The Financial savings are one of the most important
concerns for any organization that influence the
implementation of environmental initiatives in a hotel. This is
especially valid for hotel businesses that operate in a
tremendous competitive market and where the cost of water,
energy and waste dumping are high. Hotel operators that can
take full advantage of their efficiency and reduce waste will be
more cost-effective than their competitors. For example a
hotel can bring down its energy consumption by twenty to
forty percent without adversely affecting its day to day set
standard of performance. Despite the setup costs and the long
return on investment associated with environmental initiatives
the economic benefits usually outweigh the cost of
implementation. Starting with less capital intensive projects
and practices can definitely lead to substantial cost savings
[57].
Therefore hotels with business models that revolve around
green practices will have the strongest opportunity to achieve
a competitive advantage by being ahead of the emerging
sustainability curve. Hotel web sites play an important role in
disseminating the necessary information. They are used as an
online channel to inform customers about services and
products and also as an electronic platform to enhance
profitability [58].
It has been found out that the larger hotels are more
engaged in disseminating environmental information on their
network sites. This result is consistent with studies on
corporate social responsibility and indicates that large
companies often see competitive advantage in making
environmental improvements and are thus more likely to
disclose information related to their environmental tricks.
Small firms that have low perceived impact on the
environment are likely to ignore the dissemination of related
environmental information [59].
Several hotel firms have displayed their environmental
performances via internet interactive and multimedia facilities.
For example Innovation Hotel is an online showcase of a
green hotel of the future. Network site visitors can experience
this environmentally friendly hotel by taking a virtual tour.
Accor and Scandia provide live demonstrations of their
environmental achievements. The Wyndham Green network
site provides a communicative platform that permits visitors
and members to share green ideas and experiences. This type
of environmental information exposé can be achieved only
through via internet media [60].
Most of the web sites provide an abundance of
environmental educational resources. For example the
Wyndham Green network site provides tips and ideas to go
green and information relating to green travel. This indicates
that these leading hotels of the globe have expanded the scope
of their environmental management to a broader social
responsibility. Their network sites provide a platform for
public education. To further the concept of green some of the
companies not only purchase green products but even develop
green products for their customers to enhance their
environmental efforts. For example Accor, Marriott,
Fairmount and Wyndham offer green meeting packages that
assist meeting planners by suggesting meeting structures that
encourage an awareness of environmental issues and optimal
waste diversion strategies for conference delegates. Hotels
benefit from receiving objective assessments of their practices
confirmation of meeting appropriate standards and a
benchmark for maintaining that competence. Of the twenty
three hotel companies that had environmental network pages
about half mentioned their affiliation with environmental
certification agencies. This implies that peripheral validations
have been recognized and adopted in the hotel industry to
enhance environmental management [61].
Other green products such as green cuisine and eco rooms
are additional innovative creations of the environmental
endeavor of these hotel companies. IHG’s network site has a
specific link entitled green hotels for green hotel reservations
to respond to the growing market of green customers.
Environmental based certification provides a mechanism to
encourage environmental management practices. To maintain
these recognition hotels must pass regular re-evaluations to
ensure continued compliance with the requirements and
maintenance of proper operational standards.
The Eco-marketing orientation is a new underlying business
philosophy to supplant the sales, production, marketing, and
entrepreneurial orientations commonly discussed in business education curricula publicize the authors. A company with this
orientation should meet society’s demand for corporate ethical
responsibilities while fulfilling customer needs profitably [62]