Euro Disney: From Dream to Nightmare

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The interviewee also pointed out other significant benefits that are the saving in energy and reduction of hotel operating cost. For instance, 1.5 million HKD was allocated for electricity consumption per month, however, by implementing EMS, the hotel is able to save 3% in electricity consumption a year, which at the same time meaning that EMS is a cost-saving approach and works effectively in the whole business operation. In addition, the interviewee mentioned that EMS practices might not attract more guests to Cordis hotel, but it is a kind of responsibility to the community, which indicates that Cordis hotel is committed to take up social responsibility by implementing EMS. Energy saving and waste management that achieved by the hotel also benefits the society and actually it is an act of taking up social responsibility from EMS implementation, thus enabling the hotel to build up a positive corporate image in the public, which could eventually contributes to hotel reputation and environmental sustainability. In previous literature, some scholars pointed out the significant benefits of environmental management to hotels are cutting cost and strengthen image (Claver-Cortes et al, 2009; Bruns-Smith et al, 2015), from which our current findings are consistent with.

4.3 Barriers of Environmental Management System implementation

RQ3: What are the barriers when implementing Environmental Management System in your hotel?

The open code for this research question included the following items: (1) infrastructure change is difficult, (2) staff education, (3) low response and awareness on EMS from customer, (4) limitation in technology & EMS professionals, (5) no support from the government

The interviewee told us that the hotel building was not originally built for hotel use but for an office tower, therefore, the structure and equipment should be improved to fit with EMS practices, nevertheless, it is difficult and sometimes costly. But, some of the newly opened hotels are performing well since they have integrated building structure and EMS practices into the overall design at the beginning of hotel construction, which indicated the importance of effective building plans. Resources are important criteria for any hotel before it adopts EMS, inappropriate resources are among the barriers to EMS implementation (Gil, Jimenez and Lorente 2001). Hence, it is crucial that the management of hotel should put the building plan as a priority in consideration. Besides, no previous studies have raised this as a barrier and further research in this segment would be desirable.

In staff education aspect, the interviewee found it difficult to educate and ensure various types of staffs (part-time, full-time and newly employed staff) are all aware of the EMS programs and know how to practice EMS which in line with hotel’s EMS standard. The regular trainings that provided to their staff are on the year basis. Therefore, the manager might consider if it is necessary to maintain the current pattern and frequency of staff training or figure our other effective ways to address this issue. While in customer aspect, low response rate and awareness on EMS becomes a barrier as the interviewee said that the customers are not really aware of the EMS practices in their hotel and the customers have demonstrated less concern in EMS aspect when they choosing a hotel. Combining with previous research studies, although there was a trend in increasing awareness and willingness to pay for green products (Baker, Davis & Weaver, 2014; Han, Hsu & Lee, 2009), the attention and action that observed from customer behaviors and preference are not strong enough and need to be strengthened.

Limitation in applying technology and lacking of EMS professionals become another barrier to EMS implementation. The interviewee mentioned that it is hard to reduce electricity consumption in hotel public area, which would requires further improvement in technology to save energy, but the limitation in technology has constrained the way forward. And sometimes, even if the manager or other hotel staffs have ideas, they do not know if it will work without the professional support, which reflects the importance of professional advice from both technical and EMS professionals. Hence, actively involving both technical and EMS experts could potentially facilitate the enhancement of the hotel. According to Tinsley and Pillai (2006), one of the underlying organizational factors that can be barriers to EMS implementation is innovation and technology. Meanwhile, in previous literature, some scholars also pointed out technology is also become the barriers since the lack of knowledge on adopting environmental technologies (Chan, Okumus & Chan, 2015). Our current findings regarding the barriers to EMS implementation are the limitation in technology and EMS professionals, which is consistent with previous literature.

On the government side, the interviewee pointed out they made efforts in environmental management that in line with government regulations but there is no fund or other support from the Hong Kong government in supporting EMS practices. The lack of government support is critical, although sometimes understandable (Vincent C.S. Heung & Pandora S.K. Pun, 2013). From a hotel perspective, it would be desirable to engage in frequent communication with the government and involve them in hotel EMS implementation if possible since a direct suggestion made to the government to require monetary support seems not appropriate. In previous literature, government incentives were seen as an important benefit (Chan & Wong, 2006; Ann et al., 2006; Rivera, 2002), which is contrary to our current finding that no support from the government has been a barrier in EMS implementation. Hence, further research in this area would provide insight in the role of government in encouraging or discouraging business.