Browsing by Author "Ujainen, Paula"

The global trends have been guiding hotels to move to a green direction for years, and nowadays hotels are expected to maintain sustainability programs as a regular feature of their business. As the topic is receiving much more attention in hospitality, it is important to consider guests reactions to sustainable practices in hotels. In addition, customer participation is important of the implementation of green practices in hotels. The objective of this study is to investigate consumers’ general attitudes toward green hotels. Specifically, the study seeks to demonstrate how consumers evaluate green practices in hotels and how a hotel’s green image influences consumer decision- making. According to the findings of this thesis, consumers are willing to stay in green hotels and prefer green hotels. Survey study results demonstrate that respondents have positive or very positive attitudes toward green hotel image. This points out that green attributes can bring more value to the brand, and differentiate it from other hotel brands. Based on the literature review and survey study, this thesis distinguished three common green hotel marketing benefits, which are new market opportunities, green brand benefits, and competitive advantage which is achieved by product enhancement. Thus, this thesis demonstrates that there is market for green hotels and the best way to attract customers is to create green hotel brands that emphasize good and consistent value of the green hotel.