Practices and Attitudes to Environmental Management in the Hotel Industry

The dynamic presence and intensification of tourism has created several negative environmental impacts and have made it one of the industries with the widest range of environmental pressures, calling for a more sustainable course in the future. In this article, in order to respond to the increasing level of environmental concerns of tourists, as well as to the new economic environment, several initiatives as well as environmental management systems (EMSs) are developed for tourism enterprises. EMS applications offer several benefits to the committed organizations, however, the lack of resources and knowledge often poses difficulties in developing and sustaining international EMS. The tourism industry includes two main activities: housing and transportation. The present article concerns housing and its impact on the environment. It also addresses the factors that influence corporate environmental management by identifying the motives and benefits, as well as the difficulties in improving the environmental performance of hotels. The article focuses on Greece and more specifically on the Region of Crete. The article has been based on a questionnaire survey, while the results and conclusions have been based on statistical analysis of the collected information.