Engaging Sustainability : The Role of Gamification in Promoting Eco-Friendly Practices Within the Hospitality Domain

Abstract

Nowadays hotels are looking for new ways to encourage sustainable practices among their guests. This thesis examines the use of game-like features to achieve this goal. Many hotels today are committed to being responsible towards society and the environment. Therefore, there is a growing interest in finding creative methods to encourage sustainable practices. This research will investigate the concept of gamification—a strategy that borrows elements from games to make activities more engaging. The study aims to design a digital platform in the form of either a web or mobile application that would encourage and track various eco-friendly practices. The hotel industry is focusing on resource conservation. The goal is therefore, to research and determine which practices can have the most impact on improving the social and environmental impact of hotels. To achieve this, the existing literature and use cases will be reviewed, helping to provide valuable insights to hotels looking to improve. As a result, this thesis presents a successfully implemented prototype web application – which showcases gamification as a potential solution to promoting sustainability within the hospitality industry.