Enhancing the Visibility of Environmental Sustainability: Case Apex City Hotel in Bath
Miettinen, Rita (2023)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023060622079
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023060622079
Tiivistelmä
The hotel industry is developing in different rates in every country; therefore, the importance of environmental sustainability is increasing. In the United Kingdom hotels are increasingly working towards a more sustainable future. The customer engagement plays an important role in order to achieve the goal of sustainable travel. The main focus in terms of engaging the customers is to raise the visibility of environmental sustainability acts.
Currently United Kingdom has a few sustainable travel-labels the hotel may be granted with. However, the labels are highly focused on the business acts rather than the customer engagement. Therefore, the research question of the study arose; How can the visibility of environmental sustainability acts taken at the Apex Hotel be enhanced?
The objective of this study is to understand the current state of the visibility of environmental
sustainability from the customer viewpoint in order to enhance it. To achieve the objective, qualitative research methods of secondary data collection by using a variety of journals, articles and books were used.
Additionally, to gather the primary data qualitative research methods of non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted at the hotel in the United Kingdom. These research methods were used to gather the viewpoint of a customer with field specific knowledge as well as a customer with possibly no insight of the topic of environmental sustainability. The results indicated that the Apex City Hotel should make improvements in terms of the visibility of recy cling, water usage and electricity usage. The interviewees wished for more information in terms of both the acts that hotel is taking part in and the acts that the customers could take part in. Based on the results of the secondary data research, the non-participant observation as well as the semi-structured interviews the author was able to provide the commissioner with development ideas on how to enhance the visibility of environmental sustainability at the hotel.
Currently United Kingdom has a few sustainable travel-labels the hotel may be granted with. However, the labels are highly focused on the business acts rather than the customer engagement. Therefore, the research question of the study arose; How can the visibility of environmental sustainability acts taken at the Apex Hotel be enhanced?
The objective of this study is to understand the current state of the visibility of environmental
sustainability from the customer viewpoint in order to enhance it. To achieve the objective, qualitative research methods of secondary data collection by using a variety of journals, articles and books were used.
Additionally, to gather the primary data qualitative research methods of non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted at the hotel in the United Kingdom. These research methods were used to gather the viewpoint of a customer with field specific knowledge as well as a customer with possibly no insight of the topic of environmental sustainability. The results indicated that the Apex City Hotel should make improvements in terms of the visibility of recy cling, water usage and electricity usage. The interviewees wished for more information in terms of both the acts that hotel is taking part in and the acts that the customers could take part in. Based on the results of the secondary data research, the non-participant observation as well as the semi-structured interviews the author was able to provide the commissioner with development ideas on how to enhance the visibility of environmental sustainability at the hotel.