on their experience.

In addition, the paper offers recommendations for hotels with regards to environmental issues concerning sustainability to reduce the impact on hotels. The limitations found in this study will be used for further research for academics, students, and practitioners interested in both the hospitality industry and corporate sustainability strategies.