I I I UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS IN ACCRA .. 1 r---N:.:::CE=SSIO~H-:-NO-·---I -----'--- J ISHMAEL MENSAH .. - -~ THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF C~PE COAST IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN TOURISM MARCH,2012 UNIVERSHV Ot OPE COAST THE LIBRAR\~ "' • © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library DECLARATION Candidate's Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original work and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this university or elsewhere. Signature: '7/iJ:: /l-'/orUt ~£;2 Date: cz::-? .................................. . Supervisors' Declaration We hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by the University of Cape Coast. co-supervisor'~Name: Prof. L.A. Dei . ~·C· . SIgnature: .................. ~ ...... ........... . D-.7 tL ~~ ~('"2.. Date: ............................................. . 11 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library ABSTRACT The steady growth in number of hotels 10 Accra is a source of environmental concern. This study sought to assess the environmental performance of hotels in Accra from the perspective of hotel managers, international tourists and other stakeholders. A stratified random sampling method was employed in surveying 200 hotel managers from the different categories of hotels in Accra. Additionally, 343 international tourists at various attraction sites in Accra and an indepth interview of six key informants from stakeholder organizations and host communities were covered. Collectively, the hotels performed creditably in terms of environmental health and pollution prevention, support for local communities and in green purchasing. However, they performed poorly in the area of voluntary environmental programmes. There were also significant differences in the environmental performance of different categories of hotels with 3-4 star hotels being the best performers in all 10 areas of environmental management practices. International tourists had a positive attitude towards environmental management by hotels and were even willing to pay more to stay in hotels that are environmentally-conscious. To improve the environmental performance of hotels in Accra, there should be greater education and training of managers, government policy to encourage voluntary environmental programmes and a shift towards green hotel development. III © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been complete without the support of my supervisors, senior colleagues, friends and relatives. Indeed, if I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants. My first appreciation goes to my supervisors, Prof. E.J. Blankson and Prof. L.A. Dei, who placed their experience and expertise at my disposal. I am particularly grateful for their very useful suggestions and comments. I am also grateful to all senior members of the former Department of Geography and Tourism for their comments and suggestions which went a long way to help put this thesis in proper shape. I am indebted to Dr. F.E. Amuquandoh, Head of Department, for his encouragement and useful suggestions which contributed in no small measure to the completion of this thesis. I am particularly grateful to the University of Cape Coast for providing financial support towards facilitating my fieldwork. The task could not have been accomplished within the stipulated time without this financial assistance. My sincere gratitude goes to all the managers, communities and individuals that provided essential data and information, especially Mr. Jones Nelson of the Public Relations Department of the Ghana Tourist Board and Mr. Kwame Asare Dankwa, the president of the Greater Accra branch of the Ghana Hotels · Association. Finally, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all my students who helped with the data collection and my family for moral support. Your efforts are truly appreciated. iv © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library DEDICATION To Becky and Colin for your support and motivation. v © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library TABLE OF CONTENTS Content DECLARA nON ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DEDICATION TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF PLATES LIST OF ACRONYMS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Background Statement of the Research Problem Research Objectives Research Hypotheses Significance of the Research Research Variables Thesis Outline VI Page II III IV V VI XII XV XVll XVIII 1 1 5 8 8 10 12 13 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library CHAPTER TWO: CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS 15 Introduction 15 Corporate Environmentalism 16 Environmental Management 20 Environmental Impacts of Hotels 23 Drivers of Environmental Management in Hotels 28 Environmental Management Practices in Hotels 31 Environmental Performance 53 Environmental Attitudes and Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Tourists Summary CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR 61 62 ENVIRONMENT AL PERFORMANCE 63 Introduction 63 Perspectives on Corporate Environmentalism 63 Measurement of Environmental Performance 65 Measurement of Environmental Performance of Hotels 66 Models of Corporate Environmental Performance 68 Model of Factors Influencing Environmental Performance of Hotels 82 VII © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Summary CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODS Introduction The Study Area Research Perspectives The Mixed Methods Perspective Research Design Nature and Sources of Data Sampling Procedures and Allocation Research Instruments Training Pre-Test Field Survey Problems Encountered on the Field Response Rate Ethical Considerations Methods of Data Analysis and Presentation Measurement Summary VIII 84 86 86 86 89 92 94 99 99 104 107 108 109 111 113 114 115 117 117 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library CHAPTER FIVE: CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS AND HOTELS 119 Introduction 119 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Hotel Managers 120 Age, Gender and Marital Status of Respondents 122 Income, Gender and Level of Education of Hotel Managers 123 Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Class of Hotel 124 Organizational Characteristics of Hotels 126 Year of Establishment of Hotel 129 Relationships within Organizational Characteristics of Hotels 131 Hotel Classification and Organizational Characteristics 134 Socio-Demographic Characteristics ofIntemational Tourists 136 Summary 139 CHAPTER SIX: FACTORS INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS 141 Introduction 141 Environmental Commitment of Hotels 142 Class of Hotel and Environmental Commitment 146 Size of Hotel and Environmental Commitment 147 Managers' Attitude towards Environmental Performance of Hotels 148 Perceived Stakeholder Influence on Environmental Performance 150 ix © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Environmental Performance among Different Classes of Hotels Differences in Environmental Performance among Different Classes of 152 Hotels 160 Factor Analysis of Environmental Performance Indicators 164 Factors Influencing Enviromnental Performance 168 Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Environmental Performance 171 Organizational Characteristics and Environmental Performance 172 Summary 175 CHAPTER SEVEN: STAKEHOLDERS' PERSPECTIVES ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS Introduction Environmental Education of Hotel Guests Environmental Education and Type of Hotel Environmental Attitude of International Tourists Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Guests in Relation to their Willingness to Pay More Tourists' Perception of Hotel Environmental Issues Influence of Environmental Activities on Choice of Hotel Respondents' Expectation of Hotel Environmental Performance Environmentally-Responsible Behaviour Environmentally-Responsible Behaviour and Gender x 177 177 178 182 183 185 188 189 191 192 193 \ © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Tourists' Perception of Hotels' Environmental Performance 195 Stakeholders' Perception of the Environmental Impacts of Hotels 197 Stakeholders' Perception of the Environmental Compliance of Hotels 202 Stakeholders' Perception of the Environmental Performance of Hotels 206 Summary 209 CHAPTER EIGHT: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Introduction Summary of Major Findings Conclusions Implications of Findings Contribution to Knowledge Contribution to Practice Recommendations Recommendations for Future Research BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES Appendix A: Questionnaire for Hotel Managers Appendix B: Questionnaire for International Tourists Appendix C: Semi-structured Interview Guide xi 211 211 212 216 223 227 228 229 234 236 292 292 297 302 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 : Licensed Hotels in Ghana and GAR 1 2: Stage Models of Corporate Environmental Perfonnance 69 3: Comparison of Stage Models of Corporate Environmental Perfonnance 70 4: Differences between Positivism and Constructivism 90 5: Mixed Methods Research Design Typologies 96 6: Sampling of Hotels in Accra 100 7: Detennining Sample Size from a Given Population 102 8: Sample and Response Rate 113 9: Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Hotel Managers 120 10: Age and Other Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Hotel Managers 122 11 : Income, Gender and Level of Education of Hotel Managers 124 12: Class of Hotel and Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Managers 125 13: Organizational Characteristics of Hotels 128 14: Occupancy and Organizational Characteristics Crosstabs 131 15: Management and Organizational Characteristics Crosstabs 133 16: Classification of Hotel and Organizational Characteristics 135 17: Socio-Demographic Characteristics ofIntemational Tourists 137 18: Environmental Commitment of Hotels 142 xii © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library 19: Class of Hotel and Environmental Commitment 146 20: Size of Hotel and Environmental Commitment 148 21: Hotel Managers' Environmental Attitude 149 22: Managers' Perception of Stakeholders' Influence on Hotel Environmental Performance 151 23: Mean Distributions of Environmental Performance 153 24: Analysis of Variance for the Environmental Performance Indicators 160 25: Tukey HSD Post Hoc Comparisons of Environmental Performance of Hotel Categories 162 26: Varimax Rotated Factor Analysis for EPIs 166 27: Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Environmental Performance 170 28: Percentage of Respondents Who Received Environmental Education From different Types of Hotels 183 29: Willingness to Pay More and Socio-Demographic Characteristics 186 30: Perception of Hotel Environmental Issues 189 31 : Influence of Environmental Activities on Choice of Hotel 190 32: International Tourists' Expectations of Hotels' Environmental Performance 191 ;/ / / 33: Environmentally-Responsible Behaviour by Respondents 193 34: Environmentally-Responsible Behaviour Based on Gender 194 xiii © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library 35: Tourists ' Perception of Hotels' Environmental Perfonnance 196 xiv © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 : Drivers of Sustainable Development 28 2: Corporate Environmental Performance Matrix 71 3: License Model of Corporate Environmental Performance 74 4: Effects of Culture, Resources and Knowledge on Environmental Performance 76 5: Model of Institutional Pressures Moderated by Parent Company and Facility characteristics 79 6: Model of Factors Influencing Environmental Performance of Hotels 83 7: Map of Study Area 87 8: Research Methods Employed for the Study 98 9: Year of Establishment of Hotels 130 10: Designation of Officers in Charge of Environmental Management 143 11 : Initiatives in Improved Environmental Performance 144 12: Environmental Education of Hotel Guests 178 13: Sources ofInformation on Hotels' Environmental Initiatives 179 14: Medium of Educating Guests on Environm~ntally-Responsible Behaviour 180 15: Environmental Attitude of International Tourists 184 16: Extra Amount Tourists are Willing to Pay 184 17: Overall Assessment of Environmental Performance of Hotels 195 xv © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library 18: Stakeholders' Perception of the Environmental Performance of Hotels 206 19: Proposed Framework for Managing Environmental Performance of 218 Hotels xvi © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library LIST OF PLATES Plate 1: Hotel with Clean and Green Surroundings 2: A Notice in a Hotel 3: A Hotel that has Used Raffia and Bamboo for Decoration and Furnishing 4: Hotel Discharging Grey Water Directly into a Lagoon xvii Page 145 181 197 201 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library LIST OF ACRONYMS AP A T Asia Pacific Alliance for Tourism APHEI Asia Pacific Hotels Environment Initiative CAST Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism CFC Chlorofluoro Carbons CSR Corporate Social Responsibility ECP Environmentally-Conscious Purchasing EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIS Environmental Impact Statement EMAS Eco-management and Audit Scheme EMP Environmental Management Programme EMS Environmental Management System EP A Environmental Protection Agency EPI Environmental Performance Indicators FDB Food and Drugs Board GAR Greater Accra Region GEO Green Earth Organization GHA Ghana Hotels Association GTB Ghana Tourist Board HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points IREI International Hotels Environment Initiative ISO International Standards Organization xviii © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library MDG NGO OECD STD TCP UNEP WEEE WHO WTO WWF Millennium Development Goals Non-Governmental Organizations Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Sustainable Tourism Development Town and Country Planning United Nations Environment Programme Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment World Health Organization World Tourism Organization World Wildlife Fund XIX © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background Ghana is gradually establishing itself as an important tourist destination in Africa. Tourist arrivals increased from 271,310 in 1994 to 583,821 in 2004 (Ghana Tourist Board [GTB], 2009). The growth in tourist numbers has resulted in the growth of tourism and hospitality businesses to meet the needs of tourists. For instance, the number of registered hotels in Ghana grew from 1,165 in 2002 to 1,595 in 2008 (Table 1), with the Greater Accra Region (GAR) providing the bulk of the country's hotel accommodation stock. Table 1: Licensed Hotels in Ghana and GAR (2002-2008) Number of hotels Year Ghana GAR 2002 1,165 481 2003 1,232 513 2004 1,295 538 2005 1,373 557 2006 1,427 608 2007 1,459 611 2008 * 1,595 N/A *Provisional Source: GTB (2009) 1 '" © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Approximately 41.7% of all rooms existed in the GAR in 2007 (GTB, 2008). While the increase in hotels is important for socio~economic development, it could at the same time impact negatively on the environment because these facilities generate enormous waste (sewage, grey water, garbage etc.) and consume large amounts of natural resources (energy, water, wood, minerals etc.). The environmental impacts of the hotel industry is exacerbated by the fact that apart from rooms, hotels also provide restaurants, night clubs, shops, swimming pools, car parks, golf courses and other facilities that also make demands on the environment. According to the American Hotel and Motel Association, the average hotel guest generates from 1.0 to 2.5 pounds of waste per room every day (Cartier, 2008). Chan (2005) in a study of the energy consumption of hotels estimated that the average electrical energy requirement in hotels in Hong Kong was 366 KW hlm2 (kilowatt hours per square metre). Salem (1995) also concluded that 15,000 cubic metres of water is consumed by 100 hotel guests in a luxury hotel for 55 days whilst the same amount of water could serve the needs of 100 rural farmers for three years. The consumption of disproportionately huge amounts of natural resources by the hotel industry, therefore, tends to compromise the ability of host communities to meet their own needs and is contrary to the basic tenets of sustainable development. In view of this anomaly, there have been calls for hotels to undertake sustainable tourism practices. During the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism held in Lanzarote, Spain in 1995, there was the recognition that sustainable hotels lead to sustainable destinations, which in tum leads to successful hotel businesses. For sustainable tourism to be realised at a 2 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library destination, the hotel industry must be at the forefront of the implementation of sustainable tourism practices given their excessive consumption of natural resources and generation of unnecessary waste. A number of hotels, mostly in the developed world, are responding to the need to be environmentally-sensitive and to embark on sustainable tourism practices. They have been involved in the design and implementation of corporate environmental policies and programmes leading to pollution prevention, waste minimization, climate change mitigation practices, environmental health risk minimization, cost-savings, market positioning and other sustainable tourism practices. Available literature is replete with cases of environmental management initiatives and sustainable tourism practices by hotel businesses and trade associations. Mention can be made of the International Hotels Environment Initiative . (IHEI), Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), International Hotels and Restaurants Association (IHRA) and Asian Pacific Hotels Environment Initiative (APHEI). At the corporate level, the environmental policies and programmes of hospitality businesses like MeDon aids, Accor and Disneyworld are well documented. Such environmental management initiatives in the hospitality industry have been occasioned by influences from Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), international organizations and government organizations (Mensah, 2004). The adoption and implementation of sustainable tourism practices by the hotel industry is also occasioned by the observation that tourists are becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental character of destinations they intend to visit. Generally, there has been a growth of green 3 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library consumerism (Holden, 2000). Consumers are increasingly becoming environmental-conscious and will buy products from organizations that take care of the environment. The tourism industry has not been insulated from this wave of environmentalism. Tourists are also becoming discerning and will travel to destinations that offer clean and green tourist products. In a study of UK consumers' attitude towards package holidays by Market and Opinion Research International [MORl] (2000) which was commissioned by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABT A), 87% of respondents indicated that the environment is the most important consideration when choosing a holiday whilst 76% indicated that their holiday should benefit the people of the destination they were travelling to. For hotel businesses to succeed in their environmental management activities, they cannot afford to ignore their guests who are the main consumers of water, energy and other resources as well as generators of waste. However, a North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power and Associates in 2007, revealed that although nearly three-fourths of hotel guests in North America willingly participate in environmentally friendly programmes offered during their stay in hotels, many of them remain unaware of whether these programmes are offered at the hotel property (Environmental Leader, 2007). In the opinion of Anguera, Ayuso and Fullana (2000), due to the unstable staffing situation within seasonal hotels, hotel guests might even play a more crucial role in achievement of environmental targets. Thus, due to the high rate of labour turnover coupled with the seasonal nature of employment in the hotel sector, investing in the environmental education of staff may not 4 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library yield the right dividends as such staff might leave as soon as they have been trained. In Ghana, there are growing concerns about the impacts of tourism and the hospitality industry on the environment. The 1996 Tourism Development Plan for Ghana, for instance, recognizes that sewage and solid waste disposal is a problem in some hotels and that this could lead to pollution of rivers, lakes and coastal water and ground water due to improper development of sewerage and solid waste disposal systems in hotels and other facilities (UNDPIWTO, 1995). Also, the Ghana News Agency (2009) reported that a hotel manageress was convicted of an environmental offence by a Magistrate Court in Suhum for failing to stop the spillage of offensive effluent from a septic tank in her hotel into a public way. According to Pigram (1995) tourism could contribute to environmental degradation and be self-destructive, though it also has the potential to bring about significant enhancement of the environment. Though the existing institutional and policy framework such as the Integrated Tourism Development Plan (1996-2010), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Act, Act 490, and National Environmental Action Plan (1991) encourage implementation of sustainable tourism practices, the question of how hotels in Ghana are responding to the need to adopt sound environmental practices in the midst of calls for sustainable tourism development and influence of stakeholders, still remains only partially answered. Statement of the Research Problem With the advent of sustainable tourism development, the hospitality industry has embraced the concept of environmental management which used 5 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library to be the preoccupation of the smokestack industries i.e. manufacturing and extractive industries. Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses have embarked on a number of environmental initiatives and environmental management activities to lessen their negative impact on the environment and project a green image. However, larger hotels which are mostly multinationals or have international affiliations have been at the forefront of environmental initiatives (Mawforth & Munt, 1998; Mensah, 2006; Pigram & Wahab, 1997). Hotels, mostly in the developed world, are actively involved in environmental management through policies, programmes and other initiatives. Hospitality businesses such as MacDonalds and NOVOTEL have espoused environmental policies, but can the same be said about Ghanaian owned hotels? Thus, whilst the literature is replete with infonnation on the environmental and sustainable tourism practices of hotels in Europe, America and Asia, not much research work has been done on environmental management in hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. Aside from this, studies on the environmental perfonnance of finns have concentrated on the supply side, namely environmental practices and initiatives by businesses with customers usually left out of the picture. However, the environmental impacts of hospitality establishments, especially with regards to the consumption of energy and water are more likely to be exacerbated by their guests. For instance, 40% of the water used in hotels is in guestrooms (Forte, 1994). Despite the importance of a clean and healthy environment to tourist's satisfaction, the issue has not been subjected to much intellectual discourse and empirical research. Research in this area has often 6 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library been undertaken by research organizations like J.D. Power and Associates as well as MORI instead of academics. There have been few attempts to examine hotel guests' perception of the general environmental performance of the hospitality industry. According to Andereck (2008), few studies have considered tourists' views of environmentally responsible and innovative business practices. It is against this background that this study seeks to assess hotel guests' expectations and perceptions of the environmental performance of hotels in Ghana and their implications for environmental management in the hotel industry. Most studies on environmental management in the tourism and hospitality industry have been restricted to descriptions of environmental practices and/or the attitudes of management towards environmental management (Bohdanowicz, 2005b; Erdogan & Baris, 2007; Kirk, 1998; Mensah, 2006; Stipanuk, 1996; Withiam, 1995). However, it is imperative to examine the factors that influence the environmental performance of hotel businesses, especially in developing countries where most of these businesses are small to medium scale and are constrained by certain peculiar socio- economic circumstances. Though, some of these environmental management programmes and initiatives have been voluntary, the role of governments, tourists and other stakeholders in exacting compliance cannot be underestimated. In spite of this, compliance with environmental regulations is a major problem in the hotel industry in Ghana. Hens and Boon (1999) in a study on environmental policy in Ghana discovered that in 1995, out of the 114 environmental assessment applications that were received by the EPA, there was only one application from 7 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library the tourism sector. Applications for projects in the public utility sector were most numerous, followed by mining, manufacturing, infrastructure and forestry. When the rate of development of the tourism sector is juxtaposed, it appears a number of new tourism facilities including hotels are flouting the law requiring them to undertake environmental impact assessments. It is therefore important to determine the level of compliance with environmental laws by hotels and the factors that account for non-compliance. Research Objectives The main objective of this study is to assess the environmental performance of hotels in Accra. The specific objectives are to; 1. Ascertain hotel management's attitude towards environmental management in hotels; ii. Examine stakeholders' perception of the environmental performance of hotels; iii. Examine international tourists' environmental attitude and behaviour and the implications for environmental management by the hotels; iv. Assess the factors that influence environmental performance of hotels. v. Assess the level of environmental performance among different classes of hotels. Research Hypotheses It is hypothesized that: Hj: Hotel's size has no effect on its environmental performance. H2: Hotel's class has no effect on environmental performance. 8 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library H3: Hotel's affiliation to multinational hotel chain has no effect on environmental performance. H4: Age of hotel facility has no effect on environmental performance. Hs: Hotel's occupancy has no effect on environmental performance. H6: Membership of trade association has no effect on environmental performance. H7: Age of hotel manager has no effect on the environmental performance of hotel. H8: Nationality of hotel manager has no effect on environmental performance of hotel. H9: Level of education of hotel manager has no effect on environmental performance of hotel. HJO: Marital status of hotel manager has no effect on environmental performance of hotel. Hn: Income of hotel manager has no effect on environmental performance of hotel. H I2 : Religion of hotel manager has no effect on environmental performance of hotel. HJ3: Gender of hotel manager has no effect on environmental p~rformance of hotel. H 14: There is no significant difference in the environmental performance of different classes of hotels. 9 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Significance of the Research A number of global, regional and national initiatives have been undertaken to safeguard the environment. The end result of these initiatives has been the formulation of conventions, policies and guidelines such as the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on sustainable tourism which have influenced the actions of governments, industries, organizations and individuals. The 1980s saw greater global efforts at safeguarding the environment and enhancing the wellbeing of people. The 1987 Brundtland Commission report dubbed 'our common future' and Agenda 21 which was the action plan of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 set the tone for sustainable tourism development. During the review of the first five years' of implementation of ~genda 21 in 1997 at the nineteenth Special Session of the UN General Assembly, there was an indication that there was the need to give further consideration to the importance of tourism in the context of Agenda 21. Also, the Bruntland Commission defined sustainable development as 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. The tourism industry also coined the phrase sustainable tourism as a corollary of the sustainable development paradigm. The sustainable tourism paradigm continues to pose a challenge to the tourism industry and there is growing debate on its practicality. This study, by gaining insights into management's attitudes towards environmental management and the environmental performance of hotels, will contribute to the debate as to the practicality of sustainable tourism development. It would 10 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library also serve as a reference for environmental practices in the tourism and hospitality industry and thereby contribute to efforts at safeguarding the environment. It would further provide information on attempts to promote sustainability in the tourism industry. There is the need for the tourism industry to safeguard the environment in which it operates as epitomized by Sir Colin Marshall, former chairman of British Airways, at the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards Ceremony in 1994. According to him; "The tourism and travel industry is essentially the renting out for short- term lets, of other people's · environments, whether that is a coastline, a city, a mountain range or a rainforest. These 'products' must therefore be kept fresh and unsullied not just for the next day, but for every tomorrow". Environmental conservation has become such a critical issue in tourism, especially due to the fact that tourism thrives on attractive environments and also has the potential for destroying the environment. In spite of the importance of hotels' contribution to the attainment of sustainable tourism, there have been limited attempts at researching the environmental performance of hotels (Buckley & Araujo, 1997; De Burgos- Jimenez, Cano-Guillen & Cespedes-Lorente, 2002; Erdogan & Tosun, 2009; Leslie, 2007). Also, these studies have been mainly carried out in Europe with Africa being largely ignored. Except for studies by Masau and Prideaux (2003) who looked at the role of Kenya's hotel industry in sustainable tourism, Mensah (2006) who did a study on the environmental management practices of hotels in Accra and El Dief and Font (2010) who conducted a study on the II © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library detenninants of hotel marketing managers' green marketing behaviour in Egypt. None of these studies has investigated the issue of environmental perfonnance of hotels holistically to create adequate understanding of the issue, especially with regards to how hotels could contribute towards sustainable development and climate change mitigation. Thus, the issue of environmental perfonnance of hotels remains under-researched and hence poorly understood. This study will help bridge that knowledge gap. Research Variables In order to test the hypotheses, measures were developed for the key concepts by the use of variables, so that those concepts can be assigned values, which Bryman and Cramer (1998) referred to as the operationalization of variables. The main concept operationalized was environmental perfonnance. Ten areas of environmental management which served as the basis for the assessment of environmental perfonnance were: i. Conservation ii. Waste management and recycling iii. Environmental education and communication lV. Support for local communities v. Compliance with environmental laws and legislation vi. Eco-labelling and certification vii. Environmental auditing viii. Environmental health and pollution prevention ix. Green marketing; and 12 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library x. Green purchasing. A thorough review of the literature was aimed at identifying specific environmental management practices which served as indicators for each area of environmental performance. Managers were asked to indicate how often they engaged in these practices on a scale of 1-6 (1 = never, 6 = very frequently) . Thesis Outline The thesis is organized into eight chapters. Chapter One is the introduction to the study which looks at background to the study, research problem, research objectives, hypotheses, significance of the research, and structure of the report. Chapter Two reviewed the literature on corporate environmentalism and environmental performance of hotels. It is organized into themes like corporate environmentalism, impacts of hotels on the environment, environmental management in hotels and environmental attitudes of tourists. Chapter Three provides the conceptual framework that informs the study. Models such as stage models of corporate environmental performance and corporate environmental performance matrix model, license model and drivers of corporate environmental performance model will be reviewed leading to a model offactors influencing environmental performance of hotels. Chapter Four outlines the research methodology including research design, study population, sources of data, research instruments, sampling procedure, fieldwork, data processing and analysis, ethical considerations and problems encountered on the field. Chapter Five presents the background characteristics of the study respondents. Chapter Six discusses the findings on 13 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library factors influencing the environmental performance of hotels while Chapter Seven discusses the perspectives of international tourists' and other stakeholders on the environmental performance of hotels. Finally, Chapter Eight provides a summary of the conduct of the study and of major findings as well as conclusions, implications and recommendations. 14 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library CHAPTER TWO CORPORATEE~ONMENTALMANAGEMENTAND E~ONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS Introduction Environmental management and environmental performance of the hotel industry have attracted some research attention especially in the wake of calls for sustainable tourism practices. The body of knowledge in this field has been greatly influenced by the generic environmental management literature emanating from studies conducted on smokestack industries like . manufacturing, agriculture and the extractive (Hoffman, 1999; Jasch, 2000; Jung, Kim & Rhee, 2001). Literature on corporate environmental management also cuts across different fields of endeavour, including management, marketing, engineering, architecture and economics. However, most studies on the environmental management in the hotel industry have concentrated on either determining the environmental management practices, management attitudes towards environmental management or measuring the environmental performance of hotels and other accommodation establishments. This chapter reviews the relevant literature on corporate environmentalism and environmental management in relation to the environmental performance of the hotel industry. The first part of the review 15 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library looks at the generic literature on corporate environmentalism and environmental management. This is followed by environmental impacts of the hotels and the drivers of environmental management in hotels. The literature on environmental management practices in the hospitality industry is categorized into ten thematic areas. These are green purchasing; compliance with legislation; environmental auditing and management system; eco-labelJing and certification; waste management and recycling; conservation and environmental sponsorship; environmental education and communication; environmental health and pollution prevention; green marketing; and support for host communities. The chapter ends with a review of literature on environmental performance and its relationship with organizational characteristics as well as management attitudes and characteristics as well as environmental attitudes of tourists. Corporate Environmentalism Corporate environmentalism has gone beyond mere compliance with environmental legislation to become a strategic issue. According to Tagar (2001) the issues have largely moved from the fringe to a more central position on the organisational agenda. Corporate environmentalism has been described variously to include an organization'S commitment to decrease its negative environmental impact (Hunt & Auster, 1990) and embracing both technical and organizational activities aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact caused by firms' operations (Cramer, 1998). Lyon and Maxwell (2004), on the other hand see it as environmentally friendly measures undertaken by organizations that are not required by law. At the heart of 16 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library corporate environmentalism is a genuine commitment on the part of an organization to minimize its negative impacts on the environment. The attitude of business entities towards environmental issues has been a subject of serious concern over the years, especially in the smokestack industries (Foster, Sampson & Dunn, 2000) whilst the service industries which Hutchinson (1996) refers to as 'the silent destroyers of the environment' have received less attention. Also, most studies on corporate environmentalism . have focused on managers and their responsibilities for environmental issues (Cormier, Gordon & Magnan, 2004; Egri & Herman, 2000; Sarkis, 1998) whilst employees and customers/tourists have been neglected. Barakat (2008) is of the opinion that writers on corporate environmentalism have focused on three main areas, namely typologies and evolution of environmental strategies; external and internal drivers of corporate environmental practices and the link between environmentalism and profit or competitive advantage. There have also been studies on the motivations for corporate environmentalism (Bansal & Graham 1997; Stead & Stead 1996). One area that has attracted research attention is the benefits of corporate environmentalism. The question is 'does it pay to be green?'. Russo and Fouts (1997) conclude that it pays to go green but Hart and Ahuja (1996) are of the view that pollution prevention pays but only to inefficient firms or firms with the highest emission levels. Tari, Claver-Cortes, Pereira-Moliner and Molina-Azorin (2010) in a study of quality and environmental management in Spanish hotels discovered a positive relationship between environmental management and performance of the hotels. 17 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Other researchers have argued that corporate environmentalism leads to improved financial performance or profitability (Porter & Van der Linde, 1995; Reinhardt, 1999; Starik & Marcus 2000); improved corporate image (Hanna, Newman, & Johnson, 2000; Hillary, 2000; Maxwell, Rothenberg, Briscoe & Marcus, 1997; Rivera 2001); attracting environmental-conscious customers and retaining existing ones (Hanna et a!., 2000; Sharma & Vredenburg 1998; Stead & Stead 1994); competitive advantage (Miles & Covin, 2000; Reinhardt, 1998; Roome, 1994; Hart 1995; Sharma & Vredenburg, 1998); improved relations with local communities and other stakeholders (Hillary, 2000; Rondinelli & Berry, 2000; West & Manta, 1996) and improved financial investment (Harding, 1999; Rondinelli & Berry, 2000; Welford & Gouldson, 1993). However, a number of criticisms have been levelled against corporate environmentalism. Some have referred to it as 'greenwash' (Ramus & Montiel, 2005). NGOs like Tourism Concern, Greenpeace and CorpWatch have been at the forefront of the fight against greenwashing. Proponents of greenwashing have described the environmentalism portrayed by organizations as a sham. According to Greer and Bruno (1996), the greening of business is often a public relations exercise or misinformation that seeks to portray an image of corporate responsibility to the environment when in actual fact they continue to seriously degrade the environment, the livelihoods and quality of life of communities. Corp Watch (2001) defines greenwash as "the phenomenon of socially and environmentally destructive corporations attempting to preserve and expand their markets by posing as friends of the environment and leaders in 18 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library the struggle to eradicate poverty". However, Tagar (2001) sees greenwashing as a stage in corporate environmentalism. According to him, organisations in their early stages of implementation of environmental activities publicise their environmental efforts by usually portraying modest projects and programmes in the media or documenting such activities in internal annual reports, more than the situation on the ground. Other critics also claim that the dominant approach to the greening of business is 'business as usual' (Welford, 1997), that is, what businesses are doing is just a continuation of the traditional growth path. There have been serious criticisms against the use of 'eco' by tourism businesses to project a clean and green image. This is evident in the use of ecotourism, which has become ' a fashionable marketing ploy. This phenomenon has been described as 'eco-sell' (Wight, 1993), 'eco­ exploitation' (Masterton, 1991; Wight, 1994) and 'environmental opportunism' (Carson & Moulden, 1991). The claims by tourism businesses to be environmental-conscious, which they convey in their advertisements has been described as a marketing gimmick (Williams, 1992a; Mawforth & Munt, 1998; Lowenthal, 2001). According to Mawforth and Munt (1998) the overriding profit maximization motive of private companies in capitalist countries has the tendency to subvert and subjugate ethical and environmental considerations. 19 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Environmental Management Environmental management emerged in the 1980s as a new and vital aspect of management, and had been adopted by an increasing number of firms by the 1990s (Worcester, 1994). The EPA of Ghana defmes Environmental Management as "the process by which the collection of policies, structures, resources, systems and processes are brought to mutual interplay for the achievement of clearly defmed environmental policy directives" (EPA Newsletter, 1997). Kessler, Van Giniken, Cornelissen and Romijn (2001) based on the definition of Lovei and Weiss (1998) provide a more comprehensive definition. According to them, "environmental management is a process in which (formal and informal, public and private) organizations apply mechanisms to develop and implement a set of cost- effective priority actions on the basis of well-articulated societal preferences and goals for the maintenance or improvement of ambient environmental quality; the provision of environmentally derived or related services; andlor the conservation, maintenance and enhancement of natural resources and ecosystems. " PA Consulting (2001) defines environmental management in hotels as a systematic approach to finding practical ways for saving water, energy, and materials, and reducing negative environmental impacts. Environmental management activities in the hospitality industry therefore include formulation and implementation of environmental policy; education of employees and customers on environmental issues; the recycling of waste and other waste management practices; prevention of pollution and maintenance of clean air' , conservation of energy and water; maintenance of environmental health; 20 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library maintenance of permits such as building permits; and compliance with legislation. Kessler et al. (2001) view environmental management as both a system and a process. Environmental management system refers to 'the institutional setting responsible for stimulating, supporting and implementing the environmental management process' whilst environmental management process is 'the interaction between relevant stakeholders and organizations (including public entities, private sector and civil society, formal and informal organizations) to articulate societal preferences and goals and transform them into actions to influence environmental quality in a desirable manner' (Kessler et aI., 200 I, p. 7). The purpose of environmental management include increasing the value of a firm (Reinhardt, 2000), responding to pressures from stakeholders (Cespedes-Lorente, De Burgos-Jimenez & Alvarez-Gil, 2003) and reducing negative externalities (IDB/SDSIENV, 1999). Winn and Angell (2000) realized that most of the research on corporate environmental management is conducted at the organizational level, focusing mainly on motivations for corporate greening, typologies of greening and implications of corporate greening for firm performance. Also most studies on corporate environmental management have focused on smokestack or manufacturing industries (Foster et aI., 2000). According to Rivera and Delmas (2004), literature on business environmental management remains almost exclusively focused on understanding the behaviour of manufacturing firms in industrialized nations. Environmental management activities have been categorized into two broad areas, namely technicallhardware and organizational/software (Klassen 21 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library & Whybark, 1999). The former aims at directly reducing the amount of pollution generated by the organization through the modification of products or processes of production. The latter involves activities like environmental education, planning and formulation of environmental policies. Also, environmental management in organizations could be either voluntary or compliance-driven. Voluntary environmental management initiatives are considered as such because their promoters are not obliged by law to launch such schemes and target groups are also not obliged to apply or join (WTO, 2002). This is opposed to compliance-driven environmental management where organizations undertake environmental management in response to environmental laws and regulations such as the UK Clean Air Act (1993), the Toxic Substances Control Act of the USA (1976) and the EPA Act (Act 490) of Ghana (1996). According to Cartagena (2008) voluntary environmental management initiatives consist of unilateral commitments, negotiated agreements and certified programmes. Unilateral commitments are uncertified environmental management practices by firms or group of firms whilst negotiated agreements are undertaken by firms or groups of firms with third parties on environmental targets or plans. Certified voluntary programmes are eco-labels. The issue of eco-Iabelling and certification in the tourism industry has attracted a lot of research interest in recent times (Buckley, 2002; Font, 2001; Font & Buckley, 2001; Reiser & Simmons, 2005; Sasidharan, Sirakaya & Kerstetter, 2002; Weaver, 2001). Gilley, Worrell, Davidson and EI-Jelly (2000) also identify two generic environmental initiatives namely process-driven and product-driven. The 22 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library former is concerned with reducing the environmental impacts of the processes involved in production whilst the latter is concerned with creating new products and services that are environmentally sound or reducing the environmental impacts of existing goods and services. Environmental management activities can also be classified into pollution prevention and pollution control (Hart, 1995; Klassen and Whybark, 1999). Pollution prevention aims at stopping waste and emissions from occurring through efficient use of resources and conservation whilst pollution control aims at keeping pollution within certain levels through appropriate waste management and production practices. Environmental Impacts of Hotels Environmental impacts of the hospitality industry have been well documented (Gossling, 2002; Hunter & Green, 1995; Mathieson & Wall, 1982). However, most of the studies have been conducted on hotels and coastal resorts in developed countries. According to Foster et al. (2000), service sector businesses like hotels, resorts and restaurants have at least four inherent characteristics that exacerbate the potential environmental impacts of their operations, namely; perishability, heterogeneity, labour intensity and customer contact. Since tourist accommodation is the largest sub-sector of the tourism industry, it therefore has undeniably, the widest impacts on the environment (Graci, 2010). The impacts of hotels on the environment have been in the areas of energy consumption (Ali, Mustafa, Al-Mashaqbah, Mashal & 23 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Mohsen, 2007; Becken et aI., 2000; Bohdanowicz, Churie-Kallhauge, & Martinac 2001· Chan & Lam 2003· Jackson, 1984; Khemiri & Hassairi, " " 2005; Gntit & Soner, 2006; Shiming & Burnett, 2002; Zmeureanu, Hanna & Fazio, 1994); water consumption (Bohanowicz, 2006; Deng & Burnett, 2002; Holder, 1988; Hunter & Green, 1995; Stipanuk, 1996); solid and liquid waste generation (Becheri, 1991; Chan & Lam, 2001; Cummings, 1997; Pettay, 1992; Shanklin, Petrillose, & Pettay, 1991; Wie & Shanklin, 2001); use of chemicals and atmospheric pollution (Briguglio & Briguglio, 1996; Chan & Lam, 2002); and displacement of local communities (Rothman, 1978; Simpson & Wall, 1999; Torres, 2003). A British study reported by Kirk (1996) asserted that hotels use comparatively more energy than other industrial buildings. Gossling (2002) estimated that hotel facilities worldwide consume about a 100 TWh of energy. GnUt and Soner (2006) based on a study of 32 five-star hotel buildings in the Antalya Region of Turkey, concluded that occupancy rate and energy consumption have a strong correlation. Bohdanowicz et al. (2001) citing an EU report on rational use of energy in the hotel sector indicated that energy use in hotels varied from one hotel to the other depending on size of hotel, class/category, number of rooms, customer profile, location, climate zone, as well as the types of services/activities and amenities provided to guests. This is corroborated by a research by Zhang, Joglekar and Verma (2010) who found correlations between hotels' resource consumption levels and hotel characteristics such as market segments, operating structures, and geographic region. 24 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Hotels consume disproportionately large volumes of water (Hunter & Green, 1995; Tyler 1989). Stipanuk and Roffman (1996) estimated the consumption of water by hotels to be 101 and 208 gallons of water per available room per day for hotels with less than 75 rooms and those with 500 or more rooms respectively. Hunter and Green (1995) concluded that in the Mediterranean, hotels could easily consume 400 litres of water per guest per day whilst locals may only require 70 litres per day. It has been estimated that in the US lodging industry in the late 1920s, the average water consumption was 302 gal per available room per day for a dozen transit hotels with 20-500 rooms, and in 1940, it surged to 400 gallons per available room per day for 202 hotels having between 47 and 2710 guestrooms (Stipanuk, 1996). About a third to 40% of water-use in hotels occurs in guestrooms (Deng & Burnett, 2000). Most of the water used is released in the form of sewage which goes untreated (Bohanowicz, 2006). Redlin and deRoss (1990) were of the view that water usage depends on the size and type of the hotel. However, Bohdanowicz, (2006) provided more specific factors like occupancy rate, guest nights, food covers sold, quantity of in-house laundry, hotel floor area, green area watered, climate zone, presence of swimming pools, level of comfort, chain affiliation, management, staff and customer awareness as factors accounting for water usage in hotels. Large volumes of waste are also generated in hotels and this has become a problem, prompting industry experts to call on hotels to 'reduce, reuse or recycle' waste. Also, waste is the most visible impact of hotels on the environment (Bohdanowicz & Martinac, 2003). According to IHEl (2002), a typical guest produces in excess of one kilogram of waste per day. The 25 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library amount of waste generated is said to double on checkout days (Shanklin et aI., 1991). Mathieson and Wall (1982) attribute the presence of large quantities of waste materials along the Mediterranean to hotel developments. The amount of solid waste generated is dependent upon the size and type of the hotel, as well as the existence of waste management facilities (Davies & Cahill, 2000). The main sources of atmospheric pollution by the tourism and hospitality industry have been in the area of transport (Holden, 2000), construction of buildings and other facilities, preparation of food and use of chemicals and detergents. Briguglio and Briguglio (1996) attribute the vast amount of dust found in the atmosphere in Malta to the demolishing of existing buildings and construction of new ones for tourism purposes. Feng, Sheng, Wang, Sheng, He, Tang and Fu (2004) also observed a wide range of carbonyl toxic air contaminants in both outdoor and indoor air in hotels in Guangzhou, China, primarily due to smoking and where levels were higher than that reported in residential houses and offices. The development of tourism and hospitality facilities especially in the developing world has often resulted in the displacement of host populations. This takes the form of conversion of agricultural lands into holiday resorts (Ratz & Puczko, 1997). In Bali, Indonesia, prime agricultural land and water supplies have been diverted to large hotels and golf courses while at Pangandaran, also in Indonesia, beach land used traditionally by the village for grazing, repairing boats and nets as well as for staging festivals was sold to entrepreneurs for the construction of a five-star hotel (Shah, 2000). Rajentra (cited by Eber 1992) claims that 70 fishing families on the Malaysian Island of 26 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Langkawi were in 1984 evicted from their land to make way for condominiums and hotels. Some writers have also looked at the implications of environmental problems at destinations and in tourist facilities for tourist arrivals (Becheri, 1991; Kirkby, 1996; Totba, 1992) as well as implications for the health and safety of tourists (Bauer, 2001; Cossar, 1996; Grant & JickeIIs, 1995; Seabloom, Plews, & Cox, 1989). The total number of tourist bookings on the Italian bathing resort of Rimini, on the Adriatic coast fell by 25% between 1988 and 1989 due to algal blooms resulting from accelerated eutrophication. Also, diseases like typhoid fever, dysentery, infectious hepatitis, and non­ specific gastroenteritis can be potentially transmitted through human contact with faecal discharge and/or ingestion of contaminated shellfish resulting from discharge of sewage from recreational boats into water bodies (Seabloom et aI., 1989). An estimated 75% of environmental impacts of the hotel industry can be attributed to the excessive consumption of both local and imported non­ durable goods, energy and water (Italian Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services [APAT], 2002). Faulk (2000) believes that the impacts of the hotel and food service sector on the environment depend to a great degree on the types of tourists that are targeted. Middleton and Hawkins (1998) on the other hand, believe that the size of hotel facility influences its environmental impact. 27 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Drivers of Environmental Management in Hotels The environmental management literature identifies drivers of corporate environmental management as regulations and codes of conduct, stakeholder pressures, economic benefits and the institutional environment (Bansal & Roth, 2000; Hoffman, 1997; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2001; Pulver, 2007). Roarty (1997) identified two other factors, namely the increase in influence of the "green" investor including banks, and the influence of environmental pressure groups on consumer behaviour. MARKET DRIVERS SOCIAL DRIVERS • Future growth markets • Public opinion • Green consumerism • Green politicians • Technological advantage • Employee expectations • First mover advantage • Activist campaigns • Differentiation advantage • Media attention • Cost reduction advantage • Community pressure • Experience advantage • Green certification t t I CORPORA TE MOTIV A TION I 1 -1 FINANCIAL DRIVERS REGULATORY DRIVERS • Social-ethical investing • National green plans • Liability protection • Environmental • Insurance coverage regulations . • Credit quality/ratings • Resource efficiency • Financial damages regulations • Planning failures • Public disclosure • Environmental capital requirements • Global codes/conventions • Industry self-regulation Figure 1: Drivers of Sustainable Development Source: Bansal and Howard (1997) 28 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Sharfinan, Shaft and Tihanyi (2004) propose another category of drivers which they term 'global competitive pressures' (Le. level of globalization and global and industrial diversification of the firm). Bansal and Howard (1997) on the other hand, broadly classify these drivers into four main categories; namely, market, social, financial and regulatory as indicated on Figure l. These forces are exerted by stakeholders whom Freeman (1994) refers to as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives. Stakeholders are the primary drivers of environmental performance. Delmas and Toffel (2004) categorize them into institutional, government, customer and competitive, community and environmental interest group and ind.ustry. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) also classify the nature of the pressures or forces from these stakeholders as coercive, normative and mimetic. Coercive influences are legal mandates emanating from governments or corporate bodies. Normative pressures are exerted by professional associations, industry associations, environmental organizations and academic institutions, among others, by promoting values and codes of conduct that promote standardized behaviour from their members. Minetic forces on the other hand are self-imposed: organizations emulate the practices of other organizations that have proven successful. The drivers of corporate environmental management in the tourism and hospitality industry have not been different from what is in the generic environmental management literature. Among them are consumer demand, increasing environmental regulation, managerial concern with ethics, customer satisfaction, maintenance issues concerned with the physical plant, and the 29 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library need for aesthetics as the forces exerting pressure on the services sector to become more environmentally-friendly (Foster et ai., 2000). Faulk (2000) mentions the direct influence of the physical environment and actors in the tourism industry but Kirk (1998) is more specific and refers to the pressures on the industry to reduce negative environmental impacts as legislation and codes of practice, fiscal policies, public opinion, consumer pressure and financial advantages resulting from saving resources. Other forces influencing environmental management in the tourism and hospitality industry are tourists/guests (Foster et ai., 2000; Han, Hsu & Sheu, 2009b; Manaktola & Jauhari, 2007); governments (Mawforth & Munt, 1998; Middleton & Hawkins, 1998; Rowe, 1992; Valls & Porta, 1997; Zhao & Merna, 1992) as well as NGOs and environmental pressure groups (Faulk, 2000; Holden, 2003). Available evidence suggests that hotels guests do not only expect their hotels to practice sound environmental management practices but are also prepared to pay extra to stay in hotels that are environmental-conscious (Arias, Becerra, Munozy & Sainz, 2003; Gustin & Weaver, 1996; Hornemann, Beeton & Huie, 1997; Hotelonline, 2000; Hotelonline, 2002; Masau & Prideaux, 2003). In spite of this, Middleton and Hawkins (1998) view environmental regulations as not tailored for the accommodation sector. He identifies planning and building regulations, environmental health and safety regulations, regulations on the use of potentially hazardous materials as well as regulations governing the responsible disposal of wastes as issues which may impact on the accommodation sector. Moscardo, Morrison and Pearce (1996) are of the view that the pressures exerted on the tourism industry to be 30 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library environmentally conscious arose out of concerns that tourism could and often did have negative impacts on the host communities and their environments. Environmental Management Practices in Hotels Zhao and Merna (1992) are of the opinion that environmental management has become an integral part of the operations of most hospitality establishments because effective management of environmental complexities have become one of the issues on the corporate strategic planning agenda and may well become a key measure of corporate success. Environmental management in the hospitality industry was spearheaded by international associations (Chan & Lam, 2001; Hotelonline, 2002). It begun with the launching of the International Hotels Environment Initiative (IHEI) in 1993 by the Prince of Wales of England. This involved 11 international hotel chains accepting a manual spelling out a comprehensive campaign to advance environmental performance in the hotel industry (IHEI, 1993). In 1994, 16 hotel groups in the Asia Pacific Rim also formed the first Regional Chapter­ the Asia Pacific Hotels Environment Initiative [APHEI] (Chan & Lam, 2001). In the same year, the Hotel and Catering Institute Management Association [HClMA] participated in Green Globe, an environmental management awareness program initiated by the World Travel and Tourism Council [WTTC] (Anon, 1994). In 1997, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) was also born to undertake collaborative environmental activities and initiatives within the hotel and tourism sector (Hotelonline, 2002). 31 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Since then, various hotels are undertaking different degrees of environmental management. Some hotel groups have undertaken various programmes to safeguard the environment. These include Hilton's 'Environmental Reporting', Accor's 'Earth Guest Programme', 'Green Marriott' and the Rezidor Group's 'Responsible Business' (El Dief & Font, 2010). In Hong Kong alone, a survey conducted in 1992 found that about 30% of hotels had launched environmental programmes with different degrees of success (Barlett, 1992). In a related study, Graci and Dodds (2009) found that many of Toronto's hotels were undertaking some degree of environmental initiatives. Environmental management practices in the hospitality industry include environmental policy formulation, green purchasing, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, Environmental Management Systems (EMS), environmental auditing, eco-labelling and certification, waste management and recycling, conservation and environmental sponsorship, environmental education and communication, environmental health and pollution prevention, environmentally responsible marketing and support for local communities (Bohdanowicz, 2006; Erdogan, and Baris, 2007). However, the most popular environmental management practices in the hospitality industry are those geared towards cost savings; waste management, recycling, energy and water conservation (Forte, 1994; Mensah, 2007; Withiam, 1995). Environmental Policy Policy has been defined as a goal-seeking series of actions designed to satisfy objectives normally defined by national governments (Khan & Alleyne, 1996) whilst environmental policy is any course of action deliberately taken or 32 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library not taken to manage human activities with a view to preventing, reducing or mitigating their harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on humans (McCormick, 2001). The development of a written environmental policy is the first step in the environmental management process (Kirk, 1995). Also, the adoption of environmental policy is one of the main requirements of an organization undertaking a green strategy (Brown, 1996). However, the existence of an environmental policy in an organization indicates an awareness of and not necessarily the importance attached to environmental issues (Brown, 1996). Environmental policy then becomes the basis on which all other environmental activities like environmental auditing, reviews and action plans can be carried out and monitored (Forte, 1994). However, for environmental policies to be effective they must emanate from top management who must remain committed to it (Kirk, 1995). Notwithstanding the need for environmental policies for the pursuit of environmental management activities in a hotel, a number of hotels do not have it in place. Brown (1996) in a study of large and medium hotel groups in the UK found that 40% of hotel managers had environmental policies on their hotels. Penny (2007) in a related study of hotels in Macao also found out that only 29.7% of the hotels had a written environmental policy. Also, ten percent of hotels in Ankara, Turkey were found to have written environmental policies (Erdogan & Baris, 2007). However, Bohdanowicz (2005b) found evidence to the fact that chain affiliated hotels such as Sheraton, Hilton and Accor were more proactive in the formulation of environmental policy than the 33 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library independent ones. Her study revealed that more than 40% of the European chain-hotel managers declared that they had environmental policy statements, compared with only 18% of the independent hotels. Brown (1996) also found out that top UK hotel groups operating with an environmental policy have not incorporated environmental reporting well enough into their control system. Green Purchasing Green purchasing has been defined as an environmentally-conscious purchasing practice that aims at reducing sources of waste and promoting recycling and reclamation of purchased materials without adversely affecting performance requirements of such materials (Min & Galle, 2001). Green purchasing strategies are made up of two key components; the evaluation of suppliers' environmental performance and mentoring to assist suppliers improve their environmental performance (Rao & Holt, 2005). But in the view of Hand field, Walton, Sroufe and Melnyk (2002), Environmentally-Conscious Purchasing (ECP) or incorporating environmental considerations into purchasing renders the purchasing process rather complicated because purchasing must consider the supplier's environmental responsibility, cost, lead-time, quality and flexibility. Through green purchasing practices, an organization can address issues such as waste reduction, material substitution through environmental sourcing of raw materials, and waste minimization of hazardous materials (Rao & Holt, 2005). Tourism businesses can adopt green purchasing to reduce not only harmful impacts on the environment, but also reduce operational expenses and consolidate product purchases. Green purchasing also reduces risk of injury to 34 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library staff and guests, and indeed avoids liability (Siegelbaum, 2005). The Scandic Hotel chain for instance was able to prevent the disposal of 200 million items of disposable packaging in seven years by incorporating a green purchasing policy into its environmental management programme (Bohdanowicz, 2005a). A hotel's green purchasing must be undertaken within the context of its overall purchasing policy which, according to Kirk (1995) comprises developing partnerships with suppliers, identifying sustainable products and choosing products with sensible packaging. Though research on green purchasing in the hospitality industry has been limited, available literature suggests that green purchasing activities include purchasing bio-degradable, reusable, recyclable, energy-saving and less-hazardous cleaning materials and detergents; purchasing from local suppliers and buying in bulk to reduce packaging materials as well as establishing relationships with suppliers. In a survey by Bohdanowicz (2006) Swedish and Polish hoteliers reported practices such as purchasing local food and other materials so as to reduce transport distances and bulk purchasing and deliveries. Swedish hoteliers were more involved in green purchasing activities and involved their suppliers, to the extent of influencing them to eco-certify their products and services and to purchase products with lower life-time environmental impact. However, in their study of the environmental protection programmes and conservation practices of hotels in Ankara, Turkey, Erdogan and Baris (2007) found that the hotels paid little attention to environmental considerations and mostly failed to meet the basic requirements of an environmentally sensitive purchasing policy. Also, in their analysis of the environmental statements 35 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library issued by EMAS certified Spanish hotels, Bonilla Priego and Palacios (2008) found 25% of the hotels to have reported that green procurement was duly considered in their environmental policy statements but few practical actions were described to report on green procurement strategies. Compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations Among other measures, most governments have enacted legislation which impact on the operations of hospitality organizations. These include planning guidelines (including building permits), EIA, levels of green house gas emissions that are permissible, land use planning and development restrictions. In Barbados, for instance, a number of environmental legislations, such as the Marine Areas (preservation and Enhancement) Act, Beach Protection Act, Marine Boundaries and Jurisdiction Act, Trees Preservation Act, Soil Conservation Act, Health Services Act and Pesticides Control Act, were formulated in response to a growing recognition of a concern with activities, both by individuals and organizations, that proved hazardous to the natural environment (Khan & Alleyne, 1996). According to Middleton and Hawkins (1998), since the Rio Summit in 1992, some governments have made it a statutory/regulatory requirement that large new public and private sector projects undertake Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and to further develop Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS is the document that describes the proposed project, the probable effects of the project on the environment and a proposal on the programme of environmental management (Gilpin, 1996). EIA is not required 36 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library for all proposed projects but depends on the degree of impact a development may have on the environment (Sherry, 1993). ElA has been defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as an examination, analysis, and assessment of planned activities with a view to ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable development (UNEP, 1987). ElA has become a mandatory requirement for large projects including hotels and resorts in most countries (Middleton & Hawkins, 1998; Simpson & Wall, 1999). According to Simpson and Wall (1999b) the institution of legal requirements for the completion of ElAs has been occasioned by growing concerns about the negative effects of developments of all kinds including tourism projects. In practice, government regulation or fear of new regulations has been the most important factors determining a firm's switch to environmental technology and other environmental practices (Michaelis, 2003). Also, mandatory environmental regulations together with monitoring and explicit penalties for non compliance have proven to be effective mechanisms for motivating businesses to improve their environmental practices (Rivera, 2004). In spite of this, there are instances where hospitality businesses have been non-compliant. According to a study in the UK, hotel and restaurant sectors are among the most ignorant when it comes to environmental legislation. Just 8% of small and medium-sized hotel and restaurant businesses in the UK could without prompting name the 2006 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment [WEEE] Regulations (Caterersearch, 2008). Also, a survey of 363 small hotel and restaurant operators in the UK revealed that 37 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library 89% could not identify any piece of environmental legislation unprompted (Environmental Regulations Online, 2009). In a study conducted on hotels in Accra, 30% of hotels had fulfilled a statutory obligation of submitting Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) to the EPA (Mensah, 2006). In a related study in Ankara, Turkey, 20% of the hotels had environmental impact assessment reports (Erdogan & Baris, 2007). Environmental Management Systems (EMS) An Environmental Management System (EMS) has been defined by Tibor and Feldman (1996) as that part of the management system of an organization which includes its organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining its environmental policy. Whitelaw (1997) also views EMS as a methodology by which organizations acting in a structured manner assess their operations to ensure that they are functioning in an environmentally legitimate way. Sroufe, Melnyk and Vastag (1998) attribute the emergence of EMS to the development of environmental standards such as International Standards Organization's (ISO) 14000 and British Standard (BS) 7750. EMS has emerged as a response to well­ publicized accidents at industrial sites in USA and Canada (Watson, 2006). Firms see the adoption of EMS as a way of dealing with internal environmental awareness as well as external issues such as legal requirements and stakeholder concerns (Lopez-Fernandez & Serrano-Bedia, 2007). However, for a business to be considered to have a formal EMS, it must engage in a formal certification process (ISO, 2009). 38 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library EMS is based on a corporate approach and usually follows auditing procedures, which involve setting objectives and measurable targets; detailing a programme of activities; and monitoring and evaluation of the activities (Hunter & Green, 1995). EMS is a process and therefore follows a cycle involving stages like creating an environmental policy; setting objectives and targets; implementing a program to achieve those objectives; monitoring and measuring its effectiveness; correcting problems; and reviewing the system to improve it and its overall environmental performance (Sroufe et aI., 1998). EMS leads to enhanced corporate environmental performance (Curkovic, Handfield, Melnyk & Sroufe, 1997) and business performance (Rondinelli, Berry & Vastag, 1997). According to Meade and Pringle (2001), hotels and resorts around the world are currently adopting environmental management systems in order to improve resource use efficiency, reduce operating costs, increase staff involvement and guest awareness, and gaining international recognition in the travel and tourism marketplace. In their study of EMS in hotels in Jamaica, they identified significant resource use efficiency and cost savings. For instance, at Sandals Negril, a 215-room hotel, the hotel recorded savings of approximately 45,000 m3 of water, 444,000 kwh of electricity, and 100,000 litres of diesel. The hotel also saved approximately $261,000, and yielded an annual return on investment (ROI) of 190% over the first 2 years. Examples of EMS in the tourism and hospitality industry are ISO 14000 and · the Eco-management and Audit Scheme [EMAS] (McKeiver & Gadenne, 2005; Rowland-Jones, Pryde & Cresser, 2005). 39 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Environmental Auditing An environmental audit is defined as the systematic, documented verification process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence to determine whether specified environmental activities, events, conditions, management systems, or information about these matters, conform to audit criteria, and communicating the results of this process to the client (ISO, 1995). Greeno, Hedstrom and Diberto (1985) also define it as the process whereby the operations of an organisation are monitored to determine whether they are in compliance with regulatory requirements and environmental policies and standards. Letmathe and Doost (2000) indicate that there are two main types of environmental aUditing: internal and external. The former is undertaken by the organization itself (self auditing) whilst the latter is undertaken by an independent external auditor. ISO 14010 is an external audit which sets out the general principles for environmental auditing, while ISO 14011 spells out acceptable procedures for auditing an EMS. Environmental aUditing usually involves three main steps, namely assess, test and attest. Assess involves determination of the system or how it actually is. Test involves comparison of the actual state with predetermined criteria or standards; and attest means certification of the results of this comparison (Buckley, 1991). Environmental auditing is accomplished through interviewing operators, examining procedures and records, as well as measuring the results of business practice (Carter & O'Reilly, 1999). Hockings (1996) also indicates that environmental auditing can be undertaken at five levels within the management cycle, namely, assessment of 40 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library goals and objectives (project planning); evaluation of inputs (project resourcing); review of management systems and processes (project operations); measurement of levels of service/facilities and results (project outputs); and assessment of effects of project in relation to objectives (project impacts). In their analysis of the environmental auditing of O'Reilly's Rainforest Guest House, Carter and O'Reilly (1999) revealed that the focus of the evaluation was on inputs and processes. Areas of client communication, energy use, liquid and solid waste, biological impacts, water use, aesthetics and training programmes were covered. Environmental auditing is a fairly new concept to tourism and as such, there is a general lack of information on it in tourism literature (Butler, 1993; Ding & Pi gram , 1995). It also appears not to be a popular environmental activity. In a survey of managers/owners within the Guersney hospitality sector, only 20% of them were aware of it, with 9% able to defme it correctly (Stabler & Goldall, 1997). Eco-Labelling and Certification The tourism and hospitality industry seems to have embraced eco­ labelling and certification as there are over 100 eco-Iabels in the industry worldwide (Font, 2001; Yunis, 2002). Eco-Iabels refer to the certification of a particular level of environmental performance in the production of a tradable product or service (Buckley, 1992), whilst certification is the process by which a third party gives written assurance to the consumer that a product, process, service or management system conforms to specified requirements (Toth, 2000). An eco-Iabel is in effect underpinned by certification (Toth, 2000). 41 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Eco-labelling was begun by the manufacturing industry (Tribe, Font, Griffiths, Vickery & Yale, 2000) and was introduced into tourism in Europe in 1995 with the Blue Flag. Eco-labels operating in the tourism and hospitality industry include Ecohotel, EcoMeet, Ecotel, Green Key, Green Leaf, Green seal, Green Globe 21 and Green Deal. The process of eco-labelling in tourism involves six steps: tourism sector selection, environmental impact evaluation, criteria development, final criteria selection, eco-label award and periodic recertification (Davis, 1997). The opportunity offered by eco-labelling and certification is that it could inform customers about the environmental-consciousness and commitment of tourism businesses so that they could make informed decisions (Buckley, 2002; Font, 2002; Sasidharan et aI., 2002); though there is the danger of it being referred to as 'greenwash' (Font, 2002). Other criticisms of eco-labels are that they are expensive, time consuming, tend to focus on hotels and ecotourism; whilst the criteria used for assessment tend to focus on environmental management rather than environmental performance (Synergy ltd., 2000). In spite of this, eco-Iabelling is increasingly becoming popular especially in the accommodation sector. According to Font and Bendell (2002) 68% of the eco-labels is awarded to the accommodation sector. In 1999 and 2000 alone, over two thousand hotels, campsites, hostels and restaurants in Europe were certified and awarded eco-labels (Hamele, 2004). Even for a developing country like Costa Rica, there are four different eco-Iabels namely, Certification in Sustainable Tourism (CST), New Key, Green Globe and ECOTEL certifying hotels and other accommodation establishments (Honey & Rome, 2000). 42 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Waste Management and Recycling Waste is created in connection with a hotel from its inception to the end of its Iifecycle in four phases; namely, site clearing for its erection, during its operational life, during refurbishments; and at the end of its life if any change in use is envisaged. However, Baker (2005) is of the view that the majority of waste will be created during the operational life of a hotel. Hotel and restaurant waste can be classified into solid and liquid waste; as well as biodegradable and non-biodegradable (Wagh, 2009). Biodegradable waste includes food, vegetable and fruits whereas non-biodegradable waste comprises plastic bottles, papers, plastic wrappers, and polythene bags. In terms of composition of hotel waste, Alexander (2002) reports in a recent waste generation study from 1991 to 1993 of 25 hotels that their waste consisted of 46% food waste, 25.3% paper and 11.7% cardboard. Paper is therefore a major form of solid waste generated by hotels. In Hong Kong hotels, newspapers accounted for 16% and 19% of total weight of waste originating from guestrooms in 1986 and 1996 respectively (Chan & Lam, 2001). Also, an analysis of hotel waste in New York City hotels indicated that paper and food/organic waste accounted for 70% of the total waste generated (Winter & Azimi, 1996). Paper and food/organic waste are therefore the main forms of waste generated by hotels. Waste management has become a critical issue in the hospitality industry. The major objective of waste management in hotels is to reduce the amount of waste dispatched to landfill (Forte, 1994). To reduce waste the hotel must concurrently undertake bulk purchasing to reduce customers' consumption and packaging materials; encourage the use of returnable 43 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library containers; recycle materials such as glass and paper; and selective rubbish collection among other practices (Carmona-Moreno, Cespedes-Lorente & Burgos-Jimenez, 2004). When a hotel eliminates glass, cans, plastic, paper and cardboard from the main waste stream, it can reduce the cost of waste disposal by 80% (Forte, 1994). There is also evidence to suggest that hotels can make substantial cost savings when they properly manage waste or recycle it (Enz & Siguaw, 1999; PA Consulting, 2001; Patterson, 1995). Indeed available literature is replete with instances of cost savings in hotels due to efficient waste management and recycling (Enz & Siguaw, 1999; Feiertag, 1994; IH&RA, 1995; Patterson, 1995). The Hyatt Regency hotel in Chicago has a recycling programme which resulted in the recovery of $120,000 in hotel items such as silverware from thrash between 1997 and 1998 (Enz & Siguaw, 1999). Hotels must therefore practice the '4Rs' namely, reduce, reuse, recycle and recover (Middleton & Hawkins, 1998; Stipanuk, 2002). This is because 80% of waste is recyclable (Habitat, 1994). In tourist destinations such as Bali in Indonesia, hotel waste is seen as a resource that local waste haulers are willing to pay for because they can derive recyclable materials from it and sell (Suamatha 1999). The other environmental benefits of the 4Rs are reduction of greenhouse gases; reduction of pollution of air, land and water; conservation of water, energy and resources; and reduction of the amount of waste requiring disposal (Centre for the Study of Law and Politics, 1991). Some of the common waste management and recycling practices in hotels are sorting of waste into organic and inorganic; reuse of papers, glass, crates, cans and other packaging materials; composting of waste; donation of 44 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library leftover food to food banks or charities; and printing on both sides of paper. Conservation and Environmental Sponsorship Hotels consume large amounts of energy (Stipanuk, 2001; Bohdanowicz, 2006) and water (Deng & Burnett, 2002). In view of this, substantial costs can be reduced ifthey practice water and energy conservation (Forte, 1994; Tzschentke, Kirk & Lynch, 2004). Energy costs in hotels usually account for 3-6% of overall operating costs (Bohdanowicz, 2006). Deng and Burnett (2002) also report that in a typical medium size hotel in Hong Kong, the annual bills for water and sewage disposal may run into HK$1 million, which represents a substantial portion of the hotel's total operating cost. Cost-savings and profitability have therefore been the driving forces behind water and energy conservation practices. Forte (1994) believes that energy-efficient lighting will reduce lighting costs by at least 60%. The laundry department at the Inter-Continental in Sydney discovered that they could get their whites just as whiter by washing at 60°C rather than at 90°C thus saving $24,000 in one year (Hotelonline, 2002). The Inter-Continental in Los Angeles has also installed a power monitoring system that has saved some $12,000 in electricity costs. It has also cut solid-waste costs by $14,000 over three years through recycling. Hospitality businesses also engage in conservation practices by supporting the conservation practices of NGOs and local communities either financially or technically. Novotel and Hotel Ibis Homebush Bay of Australia are in a unique partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) whereby a 45 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library $1.00 from every room per night sold is donated by the hotels to the latter to support its conservation activities (Hotelonline, 2002). Also, a venture between Ramada International Hotels and American Express in a commitment to global environmentalism is their agreement to make contributions to the Nature Conservancy and Environmental Organisation based in Washington D.C (Zhao & Merna, 1992). Forte, a public limited liability company also supports conservation in communities in which their hotels operate, through tree planting, creation of conservation programs and facilities for local schools, and other socially responsible activities (IREJ, 1993)., Environmental Education and Communication Education and training are important to the achievement of sustainable tourism (Cater & Goodall, 1992; Johnson, 1998). Through environmental education, not only will tourists adopt more responsible environmental attitudes (Orams, 1997) but hotels could also influence the attitude of guests and employees towards the environment. Though research in educational psychology indicates that it is very difficult to change human behaviour (Gudgion & Thomas, 1991), influencing the behaviour of guests through the promotion of responsible environmental behaviour is seen as another dimension of the environmental performance of hotels (Leslie, 2007). Nevertheless, a North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power and Associates in 2007, revealed that although nearly three-fourths of hotel guests in North America willingly participate in environmentally friendly programs offered during their stay in 'hotels, many of them remain unaware of the availability of these programmes at the hotels (Environmental 46 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library Leader, 2007), which means that the hotels do not adequately publicise such programmes. Erdogan and Baris (2007) also report that in Ankara, 27% of hotels provide environmental education brochures to their customers and 15% provide environmental training for their employees. There are however, instances of hotels providing environmental education to guests and workers, often with good results (Bohdanowicz, Simanic & Martinac, 2004; Eber, 1992; Enz & Siguaw, 1999; Faulk, 2000; Middleton & Hawkins, 1998). The Colony Hotel at Kennebunkport, Maine in York County, USA actively involves guests by providing information on sorting waste and saving water as well as offering guests the opportunity to tour its private beach with a wildlife biologist (Enz & Siguaw, 1999). A decade of ecological education and training such as the 'environmental dialogue' coupled with environmental initiatives like the 'resource hunt' programme resulted in significant reduction in resource consumption (Bohdanowicz et aI., 2004). Similarly, in Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts, guests are provided with in-room publication materials about the hotel (Faulk, 2000). In the Kuloro Wildlife Reserve in the Gambia, tourists are informed they will be staying in simple accommodation with basic facilities and are advised on appropriate dress, local words of greeting and the cultural background of the area (Eber, 1992). Environmental Health and Pollution Prevention Good health requires a constructive balance between humans and the environment (Wiesner, 1992). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not 47 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2002). Environmental health therefore refers to freedom from illness or injury related to exposure to toxic agents and other environmental conditions that are potentially detrimental to human health (pope, Snyder & Mood, 1995). Environmental health problems are caused mainly by the activities of humans and these have global, regional and national dimensions (Ramlogan, 1997). The risks of environmental health include problems such as global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, marine pollution, chemical pollution and nuclear operations. Regional environmental health and pollution problems emanate from inadequate supply of freshwater, desertification as well as national risks like indoor and outdoor air pollution, hazardous and non- hazardous waste, noise pollution and light pollution (Ramlogan, 1997). The use of natural resources by hotels also has global environmental implications. Hotels account for 21 % of emissions which is 247 MtC02e [Metric Tonne Carbon Dioxide Equivalent] (WTO, 2007), thus prompting calls for the tourism industry to reduce its carbon footprints. The emission of greenhouse gases has been attributed to the use of tropical hardwood tree species in building/decoration or the use of building insulation materials made with ozone-depleting Chlorofluorocarbons [CFC] (Hunter & Green, 1995); and the use of refrigerators and air conditions by many resorts that exist in hot humid tropical areas of the developing world (Alusa, 2002). There have been studies on the health of tourists at some tourist destinations (Nicol, Wilks, & Wood, 1996; Peltola, Kyronseppa & Holsa, 1983; Wilks, Walker, Wood, Nicol & Oldenburg, 1995). Environmental health risks of tourists and guests include contact with infectious organisms, natural 48 © University of Cape Coast https://ir.ucc.edu.gh/xmlui Digitized by Sam Jonah Library and synthetic toxins, adverse physical agents and unwholesome diet. Most studies on the issue have, however, focused on air pollution by smoke and