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Exploring Environmental Awareness and Behavior among Guests at Hotels That Apply Water-Saving Measures

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  • Ariadna Gabarda-Mallorquí

    (Department of Geography and Institute of Environment, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain)

  • Rosa Maria Fraguell

    (Department of Geography and Institute of Environment, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain)

  • Anna Ribas

    (Department of Geography and Institute of Environment, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate guest profiles at a hotel that has created a best-practices water management model to determine how different types of guests contribute to saving water during their stay. To do this, we analyzed levels of environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior among the guests. Information was gathered through 648 structured surveys with guests at Hotel Samba in the Spanish seaside resort of Lloret de Mar between September 2015 and August 2016. Cluster analysis revealed four profiles of guests with different sociodemographic characteristics and different levels of awareness and proactivity in relation to water conservation. We combined our findings to develop a framework that illustrates how the two dimensions of environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior are related in this setting. This article provides new insights into how hotel guests’ environmental awareness and engagement can influence a hotel’s water-saving efforts. These insights should help hotel operators to devise new, guest-centered strategies for saving water.

Suggested Citation

  • Ariadna Gabarda-Mallorquí & Rosa Maria Fraguell & Anna Ribas, 2018. "Exploring Environmental Awareness and Behavior among Guests at Hotels That Apply Water-Saving Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1305-:d:142844
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Natalia Antonova & Ines Ruiz-Rosa & Javier Mendoza-Jimenez, 2022. "Water Resource Management in Hotels Using a Sustainable Balanced Scorecard," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Zhihui Wang & Liangzhen Nie & Eila Jeronen & Lihua Xu & Meiai Chen, 2023. "Understanding the Environmentally Sustainable Behavior of Chinese University Students as Tourists: An Integrative Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Stacy H. Lee & Ran Huang, 2020. "Exploring the Motives for Online Fashion Renting: Insights from Social Retailing to Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Mansour Alyahya & Meqbel Aliedan & Gomaa Agag & Ziad H. Abdelmoety, 2023. "The Antecedents of Hotels’ Green Creativity: The Role of Green HRM, Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership, and Psychological Green Climate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Zakaria Elkhwesky, 2022. "A systematic and major review of proactive environmental strategies in hospitality and tourism: Looking back for moving forward," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3274-3301, November.
    6. Yong Liu, 2019. "Residents’ Willingness and Influencing Factors on Action Personal Carbon Trading: A Case Study of Metropolitan Areas in Tianjin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, January.

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