Sustainable tourism emanates from the Brundtland Commission's report, 'our common future'.2 It is a term that has been widely abused by the industry and hence lacks a precise definition. However, sustainability when applied to the tourism industry means the use of tourism resources would have to be regulated so that they are not consumed, depleted or polluted in such a way as not to be available for use by future generations of tourists.3 Sustainability therefore underpins environmental management in hotels, since sound environmental management practices will invariably culminate in a sustained tourism industry.