Which Sustainable Development Goals should be embedded in the strategy of a hotel to ensure competitive advantage? Recommendations for small and independent hotels

Details

Supervisors

Desmet, Carlos

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The hotel industry has a global reach, and as such, is a driving force generating a wide range of broad economic, social and environmental impacts. It has therefore been recognized as an imperative actor to contribute towards the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. However, sustainable practices are currently mainly undertaken by large, affiliated hotels, while small and independent ones seem to be lagging behind. The purpose of this paper is to provide some guidance as to which sustainable practices and associated goals these small and independent hotels should focus on to ensure competitive advantage. We discuss their intrinsic characteristics that influence their propensity to implement such practices, to determine how they affect the feasibility of specific measures and the benefits drawn from them. Despite the widespread recognition of the essential place that micro and small-sized independent hotels occupy in the industry, little research has focused on searching beyond their limited propensity to implement sustainable practices and providing guidelines with practical implications. We took into consideration that small and independent hotels have intrinsic characteristics that would compel them to have a distinctive approach to the prioritization of available practices than that of their counterparts. By also accounting for stakeholder importance and total impact, we were able to propose seven best practices for them to implement. These priority strategies are energy (SDG 7 and 13) and water efficiency measures (SDG 6), improved waste management (SDG 12 and 13), as well as engaging staff and guests to participate in these efforts (SDG 4). Furthermore, they should assure decent labor and human rights standards (SDG 8) and entertain a cooperative relationship with the local community (SDG 11). We then looked at the competitive advantage that can be created through these practices and found that they were identical to those of large and affiliated hotels. Namely, they can lead to cost-savings achieved through resource efficiency, enhanced operational risk management, improved image and reputation, and ensured regulatory compliance. However, we also found that the extent to which the implementation of sustainability practices affects the competitive advantage of small and independent entities varies from that of their counterparts due to characteristic differences and that its degree of impact is, for the most part, amplified.