Perceptions of the employees on green and sustainable practices in the hotel industry and its implications: Empirical evidence from the selected star hotels

Abstract

Green and sustainability is the major issue among the third world war countries in each and every sector. This situation rises since, 1993 when LPG is brought into picture. The international and unified standards in product and services quality are the minimal expectation of the customers today. The global benchmarks for quality and measuring performance are common in all most all the sectors. Similarly, there is no exception to the hotel industry in this regard. In this parlance, the role of employees and their level of awareness, perceptions on green and sustainability practices dimension is need of the hour. On the basis of the same the current study is conducted. The purpose of this study is to find out the perceptional differences between the different demographical groups of employees with regard to awareness, adoption, implementation, perceived benefits, and suggestions for better implementation of environmental sustainability practices in star hotels in Chennai city. Data required for the study is collected from participants representing star hotels and event venues in the city. The questionnaire is prepared by using standard questions taken from review of literature. The results indicated that the level of awareness on the green and sustainable practices related to recycling, energy efficiency, waste control, water conservation, environment management, transportation and purchasing areas is high and adequate among the sample. Every employee feels the responsibility in the dimension of green practices. There is a highly significant relationship between the demographical groups with regard to green and sustainability practices. Some of the hotels in the industry are international quality accredited, adopting ISO standards and got Deming awards for quality of service. Quality circles, safety standards, TQM and six sigma are general practices in the direction of green and sustainability practices. These can a pave along road to improve in the direction and to compete with global standards and to attract international guests in the years to come.