Adoption of Environmental Management Practices in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka
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Date
2017-01-27
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Abstract
Environmental management has not received the attention that it deserves in the case of the hotel industry in Sri Lanka although sustainable growth in the industry requires consideration of such practices. Our study assesses the adoption of good environmental management practices in the Sri Lankan hotel industry, focusing on energy, water, solid waste and waste water management. The study is based on data from 78 registered hotels in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. We obtained primary data on the environmental management practices using a pretested structured questionnaire. In addition to the cross-sectional data, we collected panel data on electricity consumption from these hotels for 2009–2013. The results show that the highest number of practices, 3.7 on average, adopted by hotels is in energy management. The average number of water management practices is 2.6. Low adoption rates are observed for waste water and solid waste management practices. The results from Poisson and Probit regression models show that the hotel characteristics and customer characteristics are significant determinants of the adoption of good practices with large hotels, chain-affiliated
hotels and classified hotels more likely to adopt them. Analysis of electricity consumption
shows that the occupancy rate and involvement of the hotels in environment management
projects lead to a reduction in electricity consumption. From a policy perspective, small hotels, independent hotels, and unclassified hotels need to be motivated to adopt good environmental management practices through training, capacity building and financial support.
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Environmental management, Hotel industry, Sri Lanka, Tourism, Sustainability, SANDEE