Sustainable business practices of the independently managed accommodation sector in Edinburgh

Abstract

This study aims to investigate perceived barriers to implementing sustainable businesses in environmental, economic and social dimensions of the independently managed accommodation sector in Edinburgh. Small privately owned businesses make up eighty-seven percent of all accommodation establishments in the UK, which have been criticised for not incorporating sustainable practices in their everyday businesses activities. As the importance of sustainability is continually growing, it is crucial to identify the barriers to implementing sustainable activities. To achieve this primary aim, two hypotheses were identified to provide a wide discussion on the investigating topic: the perceived barriers to implementing sustainable business practices differ between businesses that hold and do not hold the membership of the Green Tourism Scheme; the majority of accommodation businesses mainly focus on introducing environmentally friendly activities while ignoring other dimensions of sustainability. Literature review critically evaluates the issues of sustainability, importance of sustainable accommodation activities and outlines accommodation sustainable activities in economic, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions. Additionally, the literature review created the basis for introducing questionnaires, which were directly send to 212 independent accommodation businesses in Edinburgh, resulting in a sample size of 32 respondents. The conclusion from the research study suggests that the hypotheses for the research study do not meet indicated related issues of sustainability and sustainable business activities.