Environmental Sustainability Application in Athenian Hotels

Environmental sustainability is indeed a buzzing subject in a variety of fields. At its’ core, it is an essential tool for the protection of future generations against environmental challenges, such as climate change and natural disasters that put human well-being in danger. Likewise, the tourism field is a highly dynamic sector, while for many countries, it is their main capital source but is also a sensitive one. The connection between the tourism sector and environmental sustainability occurs in the necessity for a harmonious coexistence between tourism activities and environmental protection. Urban destinations, such as hotel facilities, are especially important for environmental sustainability, because of two factors. The first one is the increased number of tourists in urban areas, and the second is the high amount of waste due to human activities in hotels. Tourism activities pressure the environment, making sustainability now crucial more than ever. The aim and purpose of this research are to identify the environmental sustainability practices of 50 urban hotels in the capital of Greece. The questionnaires were delivered on 3 February and were completed until 21 February 2020, and they enclosed 15 questions in total. After the data collection, the results estimated a lack of environmental practices in the majority of the hotels, such as insufficient waste management, recycling, water conservation, and lack of environmental training among the employees. Nonetheless, most of the hotel managers stated a willingness to adopt environmental practices in future.