Original Scientific Article
AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainable
PracticesinHotelBusinessesinPunjab,India:
PreliminaryFindings
BaljitKaur
kc Institute of Hotel Management, Punjab, India
baljitkr01@gmail.com
Thisprimarystudywasaimedatexploringthecriticalbarrierstoenvironmentally
sustainablepractices(esps)andsuggestionstoovercometheminthecontextofho-
telbusinesses.Thestudyusedaquantitativeresearchtechnique,andthequestion-
nairewasdevelopedwiththehelpofathoroughliteraturereview,contentanalysis,
andpilotstudy.Atotalof221 responseswerecollectedfromthemanagersandex-
ecutives of 88 classified hotels in Punjab. The 202 usable responses were analysed
bydescriptiveanalysisandKendall’sWtest.Theresultsindicatedthatinitialim-
plementationcost,highcostofcertification,complicatedcertificationprocess,lack
ofawarenessoftheconcept,weaklegislation,changeofroutinesandmanagement
style,existingnon-supportivestructure,andlowtop-managementcommitmentsig-
nificantlyaffecttheadoptionandimplementationof esps.Kendall’sWtestfounda
statisticallysignificantagreementamongtherespondents.Thisstudyrecommended
somepracticalimplicationstoovercomethebarriersto esps,suchashotelcompa-
niesstartingwithsmallinitiativesthatrequirelowinitialinvestment,hotelslobbying
withregionalhotelassociationsandgovernmenttogetfinancialsupport,dissemi-
natingenvironmentalcommunicationstoemployees,firmenvironmentalmonitor-
ingmethodsandrewardschemesbythegovernment.Thisstudyisconductedina
smallgeographicalareathatisotherwiseawell-knowntouristdestinationworldwide
andresultsareconsistentwiththefindingsofpreviousstudiesthatwereconducted
globally.Futurestudiesaresuggestedinlargergeographicalareaswithacomparison
oftwoormorestates.
Keywords:hotelbusinesses,environmentallysustainablepractices,barriers,
suggestions,Punjab,India
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.14.71-86
Introduction
The tourism business is termed as ‘resource hungry’
(Sharpley,2009)asitrequiresasignificantamountof
natural resources both at the developmental and op-
erational levels (Knowles et al., 1999; Michailidou et
al., 2015). Hotels and other accommodation sectors
are the main components of the tourism sector and
they leave a visible impact on the surrounding envi-
ronmentduetotheirdistinctoperatingcharacteristics
and functions. Hotels are often accused of environ-
mentalmalpractices(Weaver,2006).
The growth of hotel businesses is associated with
many adverse effects on destinations, such as exces-
siveuseofenergy,water,andlocalcommodities,huge
waste production, exhausting the natural environ-
ment, etc. (Hsieh, 2012; Jones et al., 2014). These ef-
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |71

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
fectsareproducingchallengestonaturalenvironmen-
talconditionsatthedestination.
Besidesbeingassociatedwiththeabove-mentioned
negativeimpacts,thehotelindustryisconsideredim-
portant by states for economic purposes and the de-
velopmentofthequalityoflifeoftheirpeoples.How-
ever,developednationshaverestrictedtheexpansion
ofhotelbusinesses,keepinginviewthegrowingcon-
sumption of water and energy and restricted natural
resources. Meanwhile, in developing countries, this
growth is enormous because of the abundant avail-
abilityofhumanresourcesandnaturalwealth,inad-
dition to less strict environmental laws (Ganiyusu-
foglu,2013).Theneedtogeteconomicbenefitsalong
with reducing the negative environmental effect has
introducedtheconceptofenvironmentalsustainabil-
ity in hotel businesses. The main motivational fac-
tors behind the environmental initiatives of hoteliers
are financial benefits (Musavengane, 2019), environ-
mentalconcern,legislation,competitiveness,andde-
mandfromgreencustomersasmentionedbyNairand
Anantharajah (2012). Previous studies have reported
thelegislationandfinancialbenefitsasthemostcrit-
ical motivational factors for hoteliers (Rahmanet al.,
2012).Thisconceptofgreeningisnotassuccessfulas
eventuallyexpectedandisadverselyaffectedbymany
barriers (Jabbour et al., 2016). Many studies have fo-
cusedonbarrierstooperationsandgreenoperations.
However,noresearchstudyhasaddressedthebar-
riers to greenoperationsin the current study area of
Punjab, India. It is important to mention thatPunjab
isafamoustouristdestinationfordomesticaswellas
internationaltourists.In2019,thetotaltouristarrival
inthestatewas48,486,730,whichincluded47,385,387
domestic tourists and 1,101,343 international tourists
(Punjab Tourism, n.d.). However, the hotel industry
inPunjabisrespondingsignificantlyslowlyevenafter
recognizingtheprovenbenefitsofgoinggreen.There-
fore,thisstudywasconductedtostudythebarriersto
environmentallysustainablepracticesinthehotelin-
dustryofPunjab.
The study contributes to earlier research in three
ways.First,itprovidestheoreticalandempiricaltrans-
parency about the critical barriers that hinder the
growthof esps inhotelbusinesses.Second,thestudy
area of Punjab is understudied by researchers in re-
lation to the dull growth of esps in the region. The
knowledge of barriers that are pre-shaping environ-
mentalbehaviourinthestatewillhelpinenvironmen-
tally sustainable decision-making while contributing
theoretical suggestions required for the strong and
fundamental basis of individual decisions (Lawhon
etal.,2013;Vagiasetal.,2014ascitedbyVanRiper
et al., 2020). Finally, this study discloses a significant
concernoftheenvironmentalresearchareabyfinding
the reasons behind the gap in the intentions of pro-
environmentalorganizationsandtheactualadoption
and implementation of environmentally friendly ac-
tivities in their operations (Kollmuss & Julian, 2002;
Schultz, 2011 as cited by Van Riper et al., 2020, and
Aragon-Correaetal.,2015;Lawetal.,2014;Kimetal.,
2015,ascitedinChanetal.,2018).
Thefindingsofthisstudyalsocontributeideasfor
stakeholderstofindawaypastthesebarriers.
LiteratureReview
Efforts to save the environment started in 1970, but
were formally recognized during the Earth Summit
in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. During this sum-
mit, 172 countries decided to work with an environ-
mentallysoundframeworktoreducethenegativeim-
pact of businesses on the environment (Grubb et al.,
2019). The concept of sustainability is defined as ‘de-
velopment that meets the needs of the present with-
outcompromisingtheability offuturegenerationsto
meet their demands’ (Butlin, 1989). The concept of
sustainabilitywasintroducedinthehospitalityindus-
try in later stages, as initially this industry was con-
sidered harmless to the environment. The pressure
ofcustomersandstakeholdershasencouragedhotels
to adopt green practices in context to save the envi-
ronment.GreenHotelsAssociation(n.d.)hasdefined
green hotels as, ‘Environmentally-friendly properties
whose managers are eager to institute programs that
savewater,saveenergyandreducesolidwaste,while
savingmoneytohelpprotectouronlyearth!’Initially,
thesegreenpracticeswereassociatedwithenergy,wa-
ter, and waste reduction but now hoteliers have ex-
pandedtheirinitiativesintheareaofsustainablesite
planning, green construction, green purchasing, in-
72 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
door air quality, green transportation, noise control,
andcommunityinvolvement.
Previous studies have reported that the environ-
mentalinitiativesofhotelsareself-regulatoryandvol-
untary to sustain the environment, energy conserva-
tion,watermanagement,recycling,wastereduction,
andsocialwelfare(Hsiaoetal.,2014;Hoogendoornet
al.,2015).However,SharmaandMathur(2020)stated
that there is a gap between hoteliers’ environmental
goodintentionsandactualaction.Hotelsarefoundto
face difficultiesin adoptingenvironmentallysustain-
ableinitiativesduetosomebarriers(Chanetal.,2018;
Chan,2020;Kaur,2020).
AdvantagesofEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
As adoption and implementation of environmentally
sustainable practices are considered as the most im-
portantrecentpracticesinalltypesofbusinesses,their
influence on efficiency needs to be investigated. The
key reason behind participation in a sustainable ap-
proach is to attract some sort of benefits to the or-
ganization. A study of hotels in Kuala Lumpur in
Malaysia reported enhanced brand image and pro-
vidingahealthyandsafeambiancetotheguestsasthe
major advantage of esps (Zaiton et al., 2016). This
study observed that Malaysian hotels emphasize the
developingpositiveimageofthecompanyamongcus-
tomers to attract financial gains. The study of hotel
businessesindevelopingcountriesshowsadirectlink
betweentheimplementationofenvironmentallysus-
tainablepracticesandenhancedenergyefficiencyand
waste management techniques, environmental sus-
tainability,andcompetitiveadvantagebycostdifferen-
tiationofservices(Aragon-Correaetal.,2015;Molina-
Azorínetal.,2015;Singjaietal.,2018;Kularatneetal.,
2019).
Studies of sustainable practices in construction,
clothing,andleathercompaniesbyRestaetal.(2018)
andShurrabetal.(2019)alsoreportedsimilarbenefits
such as enhanced business image, competitive edge,
andincreasedfittocustomers’demands.Indianphar-
maceuticalcompaniesreportedsomeotheradditional
benefitssuchasthesatisfactionofstakeholders,adrop
inemployees’turnoverrate,positivefeedbackofcus-
tomers,etc.(Gujar&Attarwala,2020).
TheGapintheStudy
The barriers to esps are studied by Chan (2008),
JauhariandRishi(2012),KamalulAriffinetal.(2013),
VanRiperetal.(2020)andmanymore.However,no
studytriedtoexplorethebarriersto esps inthecon-
textofthePunjabhotelindustry.Researchersandaca-
demicians never paid attention to the slow progress
of esps inthesurveystateofPunjab.Theconceptof
esps in the hotel businesses is flourishing in other
statesofIndia,whilePunjabiscrawlingwithonlyone
Ecotelcertifiedhotelinthestate.Therefore,thisstudy
wasconductedtofillthisexistinggapbyexploringthe
aspects that negatively affect the implementation of
esps amongthehotelsinPunjab.
TheoreticalBackground:BarrierstoESPs
intheHotelIndustry
Previousresearchershaveclassifiedthebarriersasex-
ternalandinternalundertheimplementationof esps
(Oelze, 2017; Álvarez Jaramillo et al., 2019). Accord-
ing to Hillary (1998), the deficiency of knowledge of
environmental issues in association with lack of in-
formation and backing from government and man-
agement are a major hurdle in the implementation
of esps, mainly in small and medium-sized organi-
zations.GraciandDodds(2008)statedintheirstudy
that,hotelsbeingdifferentinsizeandcategory,casesof
goinggreenarenotreadilysharedamongtheindustry.
Further,thisstudystressedtheneedtoshareinforma-
tiononenvironmentalissuesandbestenvironmental
practicesamongdifferentcategoriesofhotels.
Thehighinitialimplementationcostof esps was
foundtobeamajorbarrierinimplementingthe esps
in hotels in addition to an existing non-supportive
buildingstructurethatmakesitdifficulttoimplement
esps because of the need for major infrastructural
changes(McNamara& Gibson, 2008). Also, Micioni
(2009)reportedthatthisinitialhighimplementation
cost provides financial benefits in the long run. He
suggestsstartingwithsmallchangesinitiallyandgrad-
ually incorporating largerchanges.He further stated
that these changes should be incorporated to make
the environment better at the destination where the
hotels exist. Hotels also face barriers such as a lack
ofengineers,vendors,housekeepers,landscapers,and
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |73

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
managers who are familiar with the green concept.
Anothermajorbarriertogoinggreenisthelackof
demand from the customer side. The customer de-
mand for green services can directly influence the
hoteliers’intentiontogogreen(Satchapappichitetal.,
2020).Mostofthecustomersarenotconsciousofthe
greeninitiativesofhotels(Hanetal.,2010).Manycus-
tomers associate green hotels with a lack of luxury
services(Ginsberg&Bloom,2004;Nadiaetal.,2020).
The green initiative of linen reuse is often linked to
the cost-cutting tool of concerned organizations and
affectsguests’experience,andtheymightselecttostay
inanotherhotelnexttime.Thestudiesofenvironmen-
talmanagementinhotelsandcustomers’attitudesto-
wardsthesegreenpracticesbyAmazonasetal.(2018)
andJauhariandManaktola(2007)reportedthathotel
organizationsare afraidto implement these practices
as they believe that the initial high operational cost
couldnotbechargedtocustomers.Astudyofbarriers
anddriversofenvironmentalmanagementsystemsin
theLebanesefoodindustrystatesthatthemainbarrier
behindtheimplementationof esps istheabsenceof
government support and stakeholders’ demand. The
otherreasonisthat iso 14001andothersuchaccred-
itationsarenotalegalrequirementtorunafoodbusi-
ness(Massoudetal.,2009).
In conclusion, many previous studies have recog-
nizedcommonitemsofbarriersasdeficiencyofenvi-
ronmentalknowledge(Saleh & Jawabreh, 2020), lack
ofgovernmentsupport(Nyide&Lekhanya,2016;Tan
& Teo, 2000), deficiency of pro-environmental atti-
tude (Kaur, 2020), deficiency of experienced human
resources (Chan, 2008), initial high implementation
costandnon-supportinginfrastructure(McNamara&
Gibson,2008;Chan,2020),lackofcustomerdemand
for green services (Jauhari & Manaktola, 2007), em-
ployees’ resistance to change, weak legislation (Bhal,
2014)andthehighcostandcomplicatedprocedureof
greenaccreditation(Chan,2020).
ResearchMethodology
The main objective of this study was to discover the
barriersto esps inthehotelindustryofPunjab,India.
Atotalof88classifiedhotelswereselectedtomeetthe
objective.Thisstudyusedaquantitativemethod.The
officialletterabouttheobjectiveofthissurveywassent
toalltheconcernedhotelsinthesurveyarea.Thisre-
searchpaperhasadoptedthesurveytechniquetocol-
lectfirsthandinformationfromthehoteliers.
ResearchQuestionnaireDevelopment
The research questionnaire was developed in four
stages.Firstly,theresearcherdevelopedthedraftofa
questionnairewith16itemstomeasuretheconstruct
ofbarriers,keepingin view the itemsapplied in pre-
viousstudies(Ayuso,2006;Park&Kim,2014;Mittal,
2014). Secondly, the questionnaire was pretested in
two stages to check the content validity. In the first
stage, the questionnaire was evaluated by three doc-
torate academicians. In the second stage, the ques-
tionnairewasevaluatedbytwomanagersfromtheho-
tel industry.The researchertook prior appointments
frommanagersaccordingtotheirconveniencesothat
feedback could be gathered. The respondents were
encouraged to put remarks against the variables that
werenotcleartothem.Mostoftheexpertsmentioned
thattheresearchquestionnaireiseasytounderstand,
butsomerecommendedafewmodificationsinsome
questions.Overall,some problemswere identified in
commoninbothstages.Therefore,somechangeswere
madeinthewordingofsomequestions.
Inthethirdstage,theresearchinstrumentwaspi-
lottestedwith25respondents.Thereliabilitytestwas
applied to these responsesto ensure the reliability of
statements and the Cronbach alpha coefficient value
of0.864indicatedsatisfactoryreliabilityforallitems.
Avalueabove0.7isconsideredreliable(Pallant,2005)
and acceptable (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Based on
Veal(2018),thepurposeofthepilotstudywastotest
thequestionnairewording,questionnairesequencing,
questionnaire layout, understanding of questions by
respondents,responserate,responsetime,testsurvey
arrangements,and testanalysismethods.Finally,the
researcherdevelopedthefinalversionoftheresearch
questionnairewith14itemstomeasurethebarriers.
StudyAreaandSample
TheresearchstudyselectedPunjabinIndiaasastudy
area. Punjab is a famous tourist destination for reli-
gious and business purposes. This state has a range
74 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
of hotel establishments, ranging from basic economy
classtoluxuryclass.
Thorough consideration was given to decide that
thesampleforthestudyastheselectionoftheentire
populationofallclassifiedhotelswasnotfeasible.The
currentauthenticlistofclassifiedhotelswasnotavail-
ableforthestate.
Atfirst,itwasdecidedtoselectthehotelsthatwere
formally classified by the Hotel and Restaurant Ap-
provalandClassificationCommittee(hracc),butin
India,hotelsenjoythevoluntarydecisiontogetaclas-
sificationfrom hracc,MinistryofTourism.Mostof
the hotels classify themselves according to facilities
and services provided to customers. In Punjab, there
areonlyeighthotelsthatareclassifiedby hracc (as
of 10th March 2019). The data from eight hotels was
notenoughtodevelopthegeneralizationoftheresult.
Finally,alistofhotelswastakenfromtheHotel&
RestaurantAssociation ofNorthIndia(hrani) web-
sitebyincludingasthesampleallthe49classifiedho-
telsthatwereregisteredwiththeorganizationin2018.
Inadditiontothecensusofthesehotels,39additional
hotels(havingmorethan10rooms)wereselectedon
the judgmentalsample technique to collect more re-
sponsesforgeneralizingtheresults.
hrain isthenorthwingoftheFederationofHotel
&RestaurantAssociationsofIndia(fhrai).
fhrai isaveryreputableassociationofthehospi-
talityindustryinIndia.Itwasestablishedin1955with
thecommitmenttotheprogressofthehospitalityin-
dustrythrougheducation,training,professionalhelp,
research,andpublications.Itprovidesaninterfacebe-
tweenindustry,government,andstakeholders.
DataCollection
Theresponseswerecollectedona5-pointLikertscale
ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly
agree.Therespondentswereaskedtoratetheiragree-
mentordisagreementwiththeitembasedonthesig-
nificancetheyassigntoanitem(Veal,2018),toexplore
thepositiveornegativetrendtowardstheproposition.
Responses were collected from managerial level per-
sonnel only. Following the purposive sampling tech-
niques suggested by Creswell (2016), these respon-
dentswereselectedbecauseoftheirhighlevelofpar-
ticipationinpolicyformulationandstrategyplanning
and theirawarenessof esps. Atotalof350question-
naires were distributed in 88 classified hotels, 221 re-
sponseswereobtained,and202responseswerefound
usableforconductingthedataanalysis.
Thedatacollectedwasedited,coded,andevaluated
withthehelpofStatisticalPackageforSocialScientists
(spss)22.0forWindows.
PotentialItemstoMeasuretheBarriers
Manypreviousresearchers(Levy,2000;Bohdanowicz,
2006; Tzschentke, 2008; Bergin, 2010; Ustad, 2010;
Mittal, 2014; Chan et al., 2018; Chan, 2020) have re-
ported barriers to esps that are hindering the adop-
tionandimplementationof esps inhotelbusinesses.
The barriers mentioned in previous studies have re-
portedtheobstructingoftheexecutionof esps inthe
hotelbusiness.
Theidentificationofthefinalitemstomeasurethe
barrierwasacarefulanddifficulttaskastheidentifi-
cationofwell-adoptedvariablesfrompreviousstudies
wasobservedtobehelpfulfortherespondentsinre-
plyingmoreconveniently(Rowlinson,1988).
After the literature review, content validity, pilot
study, and reliability check, 14 possible barriers to
esps were identified for this study that are listed in
Table 1.
TheResultAnalysisandDiscussions
The statistical outputs and analysis of this research
studyarepresentedinthetablesonthenextpages.
ProfileofRespondentsofPunjabHotelBusinesses
The 88 hotels that were selected for the collection of
dataincludehotelshavingvaryingtypesofownership,
category,sizes,andageoftheproperty.Theresponse
rate according to the profile of hotels has been pre-
sentedinTable2.
Thesmallsizehotelswithroomsbetween10and50
respondedingreatnumberandcontributed64.8of
responses.Thetwo-star,three-starandfour-starprop-
ertiescontributed81.7ofresponses.Inthecategory
ofthetypeofownership,locallyownedandoperated
contributed42.6ofresponses.Inthecategoryofthe
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |75

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
Table 1 ListofPotentialItemsforBarriers
BarrierFactors References
Initialimplementationcost Levy(2000);Tzschentke
(2008);McNamaraand
Gibson(2008);Ustad(2010)
Certificationiscostly Ustad(2010)
Complicatedcertification
process
Ustad (2010)
Lackofawarenessofthe
concept
Levy(2000);Bohdanow-
icz(2006);McNamara
andGibson(2008);Bergin
(2010);Mittal(2014)
Weaklegislation Doody(2010);Mittal(2014)
Changeofroutinesand
managementstyle
Ayuso(2006)
Existingnon-supportive
structure
McNamaraandGibson
(2008);Ustad(2010)
Lowtop-managementcom-
mitment
Mittal(2014)
Littleguestconcern Hillary(2017)
Guestsareuncooperative McNamaraandGibson
(2008)
Lackofprofessionalhelp Barnes(2007);Ustad(2010);
Mittal(2014)
Limitedgreentechnology Ustad(2010)
Uncertainand/orinsignif-
icanteconomicadvantage;
slowreturnoninvestment
RevellandBlackburn
(2007);Ustad(2010)
Ineffectiveand/ornon-
enforcementoflaws;cor-
ruption;inadequatemoni-
toringmechanism
Mittal(2014)
ageofrespondenthotels,thepropertiesagedbetween
3–10yearscontributed61.38ofresponses.
Inconclusion,itisfoundthatlocallyowned,small,
andmediumsizedhotelbusinessesfromtwotofour-
star categories in the age group of three to ten years
contributedmaximumresponsestothedata.
RankingofBarriers
Each item is evaluated by combing the responses of
hotelierson a 5-point Likert scale where1 = strongly
Table 2 ResponseRateAccordingtoProfileofHotel
Businesses
Category Item ff ()
Numberof
roomsin
respondent
hotels
–  .
–  .
–  .
–  .
>  .
Total  
Categoryof
respondent
hotels
Onestar  .
TwoStar  .
ThreeStar  .
FourStar  .
FiveStar  .
FiveStarDeluxe  .
Total  
Type of
ownership
of
respondent
hotels
Partofaninternationalchain
orgroup
 .
Partofalocallyoperated
chainorgroup
 .
Locallyownedandoperated  .
Total  
Ageof
respondent
hotels
yearsorless  .
toyears  .
toyears  .
toyears  .
toyears  .
toyears  .
yearsormore  .
Total  
disagree,2=disagree,3=neitheragreenordisagree,
4 = agree,5 = stronglyagree.Each resultis evaluated
bythemeanandnormalizedvaluesthatrepresentthe
respondents’viewofeachitem.
Those hotels that were following esps in opera-
tionsaswellasthosethathadyettoimplementthem
reported the following significant barriers. The ini-
tialimplementationcostwasreportedasthemostsig-
nificant barrier with a mean value of 4.40 and sd =
0.65,followedbythecostofcertificationwithamean
76 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
Table 3 RankingofBarriersConcerningthe
Implementationof esps
Barriers () () () ()
Initialimplementationcost . .  .*
Certificationiscostly . .  .*
Complicatedcertification
process
. .  .*
Lackofawarenessofthe
concept
. .  .*
Weaklegislation . .  .*
Changeofroutinesand
managementstyle
. .  .*
Existingnon-supportive
structure
. .  .*
Lowtop-managementcom-
mitment
. .  .*
Littleguestconcern . .  .
Guestsareuncooperative . .  .
Lackofprofessionalhelp . .  .
Limitedgreentechnology . .  .
Uncertainand/orinsignif-
icanteconomicadvantage;
slowreturnoninvestment
. .  .
Ineffectiveand/ornon-
enforcementoflaws;corrup-
tion;inadequatemonitoring
mechanism
. .  .
Notes Columnheadingsareasfollows:(1)mean,(2)stan-
darddeviation,(3)Rank,(4)normalizedvalue.
valueof4.27andsd=0.79.Thethirdmostinfluential
barrierwasthecomplicatedcertificationprocesswith
a mean value of 4.25 and sd = 0.74. Lack of aware-
ness of concept remained in 4th place with a mean
value of 4.24 and sd = 0.80. The following four bar-
riersremainedin 5th,6th,7th,and8thplacerespec-
tively:weaklegislationwithmeanvalue4.17and sd =
0.81(place5),changeofroutineandmanagementstyle
withmeanvalue4.12and sd =0.80(place6),exiting
non-supportive structure with mean value 4.11 and
sd = 0.88 (place 7) and low top-management com-
mitment with mean value 4.05 and sd = 0.82 (place
8). The remaining barriers were not found to be sig-
Table 4 Kendall’sWTestStatistics
N 
Kendall’sW* .
Chi-square .
Degreesofgreedom 
Asymp.significance .
Notes *Kendall’scoefficientofconcordance.
nificantlyimportantinhinderingtheimplementation
of esps inthesurveyarea.
Kendall’sWTest
Kendall’sWtestisanormalizationofthestatisticofthe
Friedmantestandisappliedtoevaluatethetendency
of agreement between the respondents. Kendall’s W
ranges from value 0 to value 1 where value 1 rep-
resents complete agreement among the respondents
andvalue0denotescompletedisagreement.Interme-
diate values indicate the greater or lesser degree of
agreement among the respondents. The Kendall’s W
value0.101andthesignificancelevelofKendall’sWat
0.000 indicate statistically significant agreement be-
tween respondents about the barrier items to esps.
The Kendall W test and mean ranking of barriers to
esps yieldedsome veryinterestingresultsin context
of the actual adoption and execution of esps in the
hotel businesses of Punjab. Some barriers were not
foundtobecriticalintheactualimplementationpro-
cessof esps whileothersplayedavitalrolebehindit,
asperthereportingofrespondenthoteliers.
Discussion
The identified critical barriers consistent with previ-
ousstudiesarediscussedbelow.
InitialImplementationCost
Theresultofthisstudyreportedtheinitialhighimple-
mentationcostasthemost influentialbarrierbehind
the implementationof esps. AccordingtoAnnetal.
(2006), the implementation cost includes document
completion, the process of modification, adoption,
and implementationof the concept, hiring of profes-
sionalstaff,trainingofexistingstaff,procuringofre-
latedcomputersoftware,etc.Itisdifficulttogogreen
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |77

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
withoutasoundfinancialfoundation.Thus,theinitial
implementationcostwasrankedamongthetopeight
barriers. The findings are consistent with a previous
study (Rowe, 2018) that also reported a high imple-
mentationcostasasignificantbarrierto esps.
Chan(2008ascitedbyCalvache&Evra,2008)re-
ported the opinion of hoteliers about the cost related
togreeningtheorganizationsasfollows:
•
‘Itistooexpensivetoinstallenergyandwateref-
ficientequipment.’
•
‘Our financialresourceshaveasignificantinflu-
enceonthetypeandscaleofpro-ecologicalini-
tiativesundertaken.’
•
‘Pro ecological initiatives are too expensive, al-
though profitable in the long run. That is, in
well-organizedcountriestherearespecialfinance
schemes available, such as grants, loans, tax re-
ductions, and other economic incentives. These
are economic aspects that play decisive roles in
the decision-making process concerning envi-
ronmentallyorientedsolutions.’
The adoption and implementation of esps were
foundtobeassociatedwiththeavailabilityoffinancial
resources.Accordingtopreviousstudiesasdiscussed
in earlierchapters,the infrastructurecost goesup by
10 to 15 if the building is to be made greento meet
theaccreditationguidelinesofcertifyingagencies.
The above findings indicate that there are signif-
icant costs associated with start-up as well as main-
tenance of the Environmental Management System
(ems) and this is the most significant barrier behind
the application process. To overcome this barrier, fi-
nancialinstitutionsandbanksshouldprovideeasyand
flexiblegrantsandloansforimplementingsustainable
technologies in the business. For example, in Hong
Kong, the banks are providing easy loans for the de-
velopmentofgreenprojects(Gouetal.,2013).Itisalso
necessaryto intimate here that the initial cost of im-
plementation of esps must be compared against the
tangibleandintangiblepaybackinthefuture.
CertificationisCostly
Thecertificationcostisfoundtobethesecondmost
influential barrier by the managerial responses. The
respondents were guided to mark the answers on a
Likert scale and most respondents agreed that get-
tingthegreenaccreditationcertificateisacostlyaffair.
ThestudiesofAyuso(2006)andVermaandChandra
(2018) reported that different green certifying agen-
cies have different processes and fees for getting the
accreditationandthereis a lack ofstandardizedpro-
cess.Inadditiontothis,recertifyingisalsoverycostly
andsomecertificationsneedtoberenewedeveryyear.
Inconclusion,itisfoundthatgettingthegreencerti-
fication is a costly affair and even the renewal cost
is so significantly high that it is beyond the limit of
medium and small organizations.In Punjab, most of
thehotelsareunderthecategoryofmediumandsmall
businessesandfacealackoffinancialresourcesinthe
contextofgettingthegreencertification.
ComplicatedCertificationProcess
In this study, the third most reported barrier was
the complicated process of getting a green certifica-
tion. The green concept is a continuous process that
needsregularmanagementandevaluationfortheef-
fectiveimplementationandactualenvironmentalsus-
tainability at the destination. The research studies of
Chanand Wong (2006) and Ann et al. (2006) stated
five basic principles for the effective implementation
of esps intheorganization:(1)commitmenttowards
environmentandpolicyformulation,(2)planningthe
environmental actions, (3) adoption and practicing
of environmental actions, (4) evaluation and correc-
tionofaction,(5)managementreview.Alltheabove-
mentionedprinciplesrequirelotsofpaperwork,time
devotion,andcommitmentoftopmanagementforef-
fectiveworking.Thus,itisconcludedthatgettingthe
certification and maintaining its effective working is
acomplicatedanddifficultprocessthatrequiresextra
time devotion of management and other concerned
staff, making it difficult to adopt and implement in
additiontoroutineworking.
LackofAwarenessoftheConcept
Accordingtotheresultofthisstudy,lessawarenessof
thegreenconceptandthebenefitsassociatedwithits
implementationwasthefourthmostreportedbarrier.
Inconsistent with this result, Chan (2008) and Graci
78 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
and Dodds (2008), in their studies, found a lack of
knowledgeofthegreenconcepttobeacriticalbarrier.
Astheconceptofenvironmentalsustainabilityisata
growing stage in India, most of the hotels’ managers
reportedalackofknowledgeoftheconcept.
Educating customers and industry people about
the environmental issues and benefits of implement-
ing esps in business would help to boost the accep-
tanceandactualexecutionofenvironmentalsustain-
ability in the companies. For achieving this purpose
there is a requirement of disseminating the environ-
mental informationamong the stakeholdersemploy-
ing research literature, seminars, conferences, and
printmedia,etc.
WeakLegislation
In this study, weak legislation is found to hinder the
implementation of esps. The findings reported that
hotelmanagersobserveweaklegislationtobeanim-
portant barrier behind the implementation of esps.
Mostoftherespondentsreportedthathotelbusinesses
donottakeenvironmentallysustainableinitiativesbe-
causeofthelackofenvironmentallegislationandreg-
ular environmental inspection by government agen-
cies.Thisobservationisconsistentwiththeresultsof
Mittal (2014), who reported weak legislation as the
mostimportantbarrierbehindtheimplementationof
esps.AccordingtoChanetal.(2018),thehotelbusi-
nesses would meet the termsof expectations regard-
ingenvironmentalsustainabilityifwelldefinedinthe
formoflegislationrequirement.
The findings suggest that government agencies,
throughlegislationandpowertopressurizethehotels
to implement the esps, can stimulate the environ-
mental decisions of organizations. Hotel businesses
that are lacking in the effective implementation of
esps shouldbesuitablypunishedbyimposingpenal-
tiesforthesame.
ChangeofRoutineandManagementStyle
Another significant barrier behind esps’ implemen-
tationistheresistancetochangeofdeep-rootedold-
styleroutineandmanagement.Thisbarrierisfoundto
haveacloseassociationwithotherbarrierssuchasini-
tialimplementationcost,thelackofawarenessofthe
concept, lack ofprofessionalexperts, etc. In the con-
text of this study, this factor is considered as a mod-
erately critical (not the utmost critical) barrier. This
factor received an average response from managers,
andthereasonmaybeassociatedwiththefactthat
respondents were not willing to accept this factor to
beassociatedwiththem.Mosthotelmanagersworkin
conventionalwaysandarenotcomfortableinchang-
ingtheirwayofworking.Moreover,thehotelindustry
is a completely commercial sector and managers are
paid to earn profits for the organizations. Therefore,
managersdonotproposechangestotopmanagement
thatrequirehugeinvestmentsandchangeinconven-
tional routine work. The findings are consistent with
thepreviousstudiesofKöseogluetal.(2018)andOku-
musetal.(2017)whichstatedthatchange-resistanceis
asignificantbarrierintheenvironmentalsustainabil-
ityprocess.
ExistingNon-SupportiveStructure
This factor receivedan average response, neither too
high nor very low by the respondent managers. The
implementation of environmentally sustainable ac-
tions requires many infrastructural alterations in the
existing buildings, such as installation of water and
energy conservation fixtures and equipment, solar
energy systems, rainwater harvesting, installation of
vacuum-sealeddouble-glazedwindows,etc.Thesein-
frastructure changes are also associated with signifi-
cantexpenses.Inthisstudy,13percentofsamplehotel
propertiesweremorethanfifteenyearsoldwithcon-
ventional infrastructure features. The reason for the
averageresponseforthisbarriermightbethelackof
awarenessintherespondentsabouttheinfrastructure
changesrequiredtointroducethe esps intheorgani-
zation.Thesignificanceofthisbarrierisalsoreported
byMakandChang(2019).
LowTopManagementCommitment
Theitem‘lowtopmanagementcommitment’received
an average response by the managers of respondent
hotels.Respondentsdonotfeelthattopmanagement
islessdevotedtotheadoptionof esps intheorgani-
zation. The slow progress of the green hotels may be
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |79

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
linkedtothenon-popularityoftheconceptinthere-
gionratherthanassociatingitwithlowsupportoftop
management.
Summary: To sum up, it is stated that the accep-
tanceandimplementationof esps inhotelorganiza-
tions have gained a high level of attention globally.
However,theadoptionofthisconceptinAsiancoun-
trieslikeIndiaisstillatthebeginningstagesandfacing
manybarriers.Thesebarriersshouldbeovercometo
boost the growthof the environmentalsustainability
conceptinthehotelindustry.Thisresearchstudywas
anattempttoidentifythebarrierswhicharehindering
the acceptance and actual implementation of the en-
vironmentalsustainabilityconceptintheregion.The
study applied a survey method to collect the overall
202 responses. There are two categories of barriers,
significant and non-significant. The variables having
NormalizedV aluemorethan0.50wereconsidered
significant and variables having Normalized Value
lower than 0.50 were considered as non-significant.
The findings reported that 8 out of 14 barriers were
significantly hindering the acceptance and execution
processof esps inthehotelbusinesses.Themostsig-
nificant barriers were identified as initial implemen-
tation cost; the cost of certification; complicated cer-
tification process; lack of awareness of the concept;
weak legislation; change of routine and management
style; existing non-supportive structure; and low top
managementcommitmenttowardstheconcept.
However,therestofthebarrierssuchaslittleguest
concern; guests are un-cooperative; lack of profes-
sionalhelp;limitedgreentechnology;uncertainand/
or insignificant economic advantage; slow return on
investment; ineffective and/or non-enforcement of
laws/corruption/inadequate monitoring mechanism
werenotfoundtobesignificantinhinderingthepro-
cessofadoptionandimplementationof esps.
Suggestions to overcome these barriers are pro-
videdinTable5.
ManagerialImplication
Itisclearfromthefindingsthatknowledgeofcritical
barriersisimportanttoensuretheeffectiveimplemen-
tationof esps andtosustainthenaturalenvironment.
Thebarrierofinitialinvestmentandhighcostofcerti-
ficationisimportantduring esps’adoptionandhotel
businessesneedtofocusonthedevelopmentoffinan-
cialresources.
The implication of this study will help the local
governmentandhotelbusinessesinPunjabtounder-
stand the critical barriers that might hinder the pro-
cess of establishing the actual esps. The stakehold-
erscanpreparestrategieswellinadvancetoovercome
thesebarriers.It is also necessaryto enhancethe en-
vironmentalknowledgeofhoteliers.Thisresearchcan
beextendedtounderstandthedifficultiesfacedbydif-
ferent categories of hotels in implementing the esps
intheirorganizations.
The findings of this study help to adopt and im-
plement the esps more easily in hotel businesses in
thesmalltouriststates.Thisresearchcanbeveryin-
formative to the businesses that need to change their
conventionalwayofoperationsto esps.However,all
thebarrierscannotberemovedatthesametimebut
shouldberemovedoneafteranother.
OpportunitiesforImplementation
ofEnvironmentallySustainablePracticesforHotel
BusinessinPunjab,India
The adoption and implementation of esps are un-
derstood not only as having high initial cost but po-
tentially associated opportunities also. These results
indicatethat esps’benefitsgofurtherbeyondtheini-
tial high implementation costs. Regulatory compli-
ance is found as the most important benefit in addi-
tiontoawardsandappreciationsatdifferentlevelsand
favourable guest behaviour. The reduced health risk
andaccidentsarealsoreportedbySangleandShitole
(2017). Previous research studies have identified nu-
merousopportunities associated with the implemen-
tation of esps in organizations, such as competitive
edge, cost savings, customer loyalty, employee reten-
tion, legal compliance, social responsibility and risk
management, etc. Punjab has a huge array of hotels
located in the state that cater to the needsof tourists.
According to an article of The Hindustan Times (a
renownednewspaperofIndia),Punjabholds12thpo-
sitioninIndiainthecontextofoveralltouristarrival
in the state as cited by Sharma (2017). This sample
state earned 224 million usd in 2012 from tourists,
80 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
Table 5 PossibleApproachestoOvercometheBarriers
Barriers Possibleapproaches
Initialimplementationcost Hotelcompaniescanstartwithsmallinitiativesthatrequirelowinitialinvestment
suchasusingenergy-efficientlighting,low-pressuretapsandshowerheads,reduce
andreusewaste,etc.Theactiveinvolvementoftheengineeringdepartmentcanalso
helpminimizetheimplementationcost(Chanetal.,2018).
Certificationiscostly Hotelierstoworkwithhotelassociationstolobbywiththegovernmenttosuggest
financialsupportfortheadoptionandimplementationof esps (Cheung&Fan,
2013).
Complicatedcertificationprocess esps consultingissuggested(Milesetal.,1999).
Lackofawarenessoftheconcept Hotelorganizationsshouldshareenvironmentalknowledgewithcounterparts(Chan
etal.,2018).
Weaklegislation Thegovernmentshouldintroducesomeeffectiveandfirmenvironmentallawsfor
businessesandoffendersshouldbepunishedstrictly.InIndia,theEnvironmental
ImpactAssessment(eia)2006needstobemoreeffective(Bhal,2014).
Changeofroutinesandmanage-
mentstyle
Developanenvironmentalvisionbydisseminatinginformationonenvironmental
issuesofnon-sustainablebehaviourassuggestedbyYurievetal.(2018).
Existingnon-supportivestructure Thegreencertificationofexistingbuildings(IndianGreenBuildingCouncil,n.d.)
doesnotrequiremajorinfrastructuralchanges.
Lowtop-managementcommit-
ment
Managerscanconveythetangiblebenefitsofimplementing esps toowners/top
management(Chanetal.,2018).
while it devoted only 0.19 of the state budget to-
wardstourismactivities.Thedomestictouristarrival
in the state was 2.57 crores in 2015 as compared to
1.05croresin2010.Similarly,theinternationaltourist
arrivalhasalsoseenariseandwas2.42lakhascom-
paredto1.37lakhin2010(Sharma,2017).Theresearch
study of Singh and Singh (2017) observed a signifi-
cant contribution of the service sector to the Gross
StateDomesticProduct(gsdp)inthestate,andhotel
and restaurant businesses were found to play an im-
portant role within this service sector’s contribution.
As this sector plays a significant role in the economy
ofthesamplestate,itsgrowthcannotbesuggestedto
stop.So,itisfoundthattheimplementationof esps in
hotelbusinessesin Punjabis offoremostimportance
fortheachievementofboththesurvivaloftheindus-
tryandmaintainingthesustainabilityoftheenviron-
ment.
LimitationsandSuggestions
This empirical study has some limitations also. Data
wascollectedbyaquantitativeresearchquestionnaire
fromhoteliersinPunjabandthusarenotbroadlygen-
eralizable.Thedatacollectedwaslimitedtothehotel
managers’viewsonthebarriersto esps.
Despite the small size sample, this research study
shouldbeseenasaprimarystepinexploringtheob-
served barriers behind the implementation process
of esps, and that stimulates the curiosity of other
researchers to carry out confirmatory research with
larger geographical area and sample size to validate
theconclusionsofthisstudy.
This study has not explored the effect of the size
ofhotels,ownershipstyleofhotels,orcategoryofho-
tels as barriers to esps. Further studies can evaluate
theeffectofthesecharacteristicsontheadoptionand
implementationof esps.
Thebarriersidentifiedinthisstudyhaveprovenin-
fluenceontheadoptionandimplementationof esps
butnotonenvironmentalattitudes.Futureresearchis
thussuggestedtoexplorewhetherthesebarriersaffect
hoteliers’ environmental attitudes and if so, the ways
toovercomethemshouldbestudied.
Therecommendationsgiveninthisstudytoover-
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |81

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
come the various barriers need more details that are
possiblewithadditionalresearch.Futureresearchsho-
uldexplorethesuccessrateoftheserecommendations
and build strong execution plans for businesses that
wanttoincorporate esps intheirorganizations.
Conclusion
Thetourismorthehotelindustryisapeople-oriented
industry and thus the impact of the individual hotel
is not the direct focus of the environmentalist or re-
searchersandthisresultsintheslowadoptionrateof
esps. Besides this, hotel businesses vary in sizes and
starclassification,thusbusinesscasesof esps arenot
voluntarilysharedamongbusinesses.Thesameprob-
lem has been discussed in many international con-
ferencessuchasTheResponsibleTravelandTourism
Forum 2008, The International Ecotourism Society
Eco and SustainableTourism Summit 2008, and The
TourismIndustryAssociationofCanadaSustainabil-
ityForum2008.
TomakethePunjabhotelindustrymoreenviron-
mentally sustainable, many barriers need to be over-
come,suchasfinancialcrunches,weaklegislation,low
top management commitment, existing infrastruc-
ture,lackoforganizedinformation,andconventional
workmethods.
There is a need to share information about best
green practices by established businesses with small
andmedium-sizedhotelorganizationstoguidethem
tomoveforwardtowardsgreeningthebusiness.There
isaneedforatop-downapproachstartingfromstrict
environmentallegislationtoinvolvementoftopman-
agementtofinalimplementationstrategies.Thehotel
managersneedtochangetheirconventionalmethods
ofworkandrealizethatsome esps arepractical,easy
toimplement,andcost-effective,andcanreduceenvi-
ronmentalimpactandattractfinancialgainstoorga-
nizations, too. Besides this, because the composition
ofthePunjabhotelbusinessesiscomplexanduneven
duetovarioussizes,clientele,typeofownership,loca-
tions,andinfluencesofstakeholders,anactionplanof
information-sharing regarding best esps and bene-
fitsassociatedisrequiredforeffectiveimplementation
of the green concept. Policymakers, managers, and
otheroperationalstaffneedtodevelopapositiveenvi-
ronmentalattitudeandworkcollectivelytoachievea
country-wideenvironmentalcommitment.Currently,
hotelbusinessesareself-driventowardsenvironmen-
talsustainabilityratherthandemand-driven.Theen-
vironmentalcommitmentensurescompetitiveadvan-
tage and improved business performance that leads
to reduced costs, improved brand image, and future
alignment with customer demand. The hotel busi-
nesses needto move forwardto sustain the environ-
mentandtosafeguardthefutureoftheindustryitself.
Thegreenissues,sustainability,environmentalman-
agement, and corporate social responsibility are the
keyissuesoffutureresearchinthefieldofhospitality.
Respondingtothecallforresearchinthesekeyareas,
the results of the current study not only help in fill-
ingtheresearchgapbyidentifyingthebarriersbehind
the implementationof esps in the developing coun-
tries and contributing to theoretical knowledge but
also offer a valued foundation for policymakers and
stakeholders to take suitable actions to mitigate the
barriers related to the implementation of esps and
subsequently promoting the environmental sustain-
abilityconceptinthehotelbusinesses.
References
ÁlvarezJaramillo,J.,ZarthaSossa,J.,&OrozcoMendoza,G.
(2019). Barriers to sustainabilityfor smalland medium
enterprisesintheframeworkofsustainabledevelopment
–Literaturereview.Business Strategy and the Environ-
ment, 28(4),512–524.
Amazonas,I.,Silva,R.,&Andrade,M.(2018).Environmen-
talmanagementinhotels:Sustainabletechnologiesand
practices applied in hotels. Ambiente & Sociedade, 21.
https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4422asoc0172r2vu18l1ao
Ann, G., Zailani, S., & Wahid, N. (2006). A study on the
impact of environmental management system (ems)
certification towards firms’ performance in Malaysia.
Management of Environmental Quality: An International
Journal, 17(1),73–93.
Aragon-Correa, J., Martin-Tapia, I., & de la Torre-Ruiz, J.
(2015).Sustainabilityissuesandhospitalityandtourism
firms’ strategies. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 27(3),498–552.
Ayuso,S.(2006).Adoptionofvoluntaryenvironmentaltools
for sustainable tourism: Analysing the experience of
Spanishhotels.Corporate Social Responsibility and Envi-
ronmental Management, 13(4),207–220.
82 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
Barnes,F.(2007).Asustainablefuturestartsinthepresent.
Caterer and Hotelkeeper, 197(449),37.
Bergin,M.(2010).Manageyourenvironmentalcosts. Hotel
&CateringReview ,33–35.
Bhal, K. (2014). Environmental legislation and its imple-
mentationinIndia.InP .Dover,S.Hariharan,&M.
Cummings (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd International
Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance:
icmlg 2014 (p.43).AcademicConferencesandPublish-
ingInternational.
Bohdanowicz,P.(2006).Responsible resource management in
hotels: Attitudes, indicators, tools and strategie [Unpub-
lisheddoctoraldissertation].RoyalInstituteofTechnol-
ogy.
Butlin,J.(1989).Ourcommonfuture:Byworldcommission
on environment and development. Journal of Interna-
tional Development, 1(2),284–287.
Calvache,B.,&Evra,M.(2008).GreenhotelsinSweden[Un-
publishedmasterthesis].UmeåUniversity.
Chan,A.,Darko,A.,Olanipekun,A.,&Ameyaw,E.(2018).
Criticalbarrierstogreenbuildingtechnologiesadoption
in developing countries: The case of Ghana.Journal of
Cleaner Production, 172,1067–1079.
Chan, E. S. (2008). Barriers to ems in the hotel industry.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27(2),
187–196.
Chan, E. S. (2020). What hinders hotels’ adoption of en-
vironmental technologies: A quantitative study. Inter-
national Journal of Hospitality Management, 84,102324.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102324
Chan, E., & Wong, S. (2006). Motivations for iso 14001 in
thehotelindustry.Tourism Management, 27(3),481–492.
Chan,E., Okumus, F., &Chan,W. (2018).Barriers toenvi-
ronmentaltechnologyadoptioninhotels. Journal of Hos-
pitality & Tourism Research, 42(5),829–852.
Cheung,M.,&Fan,J.(2013).Carbonreductioninahigh-
densitycity:AcasestudyofLanghamPlaceHotelMong-
kokHongKong. Renewable Energy, 50,433–440.
Creswell,J.W .(2016).Qualitative inquiry and research de-
sign: Choosing among five(5thed.).SagePublications.
Doody, H. (2010, 16 June). What are the barriers to imple-
menting environmental practices in the Irish hospitality
industry [Conference presentation]. Tourism and Hos-
pitalityResearchinIrelandConference(thric),Shan-
non,Ireland.
Ganiyusufoglu, Ö. S. (2013, 23–25 September). Chinese ap-
proach to sustainable manufacturing [Conference pre-
sentation].11thGlobalConferenceonSustainableMan-
ufacturing,Berlin,Germany.
Ginsberg,J.,&Bloom,P .(2004).Choosingtherightgreen
marketing strategy. mit Sloan Management Review, 46
(1),79–84.
Gou,Z.,Lau,S.,&Prasad,D.(2013).Marketreadinessand
policyimplicationsforgreenbuildings:Casestudyfrom
HongKong. Journal of Green Building, 8(2),162–173.
Graci,S.,&Dodds,R.(2008).Whygogreen?Thebusi-
ness case for environmental commitment in the Cana-
dianhotelindustry. Anatolia, 19(2),251–270.
Green Hotels Association. (N.d.). What are Green Hotels?
http://greenhotels.com/index.php
Grubb,M.,Koch,M.,Thomson,K.,Sullivan,F.,&Munson,
A. (2019). The ‘Earth Summit’ agreements: A guide and
assessment; An analysis of the Rio’92 un Conference on
Environment and Development(Vol.9).Routledge.
Gujar,G.,&Attarwala,A.(2020).Benefitsofimplementing
sustainablebusinesspracticesfortheIndianpharmaceu-
ticalindustry. Asian Journal of Management, 11(1),26–28.
Han,H.,Hsu,L.,&Sheu,C.(2010).Applicationofthethe-
ory of planned behavior to green hotel choice: Testing
the effect of environmental friendly activities. Tour i sm
Management, 31(3),325–334.
Hillary,R.(1998).PanEuropeanUnionassessmentof emas
implementation. Environmental Policy and Governance,
8(6),184–192.
Hillary, R. (2017). Small and medium-sized enterprises and
the environment: Business imperatives.Routledge.
Hoogendoorn,G.,Grant,B.,&Fitchett,J.(2015).Towards
greenguesthousesinSouthAfrica:ThecaseofGauteng
andKwaZulu-Natal. South African Geographical Journal,
97(2),123–138.
Hsiao,T.,Chuang,C.-M.,Kuo,N.-W.,&.Yu,S.M.-F.(2014).
Establishingattributesofanenvironmentalmanagement
systemforgreenhotelevaluation. International Journal
of Hospitality Management, 36,197–208.
Hsieh,Y.C.(2012).Hotelcompanies’environmentalpolicies
andpractices:Acontentanalysisoftheirwebpages. In-
ternational Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Manage-
ment, 24(1),97–121.
IndianGreenBuildingCouncil. (N.d.). igbc green existing
buildings O&M.https://igbc.in/igbc/redirectHtml.htm
?redVal=showGreenExistingBuildingsnosign
Jabbour,C.,deSousaJabbour,A.,Govindan,K.,DeFreitas,
T.,Soubihia,D.,Kannan,D.,&Latan,H.(2016).Barriers
totheadoptionofgreenoperationalpracticesatBrazil-
ian companies: Effects on green and operational per-
formance. International Journal of Production Research,
50(10),3042–3058.
Jauhari,V.,&Manaktola,K.(2007).Exploringcustomeratti-
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |83

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
tudeandbehaviourtowardsgreenpracticesinthelodg-
ingindustryinIndia. International Journal of Contempo-
rary Hospitality Management, 19(5),364–377.
Jauhari,V.,&Rishi,M.(2012).Challengesfacedbythehos-
pitality industry in India: An introduction. Worldw ide
Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 4(2),110–117.
Jones,P.,Hillier,D.,&Comfort,D.(2014).Sustainabilityin
the global hotel industry.International Journal of Con-
temporary Hospitality Management, 26(1),5–17.
KamalulAriffin,N.,Khalid,S.,&Wahid,N.(2013).Thebar-
riers to the adoption of environmental management
practices in the hotel industry: A study of Malaysian
hotels.Business Strategy Series, 14(4),106–117.
Kaur,B.(2020). Managerial attitude and implementation of
environmental sustainable practices in the hotel industry
of Punjab [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Lovely
ProfessionalUniversity.
Kim,S.,Yoon,J.,&Shin,J.(2015).Sustainablebusiness-and-
industryfoodservice.International Journal of Contempo-
rary Hospitality Management, 27(4),648–669.
Knowles,T .,Macmillan,S.,Palmer ,J.,Grabowski,P .,&
Hashimoto,A.(1999).Thedevelopmentofenvironmen-
tal initiatives in tourism: Responses from the London
hotel sector. International Journal of Tourism Research,
1(4),255–265.
Kollmuss, A., & Julian, A. (2002). Mind the gap: Why do
peopleactenvironmentallyandwhatarethebarriersto
pro-environmental behavior? Environmental Education
Research, 8(3),239–260.
Köseoglu,M.,Yazici,S.,&Okumus,F.(2018).Barrierstothe
implementation of strategic decisions: Evidence from
hotels in a developing country. Journal of Hospitality
Marketing & Management, 27(5),514–543.
Kularatne,T.,Wilson,C.,Månsson,J.,Hoang,V .,&Lee,B.
(2019). Do environmentally sustainable practices make
hotels more efficient? A study of major hotels in Sri
Lanka. Tourism Management, 71,213–225.
Law,R.,Wu,J.,&Liu,J.(2014).ProgressinChinesehotel
research:Areviewof ssci-listedjournals. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 42,144–154.
Lawhon,B.,Newman,P.,Taff,D.,Vaske,J.,Vagias,W.,Law-
son,S.,&Monz,C.(2013).Factorsinfluencingbehavioral
intentionsforleavenotracebehaviorinnationalparks.
Journal of Interpretation Research, 18(1),23–38.
Levy, J. I. (2000). Economic incentives for sustainable re-
source consumption at a large university: Past perfor-
mance and future considerations. International Journal
of Sustainability in Higher Education, 1(3),252–266.
Mak, A., & Chang, R. (2019). The driving and restraining
forces for environmental strategy adoption in the hotel
industry:Aforcefieldanalysisapproach. Tour i sm Man-
agement, 73,48–60.
Massoud, M. A., Fayab, R., El-Fadel, M., & Kamleh, R.
(2009).Drivers, barriers, andincentivesto implement-
ingenvironmentalmanagementsystemsinthefoodin-
dustry:AcaseofLebanon. Journal of Cleaner Production,
18(3),200–209.
McNamara,K.,&Gibson,C.(2008).Environmentalsustain-
ability in practice? A macro-scale profile of tourist ac-
commodationfacilitiesinAustralia’scoastalzone. Jour-
nal of Sustainable Tourism, 16(1),85–100.
Michailidou, A., Vlachokostas, C., & Moussiopoulos, N.
(2015).Amethodologytoassesstheoverallenvironmen-
talpressureattributedtotourismareas:Acombinedap-
proachfortypicalall-sizedhotelsinChalkidiki,Greece.
Ecological Indicators, 50,108–119.
Micioni,C.W.(2009).Goinggreeninthehospitalityindus-
try. Digital Scholarship@unlv. https://digitalscholarship
.unlv.edu/do/search/?q=author_lname3A22Micioni
2220author_fname3A22Christina22&start=0
&context=830141
Miles, M., Munilla, L., & McClurg, T. (1999). The impact
of iso 14000environmentalmanagementstandardson
smalland medium sizedenterprises. Journal of Quality
Management, 4(1),111–122.
Mittal, V. K. (2014). Prioritizing barriers to green manu-
facturing:environmental,socialandeconomicperspec-
tives. Procedia cirp, 17, 559–564.
Molina-Azorín,J.,Tarí,J.,Pereira-Moliner,J.,Lopez-Game-
ro,M.,&Pertusa-Ortega,E.(2015).Theeffectsofqual-
ityandenvironmentalmanagementoncompetitivead-
vantage: A mixed methods study in the hotel industry.
Tourism Management, 50(c),41–54.
Musavengane,R.(2019).Smallhotelsandresponsibletour-
ism practice: Hoteliers’ perspectives. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 220(3),786–799.
Nadia, E., Beatrice, C., & Atour, T. (2020). Luxury hotels’
eco-friendlyactivities&customers’preferencesandwill-
ingnesstopayforgreenhotels.Journal of Advanced Man-
agement Science, 8(1),7–14.
Nair, V., & Anantharajah, S. (2012). A green makeover for
our hotels? Environment, Development & Sustainability,
2,10–12.
Nyide,C.,&Lekhanya,L.(2016).EnvironmentalManage-
mentAccounting(ema)inthedevelopingeconomy:A
caseofthehotelsector.Corporate Ownership & Control,
13(4),575–582.
Oelze, N. (2017). Sustainable supply chain management
84 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
implementation-enablers and barriers in the textilein-
dustry. Sustainability, 9(8),1435.https://doi.org/10.3390/
su9081435
Okumus, F., Bilgihan, A., Ozturk, A., & Zhao, X. (2017).
Identifying and overcoming barriers to deployment of
informationtechnologyprojectsinhotels.Journal of Or-
ganizational Change Management, 30(5),744–766.
Pallant, J. (2005). spss Survival Manual (2nd ed.). Open
UniversityPress.
Park,J.,&Kim,H.(2014).Environmentalproactivityofho-
tel operations: Antecedents and the moderating effect
of ownership type. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 37,1–10.
Rahman, I., Reynolds, D., & Svaren, S. (2012). How ‘green’
areNorthAmericanhotels?Anexplorationoflow-cost
adoption practices. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 31(3),720–727.
Resta,B.,Dotti,S.,Ciarapica,F .,DeSanctis,I.,Fani,V .,
Bandinelli,R.,&Rinaldi,R.(2018).Leveragingenviron-
mental sustainability for competitive advantage in the
Italianclothingandleathersector.International Journal
of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 11(2),169–
186.
Revell,A.,&Blackburn,R.(2007).Thebusinesscaseforsus-
tainability? An examination of small firms in the uk’s
construction and restaurant sectors. Business Strategy
and the Environment, 16(6),404–420.
Rowe,K.(2018).Hoteliers’ perceptions of sustainable prac-
tices on small hotel optimization: A phenomenology in-
quiry[Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation].WaldenUni-
versity,Minneapolis, mn.
Rowlinson, S. M. (1988). An analysis of factors affecting
project performance in industrial buildings with particu-
lar reference to design build contracts[Unpublisheddoc-
toraldissertation].BrunelUniversity,London,England.
Saleh, M., & Jawabreh, O. (2020). Role of environmental
awarenessintheapplication ofenvironmentalaccount-
ing disclosure In tourism and hotel companies and its
impact on Investor’s decisions in Amman Stock Ex-
change. International Journal of Energy Economics and
Policy, 10(2),417–426.
Sangle,S.,&Shitole,M.V.(2017).Studyofbenefitsenjoyed
by five star hotels due to adoption of environmental
managementpractices. International Journal of Research
in Economics and Social Sciences, 7(12),770–779.
Satchapappichit, S., Hashim, N., & Hussin, Z. (2020). Fac-
tors influencing adoption of green practices by small
and medium sized hotels in Thailand.Journal of Busi-
ness Management and Accounting, 3,61–78.
Schultz,P.W.(2011).Conservationmeansbehavior.Conser-
vation Biology, 25(6),1080–1083.
Sekaran,U.,&Bougie,R.(2016).Research methods for busi-
ness: A skill building approach (7th ed.). John Wiley &
Sons.
Sharma,M.G.(2017,February25).Richinmonuments,Pun-
jabgetsatourismhigh:From28thspotto12thineight
years. Hindustan Times.https://www.hindustantimes
.com/punjab/rich-in-monuments-punjab-gets-a
-tourism-high-from-28th-spot-to-12th-in-eight-years/
story-Jm2ybgRfm4kvydeGkFLUSI.html
Sharma,S.,&Mathur,N.(2020).Anassessmentofattitude
towards environment: A study of five star hotels in Ra-
jasthan. International Journal of Applied Management
Science, 12(2),151–168.
Sharpley,R.(2009).Tour i sm de velopment and the env iron-
ment: Beyond sustainability.Earthscan.
Shurrab,J.,Hussain,M.,&Khan,M.(2019).Greenandsus-
tainablepracticesintheconstructionindustry.Engineer-
ing, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(6).
https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2018-0056
Singh,A.,&Singh,J.(2017).ServicesectorscenarioofPun-
jab and Haryana. International Journal of Research in
Economics and Social Sciences, 7(7),442–447.
Singjai,K.,Winata,L.,&Kummer,T.(2018).Greeninitia-
tives and their competitive advantage for the hotel in-
dustry in developing countries. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 75,131–143.
PunjabTourism.(N.d.). Statistics & surveys: Year-wise tourist
visits in Punjab.https://punjabtourism.punjab.gov.in/
statistics-surveys.php
Tan,M.,&Teo,T.(2000).Factorsinfluencingtheadoption
of Internetbanking.J ourna lo ftheAssocia tionforinfor -
mation Systems, 1(5),1–42.
Tzschentke, N. A. (2008). Going green: Decisional factors
in small hospitality operations. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 27(1),126–133.
Ustad, B. H. (2010). The adoption and implementation of en-
vironmental management system in New Zealand hotels
[Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Auckland Univer-
sityofTechnology,Auckland,NewZealand.
Vagias,W.,Powell,R.,Moore,D.,&Wright,B.(2014).Pre-
dicting behavioral intentions to comply with recom-
mendedleavenotracepractices. Leisure Sciences, 36(5),
439–457.
VanRiper,C.,Lum,C.,Kyle,G.,Wallen,K.,absher,J.,&Lan-
don, A. (2020). Values, motivations, and intentions to
engageinproenvironmentalbehavior. Environment and
Behavior, 52(4),437–462.
AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021 |85

BaljitKaur AStudyofBarrierstoEnvironmentallySustainablePractices
Veal, A. J. (2018). Research methods for leisure and tourism
(5thed.).PearsonEducation.
Verma, V., & Chandra, B. (2018). Intention to implement
greenhotelpractices:EvidencefromIndianhotelindus-
try. International Journal of Management Practice, 11(1),
24–41.
Weaver,D.B.(2006).Sustainable tourism: Theory and prac-
tice.Routledge.
Yuriev,A.,Boiral,O.,Francoeur,V.,&Paille,P.(2018).Over-
coming the barriers to pro-environmental behaviors in
the workplace: A systematic review. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 182,379–394.
Zaiton,S.,Herman,S.,Kasimu,A.,&Hassan,H.(2016).
SustainabletourismpracticesamonghotelsinMalaysia:
Financialandnon-financialbenefits. Journal of Sustain-
ability Science and Management, 11(1),73–81.
86 | AcademicaTuristica,Year14,No.1,June2021