ECO-CERTIFICATES IN SMALL HOTELS: THE SPLIT-DALMATIAN COUNTY EXPERIENCE

Eco-certificates have been introduced in the hotel industry to reduce the negative impacts of the industry on the natural resources and to ensure high environmental standards. Nowadays, hotels use eco-certificates to develop and signal an ecologically sustainable approach to business. Customers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and by offering environmentally friendly products and services, hotels aim to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The main aim of this paper is to reveal and examine the attitudes of the key staff members (owners, directors, top managers) of small hotels in Split-Dalmatia County towards green business in general, and eco-certificates in particular, using an online questionnaire. Out of 110 registered small hotels (hotels with up to 50 accommodation units) in Split-Dalmatia County, our sample consists of 23 small hotels. Our results reveal that eco-certificates, as instruments and indicators of sustainable business in the hotel industry, are still not widely implemented among small hotels in Split-Dalmatia County. Most hotels are not at all familiar with eco-certificates, and some of them are aware of their existence but are not sure how to implement them. The latter also indicate that the implementation of eco-certificates is costly and time consuming. In addition, some hotels indicate that they believe that their business is green and ecologically sustainable although they have not implemented eco-certificates. The main finding of our research; namely that only one out of twenty-three small hotels in our sample is eco-certified, suggests that more efforts should be made to inform and educate small hotels about eco-certificates and the positive effects they can bring to their business and environment at the same time. In addition, policy makers should consider offering environmental subsidies, so that more hotels and tourism entities are encouraged to implement eco-certificates and make their business green and ecologically sustainable.