Greening hotels - building green values into hotel services

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to enhance knowledge about greening hotel services and the possibilities it provides for successful hotel management as well as for enrichment of hotel guest experiences. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper is based on a summarized review of previous theoretical contributions and an investigative study of three business cases which relies on qualitative methodology. The case studies draw on interviews, archival materials and photographs. A case study approach was adopted to illustrate the differences in the approach used for greening hotel services. Three green hotels that mutually vary in size, categorization, segmentation and targeted market, were analyzed. Findings – The analysis of cases-hotels identifies and describes different and numerous activities of green marketing management. A proactive and trustworthy implementation of those activities enables green hotels to achieve increasing benefits no matter their size, classification and target audience. Originality of the research – The study can help us to understand how environmentally conscious hotel management establishes a suitable setting for greening hotels services. These can serve as a valuable source of information in academic circles and be especially useful to marketing managers in hotels that aim to be green.