Environmental management in hotels: Sustainable technologies and practices applied in hotels

Abstract

The 1990s highlighted the creation of new business dynamics focused on environmental responsibility. In the tourism sector, hotels have incorporated this concept in an attempt to improve the efficiency of natural resource use and quality of life. As a result, sustainable technologies and practices became part of the management strategies of many companies and new legal obligations and business incentive programs have arisen. Through interdisciplinary analysis, this study analyzed environmental management in hotels through the incorporation of sustainable technologies and practices and considering guests' requirement of social and environmental responsibility. By means of questionnaires answered by hotel owners/managers and guests, the study assessed environmental management in hotels using a sustainability index. The overall level of sustainability in hotel management in João Pessoa, Brazil was considered intermediary and guests' requirements regarding environmental matters were high.