Preferences towards green hotels : the explanatory power of tpb

Abstract

In Greece tourism is undeniably a sector, able to contribute into overcoming the current economic crisis. On the other hand, tourism has long been seen as an “unsustainable” sector as it puts too much stress on the physical environment of the destination countries. The concept of a Green Hotel has been suggested as a part of the solution towards sustainability and also as a potentially strategic advantage. In this study, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was employed in order to understand better customers’ intentions to stay a Green Hotel. The findings indicated a strong explanatory power (R2=0.600) of TPB with regards to Greeks’ intentions to choose a Green Hotel next time travelling. Intentions were found positively influenced mostly by important others’ abetment and their own perceptions about means and opportunities to stay at a Green Hotel; intentions are to a lesser extent influenced by customers’ attitudes towards Green Hotels. The marketing effort should promote important persons’ enjoyable stays at Green Hotels while the advertisement effort should target to persuade potential customers that “living the experience of a Green Hotel is completely up to you”, as there are no obstacles to do so.