Governmental efforts to promote sustainability in the Dutch hotel industry

¶ … Jaron Van De Laar

While green issues remain prominent in the hospitality sector, there is an immense amount of confusion amongst practitioners and academics on certain specifics. The focus of this paper will be sustainability practices in the Dutch hotel industry. The key issue addressed is governmental agencies' impact on implementation of green practices and eco-labels in the hospitality industry. Hotel stimulation to encourage engagement in eco-friendly programmes, as well as governmental promotion through setting a great example and concentrating on procuring sustainable services and products is vital. There is immense momentum for global sustainable development in the hospitality sector. There is a concerted effort on description studies in regard to the current situation concerning sustainability within the hospitality sector, and strategies and best practices that will allow hospitality companies to increasingly engage in sustainability (Van Rheede, Blomme & Tromp, 2010). The focus of this paper will be on the governmental efforts towards sustainability practices in the Dutch hotel industry.

Problem statement

Implementing eco-friendly policies and practices can influence hotels positively. In regard to the issue in question, which is sustainability in the hospitality sector, governmental agencies enact and are bound by the responsibilities arising thereby for lawmakers. Hotel stimulation to encourage engagement in eco-friendly programmes, as well as governmental promotion through setting a great example and concentrating on procuring sustainable services and products, is vital. The study aims at understanding the Dutch government's actions in relation to developing sustainability in the hospitality sector. Aside from this, the researcher intends to ascertain the types of arrangements contributing to sustainable development.

Therefore, the preliminary question is: What steps have been taken by the government of Netherlands to promote sustainability in the nation's hotel industry? For answering this question, one must first address the following three queries:

1. What does sustainable development mean?

2. What are the factors influencing sustainable development within the hotel industry?

3. In what manner does Netherland's government contribute to sustainable development?

Dutch hotel industry stakeholders and managers will be the population for this study. Each of the above questions will be addressed, both through data gathering and analysis, as well as through a comprehensive review of previous studies and relevant literature. The outline provided below will be followed for accomplishing this study:

I. Introduction

II. Literature Review

III. Research Methodology

IV. Results

V. Discussion

VI. Conclusion

Conceptual model

The term 'sustainability' is defined in several different ways in literature on the topic. The notion of 'sustainable development' or 'sustainability' arose from a perspective of environmental awareness. Of late, the idea's scope has widened to cover economic, environmental, and social sustainability -- known as sustainability's 'three pillars' and elucidated by the triple bottom line (3BL) model -- Planet, People, and Profit. This model originates from the CSR concept. Initially, a framework is adopted to examine this situation, through analysing management, guests and other primary stakeholders, defining relevant concepts, and subsequently linking the concepts together. Stakeholder framework is extended later to encompass Hotel operations management and shareholders, national and regional authorities, company staff, and guests (business/leisure) (Van Rheede, Blomme & Tromp, 2010).

Figure 1: Fishbone model of stakeholders in the sustainability of hotel operations (adopted from Van Rheede, Blomme & Tromp, 2010)

The study will be sectioned into 6 chapters, including an introductory chapter and a conclusion. Research background, study objectives and aims, and a summary of the study's structure will be covered in the introductory chapter. The next chapter will provide a literature review in regard to the notion of sustainability and efforts towards this cause by the government of Netherlands. Additionally, it encompasses the study background, introducing the Dutch hospitality industry's structure and economic importance. The chapter on methodology (i.e., Chapter 3) explains the procedures and techniques used in this study. It provides a justification for the qualitative technique selected, describes attitude measurement, and sketches the design, sampling, piloting, data gathering and analysis, using qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The fourth Chapter will present study results, which will be treated separately on the basis of research objectives. Integration of qualitative research takes place during interpretation. Consequently results, indivdual objectives' discussion, and findings will all be presented cogently in one interconnected chapter. The fifth chapter will present a discussion of study results. Lastly, Chapter six (Conclusion) will once again present the key findings, followed by placing the research in a broader context.

Proposal to Master's Thesis 1