Drivers of environmental innovation in Majorcan hotels

Abstract

Using a database of Majorcan hotels, this paper examines several previously untested determinants of environmental innovations in hotels derived from the Porter hypothesis and from the specifics of knowledge transfer in the tourism industry. The empirical analysis is original in that it distinguishes between eight types of environmental innovations. The results show that hotels’ general predisposition to implement innovations, manager remuneration based on environmental performance, staff satisfaction, environmental accounting, and trainings are important determinants of the overall environmental innovation activity of Majorcan hotels. Moreover, the use of environmental management systems is associated with innovations with cost-saving potential, whereas the hotel star category is associated with innovations that contribute to hotel quality, such as wastewater treatment, noise reduction, noise isolation, and visual impact improvements. Furthermore, high levels of staff satisfaction are related to the implementation of water-saving and noise reduction innovations, as such innovations require staff participation, whereas the role of information sources in explaining innovation adoption varies based on the technical complexity of innovations. The paper concludes with policy implications for sustainable tourism development, recommendations for the hoteliers, and directions for future research.

摘要：本文通过使用马略卡酒店数据库，考察了从波特假说派生的和从旅游行业中具体的知识转移来的若干先前未测试酒店环境创新的决定因素。

实证分析是原创的因为它区分了八种类型的环境创新。结果显示，经济型酒店一般倾向于创新的实施，管理人员在环境绩效方面的酬劳，员工的满意度，环保核算和培训是马略卡岛酒店整体环境创新活动的重要决定因素。此外，环境管理体系的使用与节约成本潜力的创新有关，而饭店的星级类别与创新有关，这有助于酒店品质的提高，如污水处理，降噪，噪音隔离和视觉冲击力的改善。此外，高水平的工作人员的满意度都涉及到节水和降噪创新的实施;这样的创新需要工作人员的参与，而信息源在解释创新采用方面的作用根据创新技术的复杂性方面各有变化。本文总结了旅游业可持续发展的政策影响，对酒店经营者的建议以及未来的研究方向。

Keywords:

• hotels
• environmental innovations
• Porter hypothesis
• Majorca

关键词:

• 酒店
• 环境创新
• 波特假说
• 马略卡岛

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their appreciation to the anonymous referees for their critical comments which helped strengthen the quality of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Innovation of the Balearic Islands [pre-doctoral scholarship and project PRIB-2004-10142], which allowed us to obtain the necessary data for this research.

Notes on contributors

Maria Razumova

Maria Razumova has a PhD from the Department of Applied Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands. Her research focuses on sustainable tourism economics related to environmental innovations, environmental regulations, and corporate social responsibility programs in tourism firms.

Javier Lozano Ibáñez

Javier Lozano Ibáñez is a professor of the Department of Applied Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands. Dr Lozano's research mainly focuses on the areas of tourism, economic growth, natural resources, environmental management, environmental policy, and evolutionary economics. He has published papers in journals such as Tourism Economics, Tourism Management, Tourism Analysis, Spanish Economic Review, and Ecological Economics.

Javier Rey-Maquieira Palmer

Javier Rey-Maquieira Palmer is a professor of the Department of Applied Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands. Dr Rey-Maquieira's research mainly focuses on tourism economics related to tourism competitiveness and sustainable tourism. He has published papers in several mainstream tourism and economic journals, including Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Economics, Tourism Analysis, Ecological Economics, Journal of Econometrics, Environmental Modelling and Software, and Journal of Economic Surveys.