Hotel companies' environmental policies and practices: a content analysis of their web pages

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental management policies and practices of the top 50 hotel companies as disclosed on their corporate web sites. Design/methodology/approach This study employed content analysis to review the web sites of the top 50 hotel companies as defined herein. Findings Only 46 per cent of the selected hotel companies used web pages to post information related to environmental issues on their public web sites. The web pages of Wyndham, IHG, Accor, Whitbread, Hyatt, Rezidor, Sol Melia, TUI, and Scandic featured more revealing environmental information than that posted by other companies, which indicated their environmental commitment and engagement. The results of content analysis identified 12 major environmental focus areas in which the sample hotel companies engaged. Research limitations/implications The findings on environmental policies and practices are limited to the environmental information featured on the web sites of the top 50 hotel companies. Some of these companies may have established environmental policies or initiated environmental programs not disseminated on their web sites. In addition, web page information can be changed at any time, and the findings of this study are based upon a snapshot of the web sites as of March 2010. Practical implications This study establishes a benchmark of the dissemination of environmental information on the internet by leading hotels, and provides a preliminary picture of environmental initiatives and engagement among these top hotel companies. The information generated from this study can serve as a guide for hotels that would like to engage in an environmental management program. This study also provides a source of information for hotels that would like to develop environmental web sites to demonstrate their environmental commitment to their stakeholders. Originality/value Information concerning the content of environmental information disseminated on the web sites of large hotel companies is sparse. Consequently, this study aims to provide a snapshot of where the hotel industry is with regard to on‐line environmental disclosure and related environmental policies and practices.