Why should hotels go green? Insights from guests experience in green hotels

Over the last years, the lodging industry started to implement a wide spectrum of green practices to mitigate its pressure on the environment and to respond to the growing consumers’ environmental concerns. Recently, scholar's attention to guest perception of hotels green practices has been grown. This paper through a PLS-SEM analysis, presents the results of a survey targeted to the guests of an ecolabel-awarded hotel, investigating how consumers perceive the actions implemented by hotels to reduce their environmental impacts. The study provides hotel managers with insights from guests staying in green hotels. The main objectives are to explore how guests perceive “green hotel” practices and to test the relationship between guest perceptions of hotel green practices and behavioral intentions. Additionally, the impact of green practices in determining a specific loyalty towards green hotels has been tested. Finally, the study investigates the role of guest satisfaction as a mediator for guest loyalty. Results of this study supported the research hypotheses showing that customers positively recognize the hotels’ environmental commitment, with a significant influence on guest satisfaction and loyalty. Findings also suggest that guest who experienced the stay in a green hotel are more likely to develop a specific loyalty toward the hotels implementing green practices. Implications, limitations and future lines of research are also provided.