Assignment

HTM425 Tourism Industry Trends Article

Research Paper (Sample Paper 1)-

The Green Hotel Is a Growing Niche in

San Francisco

It is my pleasure to authorize Dr. Mehmet Ergul to use this assignment as

an sample paper as a teaching material of HTM 425 in San Francisco

State University.

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1

II. CURRENT TREND IN SAN FRANCISCO ..................................................... 2

III. DISCUSSION ON FUTURE TREND .............................................................. 3

IV. SUMMARY/ CONCLUSION AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE ................... 4

V. REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 5

Page 1 of 5

I. INTRODUCTION

With the increasing concern of the environment protection, there is more and more

tourists opt for green tourism. Going to green hotels is one of the practices of green

tourism. Authors suggested that there are increasing numbers of guests looking for

green hotel (Han, Hsu, & Sheu, 2010). However, some authors pointed out that

consumers are willing to stay in green hotel but unwilling to pay for it (Manaktola.

and Jauhari. 2007). This allegation is formed in India. However, it may not so

applicable to San Francisco where is an environmentally-friendly city. Therefore, I

think the green hotel is a growing niche in San Francisco.

Residents in San Francisco show much awareness and effort in protecting the

environment. It can be proved by the commonly seen recycling bins which basically

being categorized as recycled, compost and trash. It is required by San Francisco

mandatory composting and recycling law which became effective in 2009. In April

2013, there is a ban of plastic bags in San Mateo country as well. Every plastic bag

will be charged for 10 cents. It implicates that the San Francisco residents are quite

well-educated about protecting environment.

Page 2 of 5

II. CURRENT TREND IN SAN FRANCISCO

Manaktola. and Jauhari. (2007) thought consumers are unwilling to pay a premium for

green service. Even if consumers want to go green, they faced with constraints or

conflicts which resist them go have green behavior. It can be also explained by the

satisfaction of wants which ignores the long term benefits of society (McDaniel and

Rylander, 1993).

However, I am quite doubtful about this allegation. It may be true in the old days

since the green awareness was comparatively low. There was less issue about global

warming, air and water pollution etc. With the increasing population and the use of

energy, the number of ecological conscious people has been increased.

Environmentalism has been an important issue in the marketplace (Han et al., 2009).

Laroche et al. (2001) discovered that ecological conscious consumers intend to spend

more to consider ecological issue. Marriot has to double the number of “green rooms”

which offers purify air and water due to high demand, given that consumers has to

pay US$10 premium. (Gustin and Weaver, 1996)

Page 3 of 5

III. DISCUSSION ON FUTURE TREND

It is believed that the going green phenomenon will be more popular. The reasons are

threefold. Firstly, it is believed that hotel can save money in the long run since hotel

industry is one of the most energy-and-water intensive sectors in the tourism industry

(Bohdanowicz, 2005).For example, the cost of buying energy-saving bulbs is high.

But it reduces electricity expense in the long run. Secondly, they can gain positive

publicity which is called the corporate social responsibility. Going green is one of the

ways to define the brand, creating a base of loyalty guests (i.e. ecological conscious

consumers). Chan (2005) agrees that green hotels satisfy eco-friendly consumers’

needs and avoid criticism of existing tourism practices as well. Thirdly, researchers

found out that consumers are willing to accept the minor inconveniences in green

hotels, for example, reusing towels and using recycled products. They are keen to

learn about the positive environmental attributes of green hotels. (Kim and Han, 2010).

It proves that consumers are not so reluctant to sacrifice their existing lifestyle.

In the future, with the increasing competiveness of the hotel industry, it is believed

that hotels will be more customer-oriented, trying to cater for niche consumes’ needs.

The number of green hotels will be increased to satisfy the surging demand. And the

price of green hotels will be lower due to keen competition.

Page 4 of 5

IV. SUMMARY/ CONCLUSION AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

There is an increasing environmental concern. More and more consumers prefer a

green lodging facility that follows environmentally friendly practice. (Han, Hsu and

Sheu, 2010). From consumers’ perspective, given there is a high fee of going green, it

is proved that the ecological conscious consumers are still willing to pay a premium

for using green facilities. From hotels’ perspective, though a huge capital is needed to

be a green lodging place, they are still willing to invest to save money in the long run.

Moreover, hotels forecast that there is a basket of green guests. It is showed that green

market is a growing niche. With more green promotion, it is predicted that the green

market will not only be a niche anymore. There is a possibility that they can share a

same market share in the industry.

This is a useful assignment since it gives me a chance to explore the trend in

hospitality. Following the trend is not enough. This is just a reactive response to the

industry. To be a leader, you need to forecast and to be reactive. This is why I love this

assignment.

Page 5 of 5

V. REFERENCES

Bohdanowicz, P. (2005). European hoteliers’ environmental attitudes: Greening the

business. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Quarterly, 46, 188–204.

Chan, W.W. (2005). Predicting and saving the consumption of electricity in

sub-tropical hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality

Management, 17(3), 228–237.

Gustin, M. E. & Weaver, P. A. (1996). Are Hotels Prepared for the Environmental

Consumer?. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 20 (1), 1-14.

Han, H., Hsu, L. T. & Lee, J. S. (2009). Empirical investigation of the roles of

attitudes toward green behaviors, overall image, gender, and age in hotel

customers’ eco-friendly decision-making process. International Journal of

Hospitality Management, 28 519-528.

Han, H., Hsu, L., & Sheu, C. (2010). Application of the theory of planned behavior to

green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities. Tourism

Management, 31, 325–334

Kim, Y. & Han, H. (2010). Intention to pay conventional-hotel prices at a green hotel

– a modification of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Sustainable Tourism,

18 (8), 997-1014.

Manaktola, K. & Jauhari, V. (2007). Exploring consumer attitude and

behaviour towards green practices in the lodging industry in India.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19 (5),

364-377.

McDaniel, S.W. and Rylander, D.H. (1993), “Strategic green marketing”, The Journal

of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 4-11.