Environmental knowledge strategy: driving success of the hospitality industry

Purpose - The dynamics of tourism as both an activity and an industry, combined with the growing concerns about the environment, call for continuous efforts in seeking new approaches, tools and perspectives for the acquisition of environmental knowledge by organisations in the hospitality sector. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between environmental knowledge, organisational learning and business performance in the context of the tourism industry. Emphasis is made on understanding the process of updating the environmental knowledge base of an organisation through appropriate learning processes within the business. Design/methodology/approach - Using a structural equation model, feedback received from 87 companies from the Spanish hospitality sector in a longitudinal study consisting of two distinct phases in 2008 and 2014 was studied. Findings - The results of the analysis indicate that environmental knowledge has a positive impact on business performance. Also, the study found that a review of the levels of awareness about environmental problems across the organisation is required at regular intervals (in this research, six years after the initial analysis). Practical implications - The focus on the hospitality sector makes this research relevant for a significant number of hotels and their supply chains around the world. Originality/value - The research has addressed the challenges of sustainability and environmental performance from a perspective not previously covered in the extant literature, an approach further improved by the longitudinal nature of this study, performed over a period of six years.