Exploring the relationship between green hotel attributes, guest satisfaction and loyalty

Sustainability in tourism emerged as a critical issue for a long-term strategy of industry’s growth. The accommodation sector is responsible for roughly one-quarter of tourism GHG emission and, since decades, eco-friendly practices have been applied on a voluntary basis. The implementation of these practices is partly a consequence of consumers’ growing awareness toward environmental sustainability. Examining the results of a survey addressed to guests of an Italian hotel awarded with Legambiente Turismo Eco-label, the paper investigates the relationship between guest’s perceptions of hotel green attributes and their satisfaction and loyalty. Variance-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) has been employed to test hypothesis. Findings suggest that the environmental practices implemented by the hotel have a positive impact on guest overall satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, results indicate that the staying at green hotels lead guests to develop a specific loyalty toward the whole range of hotels implementing green practices

Sustainability experiences in the wine sector: toward the development of an international indicators system

Increasing awareness for sustainability has led to the proliferation of initiatives in the wine industry. These initiatives mainly aim at managing the environmental aspects of wine production. In this context, the identification of suitable indicators is crucial to evaluate the industry's progress toward sustainability. Firstly, in the present study, the main environmental impacts of wine production are reviewed, with specific reference to LCA studies. On this baseline, the main programs from the New World, Europe and Italy that address sustainability in the wine sector are examined. Results show that each program has its strengths and weaknesses, but there is still a large margin to merge the best of these programs in one unique protocol internationally recognized. Therefore, the authors have compared the set of indicators employed by two specific wine industries initiatives (the Italian VIVA and Californian CSWA) and the indicators implemented by the wine Italian companies certified with the Environmental Management System (EMS), defined by the European Regulation EMAS. A specific evaluation framework has been developed to assess the comprehensiveness of these indicators in terms of their capacity to address the triple bottom line of sustainability. Findings reveal that while VIVA consider environmental, economic and social aspects, CSWA and EMAS focus mainly on environmental impacts of wine production. Additionally, only EMAS has an approach to the evaluation of raw materials efficiency and waste management. The outcome of the study integrates existing literature on sustainable wine production, expanding the scope of previous analysis and introducing an evaluation framework that stakeholders of the industry may apply to introduce new indicators sets to assess sustainability performances of wine producers

DALL’ANALISI IMPORTANCE-PERFORMANCE ALLA TEORIA THREE-FACTOR NELLA RICERCA SUL TURISMO – PARTE SECONDA

In the service industry, customer satisfaction is often recognized as related to guest attitudes and perceived performance of service attributes. This relation is also recognized in the context of tourism facilities, opening a wide debate on the direct role of service attributes performance on customer satisfaction. Additionally, service dimensions have a different impact on customer satisfaction, as they are critical in influencing customer perception of key attributes. Starting from the assumption that customer satisfaction is a function of the expectations related to certain importance attributes and to the perception of these attributes’ performance, the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) it is a useful technique for analyzing this relation and to allow a simple prioritization in order to improve service quality. However, IPA evolved during the years through different scholars’ contributions aimed at overcoming its limitations. This article analyzes the theories behind the IPA approach and traces the evolution of this model up to the development of the three-factor theory. In this second part, it studies the application of both approaches in the tourism and hotel sector

How do scholars approach the circular economy? A systematic literature review

Circular Economy (CE) aims to overcome the take-make-dispose linear pattern of production and consumption, proposing a circular system in which the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy as long as possible. In recent years there has been a proliferation of scholars' publications on the topic. This study presents the results of a systematic literature review exploring the state-of-the-art of academic research on CE. The paper examines the CE body of literature with a systematic approach, to provide an exhaustive analysis of the phenomenon with rigorous and reproducible research criteria. The revisited material consists of 565 articles collected through the Web of Science and Scopus databases, and has been evaluated using specific structural dimensions to group literature into analytical categories. Starting from being a concept studied in connection with industrial ecology, CE has slowly acquired its independent role in academic research, framed mainly into environmental sustainability related studies. As a result of policies implementation, academic production is mainly concentrated in China and Europe, employing tools and methods for modelling processes and supporting decision-making for CE implementation (e.g. Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis). CE studies follow three main lines of action: the first aims to change the social and economic dynamics at macro and administrative level; the second to support firms in circular processes implementation at micro level to spread new forms of consumption and product design; the third, developed at meso level, discusses industrial symbiosis experiences. CE is associated with a variety of concepts, and waste management emerges as the most relevant sub-sector. CE is also strongly connected with the concept of sustainability, proposing ways to operationalize its implementation at the environmental and economic level, while scholars only marginally consider social and institutional implications. The most explored practices are those related to cleaner production, aiming at reducing environmental impact and waste production along the life cycle of a product, and optimizing the performance and efficiency of processes. Conversely, studies on CE may devote greater attention to strategies for social and institutional changes, able to transform the upstream process of production and consumption. Considering business model strategies, scholars mainly focus on studying closing material loops strategy, while slowing the loops, which requires a radical change of consumption and production patterns, is only marginally included with respect to CE implementation. This study's findings highlight CE as an evolving concept that still requires development to consolidate its definition, boundaries, principles and associated practices

“Please Reuse Your Towels” - Guest Insights of Green Practices in the Hotel Industry

In recent years, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification to become one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, occupying a prominent role in the European economy. However, the growth of the tourism sector goes hand in hand with its increasing environmental impact. It is, therefore, necessary to find a balance between the tourism sector and its environmental dimension, to increase both the profitability of tourism and the quality of the ecosystem. Over the years, more and more hotels are integrating sustainability practices in the management of their operations. Academic literature shows that hotels go green for many reasons: financial savings, access to public funding, employee commitment, facing public scrutiny, investor relations, and general social good. However, one of the main reasons for hotels to go green is to respond to consumers’ growing green consciousness. Indeed, consumers are increasingly looking for environment-friendly lodging options, but they are also feeling uninformed about whether hotels are truly eco-friendly. Because of consumers’ concern toward environmental sustainability, the hospitality industry is also developing voluntary-based tools to reduce its environmental impacts and to satisfy the increasing market segment of green customers. In this context, third-party certified ecolabels ensure hotel compliance with specific environmental performance criteria and offer reliable communication to their guests. So, understanding how consumers perceive and evaluate the environmental quality and eco-friendly practices in hotels helps to plan and define win-win strategies for tourism sustainable management. Starting with the analysis of literature, we propose a conceptual framework to investigate whether green practices implemented by the Italian “Legambiente Turismo” certified hotels contribute significantly to the formation of guest positive behavioral intention toward green hotels. Even if little research has been conducted on this topic, understanding the role of hotels' environmental practices is pivotal in the hotel decision-making process and strategy. To clarify this point, a survey was conducted with guests of two Italian hotels awarded with the ecolabel, and 335 questionnaires were usable and employed in the analysis, adopting Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses. Research findings are valuable for both hotel managers and decision-makers, clarifying the role of environmental communication and guest environmental concern in the guest recognition of hotels' environmental efforts. The study also confirms the relationship between the implementation of green practices and the rise of market awareness and loyalty towards green hotels