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Based on this pattern of energy consumption, it is clear that the hotel sector could make a major
positive contribution to the environment by taking some measures to reduce energy consumption
which will, in turn, reduce pollution and resource depletion. Thus while the hotel sector
consumes a big proportion of electricity as compared to other tourism sectors, hotel operators
still have a chance to implement energy saving campaigns and environmental management
systems.
One of the challenges is that in order to achieve measureable energy savings, more sophisticated
use of technology is often required, but not all hotel operators and destination organizations start
with the same foundation of technological understanding and expertise, resources, and other
associated capabilities (Wang, 2008).
Energy conservation: Green hotels implement measures for reduced energy consumption through
operating as much as possible during daylight hours, Using energy saving light bulbs such as
compact efflorescent light bulbs and energy star-efficient heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC), Investing in new renewable energies will make a difference to the hotel’s
carbon footprint, for example, renewable energy such as sunlight and wind power, Occupancy
sensors are also used in hotels to use energy in occupied rooms only (Mensah, 2006)
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the form of household consumption, agriculture, manufacturing, leisure, development of tourism
and other purposes (Kasim, 2007).
Kasim (2007) noted that, luxury hotels in particular consume large amounts of water for leisure
purposes such as swimming pools, spas and golf course irrigation. As reported by Kirk, (1996),
the use of water in a hotel is extensive and it is used in many different ways, such as cold water
for kitchen, laundry, drinking, circulation for air conditioning, hot water for guest bathrooms and
circulation for space heating.
Research findings have indicated some numerical facts on daily water consumption. For
example, in Spain, a tourist consumes 0.88 cubic meters (880 liters) of water per day as
compared to a local Spaniard who consumes an average of 0.25 cubic meters (250 liters) per day
(Kasim, 2007). Similar consumption patterns were seen in Mediterranean regions where 0.40
cubic meters (400 liters) of water are consumed by a tourist in comparison with 0.07 cubic
meters (70litres) per person per day (Kasim, 2007). It has been estimated that the consumption of
water by guests in a hotel per night will depend on several factors like the hotel standard and
facilities that are provided for the guest.
For example, Alexander (2002) found that, in a high standard hotel organization the hotel room
would require 396 gallons (1,499 liters) of water per day, which is enough to support 14 local
people. It is further estimated by Bodanowicz (2005) that the standard consumption pattern of
hotel guests would range between 170 and 360 liters of water use per night. According to
Alexander (2002), water use in hotels will increase to 475 gallons (1798 liters) per day for each
guest room in a luxury hotel by 2010.
Water consumption at high rate and without monitoring or controlling water consumption, leads
to water shortages. Another factor that affects water is not only consumption but also
contamination. The amount of water consumed by hotels is more than the normal household
consumption, thus larger consumption means a larger quantity of contaminated water will be
released in the environment, thus polluting the water bodies and harming the environment (Kirk,
1996; Kasim, 2007). Waste water management is therefore an important activity for hotels to
address in order to minimize environmental impacts. Technology, knowledge and sustainability
programs are needed for organizations to consume water more efficiently and to minimize
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contamination of water supplies. Water conservation is a necessary step taken by hotels to
control and minimize waste.
Effective first steps include necessary modifications such as fitting low-flow shower heads and
replacing toilet flush tanks with ultra-flow toilet tanks and many more such activities. Alexander
(2002) cites an example of a San Antonio based hotel which adopted water conservation
programs and achieved good results in its first month of operation, where an average of 100
gallon (378 liters) of water was used per guest as compared to previous usage of 396 gallons
(1500 liters).
Sustainable management of water: Low-flow fixtures used to conserve water in hotels, Detection
and repair of drips and leaks in guest rooms as well as the use of water-saving devices, such as
diverter valves, Rainwater harvesting is one way hotels can keep their operations waste free, for
example, by using it to flush toilets, Concerns about the careless use of water resources led to the
linen and towel reuse efforts adopted by most of the world’s hotels Water from bathrooms,
washing machines, dish washers and kitchens could be collected and be reused for gardening or
car washing.
Kirk (1996) reported that production and service of food operations generate more waste than
other areas of hotel operations. A report on food waste conducted in the UK hospitality industry
in 1980 indicated that 15.5% of edible food was wasted by the hotel and restaurant, compared
with an average of 11.4% of the catering industry as a whole.
According to Alexander (2002), there is a variety of waste produced by a hotel and it consists of
paper, food, various metals, plastics, aluminum and glass. For example, Kasim (2007) estimates
that, hotel waste consists of 46% of food waste, 25.3% of paper, 11.7% of cardboard, 6.7% of
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plastics, 5.6% of glass and 4.5% of metal waste. As Kasim (2007) reported, hotel waste
generation is on a much larger scale as compared to waste generated by households.
Recycling is one way in which hotels are participating in important waste management
programs, Composting at the establishment is encouraged or municipal refuse collection can
merge refuse at the composting depot that processes organic waste for Use in the community
gardens.
For guest rooms, administrative offices and kitchens, hotels can purchase recycled eco-friendly
packaging such as take-out boxes and bags, stationery, toilet tissue and other items made from
previously recycled goods/biodegradable packaging, Hotels should purchase locally-grown food,
Locally-produced food items are fresh, indigenous and representative of the area, which
significantly reduce economic leakages in hotels, thus supporting the local economy as much as
possible, Green purchasing for hotels involves buying biodegradable products such as eating
utensils, cleaning solutions, soaps and shampoos toilet tissue and other items made for guest
houses or hotel environmental programs.
Invest the time in training employees on the importance of sustaining the environment and share
what the organization is doing to help conserve resources. Solicit additional ideas from
employees for resource conservation.
Develop sustainability policies and procedures to reinforce the efforts. Things like power down
equipment at the end of the day and enable energy savings settings on all computers and
desktops are examples of policies that can support the cause. The challenge to sustain the
environment can be overwhelming, but if each of our organizations, large or small, does its part,
we can all contribute to conserving this great planet that we call home.
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2.5 Environmental Management System
There are numerous reasons why companies should implement an environmental management
system (Umweltbroschüre, 2013). Through the active involvement of the employees, the
identification with the increased environmental corporate goals and the entire company, the
staff is additionally motivated.
The introduction of an energy management system begins with the anchoring of the company's
environmental policy in which the operation documented its environmental responsibility. This
includes the formulation of environmental guiding ethics and principles of action, as well as the
obligation to comply with all relevant environmental legislation.
Starting with an analysis of the current environmental situation of the company and taking
into account all relevant environmental aspects, which result to concrete improvements and are
part of the environmental program. This program contains of objectives and concrete
(organizational and technical) measures as well as appropriate timelines.
An environmental management system also provides the capture of the organizational structure,
the main responsibilities as well as procedures of the company. This includes the selection of an
environmental management officer, building an emergency and hazardous substance
management, who creates training plans and documentation of implementation. A special focus
should be placed on raising awareness by training of employees. The success or failure in the
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implementation of an environmental management system depends not only on the company's
management; it is also relevant for the motivation of the workforce.
Social sustainability is “a process for creating sustainable successful places that promote
wellbeing, by understanding what people need from the places they live and work (Mansah,
2006:415). Social sustainability combines design of the physical realm with design of the social
world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen
engagement, and space for people and places to evolve (Bansal, 2003).
Social life is the least defined and least understood of the different ways of
approaching sustainability and sustainable development. Social sustainability has had
considerably less attention in public dialogue than economic and environmental sustainability
(Bansal, 2003).The concept of "social sustainability" encompasses such topics as: social
equity, livability, health equity, community development, social capital, social support, human
rights, labor, place making, social responsibility, social justice, cultural competence, community
resilience, and human adaptation.
According to the UN Global Compact, social sustainability should be a critical part of any
business because it affects the quality of a business’ relationships with stakeholders. Social
sustainability is a proactive way of managing and identifying business impacts on employees,
workers in the value chain, customers, and local communities.
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Companies that raise the importance of social sustainability recognize the significance of their
relationships with people, communities and society. Social responsibility becomes part of their
core business strategy and they consider how their activities affect people. There is a human cost
to doing business. A socially sustainable business will consider the safety of its workers in a
particular location. It will not allow its workers’ safety to be compromised by forcing them to
work in a building that has been deemed unsafe.
The two most important factors of a business are employees and the community. By acting social
responsible, companies want to be recognized as a fair employer who ensures that all employees
are satisfied and somehow connected to the business they are working for. Furthermore
companies should create experiences which inspire their guests as well as their staff.
With these experiences guests should be attracted and actively perceive the sustainable
development principles of the company. However the organization should select their causes
according to their goals and community (Houdré, 2008).
Therefore companies should focus on different tactics like: developing the employees
wellbeing and their quality of life, additionally the employees skills and capacity should be
developed, therefore they must be involved in community service actions. Besides that a
company should ensure competitiveness in employee compensation and benefits, as these
supports a good work-life-balance. A company should also focus on strengthen diversity and
inclusion as well as feature a safe and healthy work-environment. In order to act social with a
company's community and suppliers, a regular communication and involvement in different
actions with clients is necessary as well. Guests should be informed about companies’ initiatives
and projects, so that they feel concerned regarding sustainable development. Furthermore it is
crucial to share businesses’ actions not only face to face, the media is the most important source
to communicate your activities to a wide range of clients (Houdré, 2008).
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experiences guests should be attracted and actively perceive the sustainable development
principles of the company. However the organization should select their causes according to their
goals and community (Houdré, 2008)
Crucial is that everyone from top to bottom must be involved in the course of action the
company is focusing on. It is important that the strategy is fully assembled in the hotel’s culture.
The most successful way to engage all employees, is by showing the success of initial
projects, share aims as well as the vision and mission of the business and inform them about
news. The goal of this tactic is that every member of staff will bring his own ideas and input into
the strategy and fully ‘live’ sustainable development (Houdré, 2008)
Therefore companies should focus on different tactics like: developing the employees
wellbeing and their quality of life, additionally the employees skills and capacity should be
developed, therefore they must be involved in community service actions. Besides that a
company should ensure competitiveness in employee compensation and benefits, as these
supports a good work-life-balance. A company should also focus on strengthen diversity and
inclusion as well as feature a save and healthy work-environment. In order to act social with a
company’s community and suppliers, a regular communication and involvement in different
actions with clients is necessary as well. Guests should be informed about companies’ initiatives
and projects, so that they feel concerned regarding sustainable development.
Furthermore it is crucial to share businesses’ actions not only face to face, the media is the most
important source to communicate your activities to a wide range of clients (Houdré, 2008).
According to Bowen H. (1953), the main social sustainability issues that should be incorporated
with their core business strategies are; Health and safety at work place, working conditions of
employees, Human rights, Community inclusion Socio- cultural preservation, Participation in
social issues.
In addition, Sen A. (2001) gives the following measurements for social sustainability
2.7.1. Quality of life - the community ensures that basic needs are met and fosters a good quality
of life for all members at the individual, group and community level (e.g. health, housing,
education, employment, safety). The hotels expected to provide equitable opportunities and
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outcomes for all its members, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable members of the
community. In addition they have to promote and encourages diversity (Sen, 2001).
2.7.3. Health and safety at work place- Classification under General Industry regulations
requires hotels to comply with a wide range of standards including, providing
appropriate hazardous communication training and personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep
their employees safe while working on the job. Hotels must also comply with OSHA
recordkeeping requirements for recording work related employee injuries (Sen, 2001).
It’s crucial for hoteliers to have robust security measures in place to keep both guests and staff
safe. As well as putting the property at risk from theft, hotels with inadequate security can be
held liable for criminal acts. One illegal act of violence, particularly against a guest, can damage
a hotel’s reputation (Sen, 2001).
As well as installing burglar alarms and CCTV that staff should regularly monitor, hotels should
also have controlled after-hours access. Station security personnel at all of the hotel’s main
entrances and train them to greet guests and turn away anyone who isn’t authorized. A 24-hour
security presence can be just as useful as burglar alarms and CCTV in deterring potential
troublemakers (Sen, 2001).
Always check ID. Whether that’s checking the ID of someone who’s asking for a replacement
room key or checking the credentials of every contractor who walks onto a property, teach staff
to be thorough as it helps to create a secure hotel for everyone. Also, consider implementing
strict signing in and signing out measures for guests of guests.Install fire and smoke alarms to
prevent the spread of fires. Train employees in first aid and what to do in the case of emergencies
(Sen, 2001).
2.7.4. Human rights: Human rights underpin everything we do, from the way staff are
treated,their working conditions, to how guests are treated, in the supply chainand how goods
and services for the hotel are produced, in thecommunities where a hotel is based and in the way
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a hotel or hotel business is run. Many issuesare inter-related, e.g. water is not just an
environmental issue: access to water is a human rightsissue.The community provides democratic
processes and open and accountable governance structures (Sen, 2001).
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& Álvarez-Gil, 2003). This also explains to some extent why regulation related to emissions
control in the tourism sector is less stringent than in the manufacturing industry.
From a tourism sector perspective, several efforts are being taken to address inconsistency in
benchmarking industry energy performance. The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and the
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) seeks to unite the efforts of hotel companies to
measure carbon emissions and communicate carbon metrics using a standardized methodology
based on GHG protocol standards to allow better comparison of energy performance within the
industry. Sustainability reporting standards have also improved through Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) that incorporates standardized reporting framework for hotel organizations,
which includes social, environmental, economic and governance dimensions. Concrete steps
need to be taken towards sustainability information disclosure, which makes hotel organizations
accountable for their performance (Green Hotelier, 2012).
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are sustainable and for these countries, the main goal is to rid their society of issues such as
social inequalities, waste management, and environmental responsibility.
According to Chan‘s study (2008), the three important common barriers are (1) high
implementation and maintenance cost, (2) lack of knowledge, understanding and availability of
professional advice, and (3) lack of resources.
Based on the interviews conducted with Spanish hotel managing directors, Ayuso (2007) further
explains that some hotel operators do hire external consultants to help implement and design
sustainability practice and contract with external auditors to certify compliance and this
represents an additional cost for these services.
According to Tinsley and Pillai (2006), there is limited knowledge about the standards and
concepts among top management and this leads to a limited level of commitment towards EMS
and ISO standards. There are also some underlying organizational factors that can be barriers to
implementation of environmental and social sustainability practice. These include: management
style, top management commitment and communication, culture of the organization, innovation
and technology. These organizational cultural issues, coupled with lack of knowledge and
availability of professional advice are also significant barriers to the adoption for various hotels.
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2.11.3. Lack of resources
Resources include manpower, time, money and equipment. Implementing sustainable business
practice requires a commitment of resources for development and maintenance. The success of
proper environmental practices will depend on the availability of resources, as hotels must either
invest in additional resources or divert existing resources away from their current use.
A survey conducted with 262 Spanish hotels by Gil, Jimenez and Lorente (2001) found that, the
availability of resources depends on the size of the hotel. Proper implementation and
effectiveness of an EMS is possible with the availability of modern and up to date computer
systems and other measuring tools which would help hotels to measure their performance. There
are more tangible resources that are required, along with financial resources, to carry out the
practices. Resources are thus important criteria for any hotel. Insufficient and outdated resources
are among the barriers to the adoption of business sustainability practice for various hotels.
Apart from the three main barriers highlighted above, Livesey and Kearins (2002) mentioned the
most challenges that hotel managers faced today in the integration of sustainability in to their
core functions.
These are: Lack of efforts at a municipal level, lack of collaboration among different
stakeholders, consumer's lack of awareness (they don't care), unstable consumer purchasing
patterns, inconsistent public policies, supply and customers choice, engaging colleagues and
employees, lack of sustainability consultants, rapid population growth (this may reduce value to
organizations contribution).
The conceptual framework of this study delineated that, environmental and social perspectives of
sustainable business practices in hotel industry and the challenges that limit its implementation.
The main dimensions of environmental perspectives of sustainable business practices in hotel
industries are energy consumption, water conservation, and waste management, recycling and
creating awareness to safeguard the surrounding environment. While, working conditions of the
employees with in the hotels, health and safety at workplace, human rights protection, socio
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cultural preservation and social philanthropy are the core dimensions of socially sustainable
business practices. There are also some underlying organizational factors that can be barriers to
implementation of environmental and social sustainability practice. These are lack of resource,
lack of knowledge and high cost of implementation.
Social Perspectives
Environmental Perspectives
Working conditions
Energy conservation
Health & safety at
Water conservation
work place
Waste management
Human rights
Recycling
Socio- cultural
Environmental awareness
preservation
creation
Social philanthropy
Challenges of Implementation
Lack of resource
Lack of knowledge
High implementation cost
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, description of the study area and the research methods that were used to conduct
this study are discussed. These are, Research design and approach, target population, sampling
including size and techniques, Data collection methods, instruments used to collect data and data
analysis procedures. In addition to these, the reliability and validity test of the study is also
included. Lastly, ethical consideration related to data collection method is explained.
Hawassa has become the home of over 56 Nationalities’. All are enjoying their own identity,
tradition, customs and cultures. It also serves as an excellent base to explore the lower Omo
valley of Ethiopia and the city has registered a dramatic growth/investment and
infrastructures, especially in hospitality industry (Hawassa city culture and tourism office
report, 2018). Hawassa is endowed with natural, cultural, and religious attractions, followed by
there are enormous tourists coming to visit the peculiar feature of the city. There is an increasing
worldwide trend for individuals who are travelling for vacations, business and other
purposes to spend in hotel. The strategic locations and the natural attractions enabled the city to
be a home for diversified social entity (Kifle, 2017).
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