Promoting energy strategies on Eco-Certified accommodation websites

Abstract

The attention on climate change by the international media and the international tourism industry has generated greater interest in issues of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This study seeks to explore the intersection of these two foci. The purpose of this paper is to examine the type of information about energy use and strategies to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions provided by accommodations Eco-Certified by Ecotourism Australia. Specifically, this examination addresses what information is provided, how it is presented, and what the objectives are in promoting this information. Although energy issues are a component in Eco Certification, just under half of the 50 accommodations included provided information about energy on their websites. These accommodations provided information about activities undertaken in each of four strategies previously identified for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the accommodation sector – reducing energy use, improving energy efficiency, increasing alternative energy consumption, and offsetting emissions – and related this information to the ecotourism tenets of environmental sustainability, environmental education, and economic viability. While some accommodation operators chose to provide this information to potential tourists as a possible means of product differentiation, most did so to raise awareness and ultimately to try to change behaviours.

Keywords:

• energy efficiency
• certification
• Internet marketing
• Australia