Determinants of Management Commitment to Application of Green Practices in Four and Five Star Hotels along Kenyan Coast
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Date
2015
Authors
Wachira, Irungu, Robert
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Abstract
Kenya's Vision 2030 economic pillar recognizes the important role of natural
resource-based sectors. The promotion of these has a direct link with the protection
and enhancement of the environment and its resources. Kenya hopes to raise the
number of international visitors from 1.6 million to 3 million and increase bed
capacity from 40,000 to 65,000 while emphasizing on high service quality. Whereas
Kenya stands to gain enormously from tourism by the year 2030, policies and
strategies must be put in place to mitigate unintended adverse outcomes such as
environmental degradation. Managerial influence on environmental management is
rarely investigated. In Kenya greening in hotels is a recent concept that managers are
yearning to embrace. There is little research that has been undertaken to establish how
management commitment influences green practices application in Kenyan hotel
sector. This study therefore sought to establish the current state of green practices in
four and five star hotels along the Kenyan Coast. The general objective of this study
was to examine existing green practices in the hotel sector. Specific objectives sought
to establish the relationship between management commitment and green practices in
4 and 5 star hotels, to evaluate the range of green practices implementation in 4 and 5
star hotels, to establish the effect of environmental awareness on green practices
application, to find out possible challenges of applying green practices in 4 and 5 star
hotels, to determine the impact of perceived benefits on green practices in 4 and 5 star
hotels. The study used descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Stratified random
sampling was used to identify the sample hotels. Key operatives were selected using
systematic sampling while purposive sampling was used for selection of line
managers and general managers. Data were collected using questionnaires, interview
schedules and observation checklists. Data analysis included descriptive statistics to
determine the frequencies, means, standard deviations and percentages for
demographic variables and each of the survey items. Product moment (Pearson)
correlation and chi square were used to test the hypothesis. Qualitative data was
analyzed using content analysis. Some of the commonly observed practices included
the use of solar power, use of low flow flash toilets and recycling. While 88.9% of the
managers were not satisfied with their current green practices 81.5% were focusing on
improving the green concepts adopted. Only 44.4% of the managers highlighted
control of harmful emissions and noise pollution in their environmental policy. This
reveals a knowledge gap where environmental policies need to be reviewed regularly
so as to highlight sensitive areas of greening. The chi square tests revealed that there
is a significant relationship between management commitment and green practices
application (chi-square value = 85.387, and P-value=O.OOO). The Pearson correlation
test indicated that there is a strong positive relationship between management
commitment to green practices application and perceived benefits (correlation
coefficient =0.528 and P-value =0.000). The study therefore recommended that hotel
managers should embrace regular environmental audits where environmental
performance is constantly monitored and recorded. Environmental education and
training were also considered valuable in developing awareness, knowledge, positive
attitude, skills and participation in green practices.
Description
Department of Tourism Management, 105p. 2015