Sustainable Practices in Four Points Flex by Sheraton Aalborg: Guest Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty
Trepacova, Zuzana (2025)
2025
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052716711
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025052716711
Tiivistelmä
This bachelor's thesis examines how sustainable practices at the Four Points Flex by Sheraton Aalborg, a hotel in the heart of Aalborg, Denmark, affect customer satisfaction and brand loy-alty. Growing consumer consciousness of environmental responsibility served as an inspiration for this thesis, positioning sustainability as a critical determinant of visitor preferences and choices in the hotel sector. The aim of this study was to identify the eco-friendly measures that guests appreciate the most, evaluate the hotel's communication of these efforts, and establish if these acts result in increased visitor pleasure and loyalty.
The study's theoretical framework was based on John Elkington's Triple Bottom Line model, which takes into account economic, social, and environmental sustainability. It also included ideas of brand loyalty and customer satisfaction that were taken from marketing and hospitality literature. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data to offer an extensive overview of the subject. The main target group represents both business and leisure travelers, mostly from Scandinavian countries. For three weeks in the spring of 2025, hotel guests were given a customer survey both online and physically. Open-ended, multiple-choice, and Likert-scale items were all included in the survey. Webropol and Ex-cel software were used to examine quantitative responses, applying statistical techniques in-cluding averages, percentages, and frequencies. To find common themes in the visitor input, thematic coding was used to understand the qualitative replies.
The results demonstrated that visitor experiences are greatly influenced by sustainability, with eco-friendly toiletries, linen reuse initiatives, and locally produced meals being highly valued. The majority of respondents said that the hotel's environmental initiatives had a good effect on their stay and that they were very likely to recommend or return. Even while most respondents thought the hotel did a good job of communicating its sustainability initiatives, mostly through the website and personnel, many of them recommended increasing awareness through better social media presence and in-room instructional items. The study's practical implications for fu-ture strategy development at Four Points Flex by Sheraton Aalborg and other environmentally aware hospitality enterprises include the conclusion that visible, meaningful, and well-communi-cated sustainable activities may increase visitor happiness and loyalty.
The study's theoretical framework was based on John Elkington's Triple Bottom Line model, which takes into account economic, social, and environmental sustainability. It also included ideas of brand loyalty and customer satisfaction that were taken from marketing and hospitality literature. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data to offer an extensive overview of the subject. The main target group represents both business and leisure travelers, mostly from Scandinavian countries. For three weeks in the spring of 2025, hotel guests were given a customer survey both online and physically. Open-ended, multiple-choice, and Likert-scale items were all included in the survey. Webropol and Ex-cel software were used to examine quantitative responses, applying statistical techniques in-cluding averages, percentages, and frequencies. To find common themes in the visitor input, thematic coding was used to understand the qualitative replies.
The results demonstrated that visitor experiences are greatly influenced by sustainability, with eco-friendly toiletries, linen reuse initiatives, and locally produced meals being highly valued. The majority of respondents said that the hotel's environmental initiatives had a good effect on their stay and that they were very likely to recommend or return. Even while most respondents thought the hotel did a good job of communicating its sustainability initiatives, mostly through the website and personnel, many of them recommended increasing awareness through better social media presence and in-room instructional items. The study's practical implications for fu-ture strategy development at Four Points Flex by Sheraton Aalborg and other environmentally aware hospitality enterprises include the conclusion that visible, meaningful, and well-communi-cated sustainable activities may increase visitor happiness and loyalty.