Hotel’s best practices as strategic drivers for environmental sustainability and green marketing

Majority of the hospitality industry depends on the natural beauty and charisma of destinations thus emphasis on sustainability should be laid. Hotel operators are aware of the benefits of sustainability and many of them publicly promote their best practices as their marketing strategy. They are adopting green marketing as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors, cut costs associated with waste disposal and material usage. This paper aims at understanding the importance of green marketing with respect to implementing green practices in the hotel industry. The purpose of the study was to determine the benefits and challenges of undertaking environmental best practices and integrating these practices into their marketing strategy. The data were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected by surveying the hotel staff across 20 hotels in India. Study concluded that hotels who have implemented green practices in their operations have been benefited like enhanced reputation and more worth among customers in comparison to other hotels. Most of the hotel implemented the environmental initiatives without any systematic approach. It is recommended that hotels should develop green management policies for improved quality of the environment and minimizing their impact of operations on the environment.