The perception of Turkish tourists for sustainable hotels and its impact on their hotel selection
Özet
The United Nations defined sustainability in 1987 as meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Due to reasons such as
climate changes, drought, depletion of the ozone layer, and reduction of natural resources, the
concept of sustainability has started to invade in our lives incrementally since late 1980s. The three
main dimensions of sustainability are defined as environment, economy and society. Goals for
sustainable development have been determined and countries have been making plans on how they
can develop in line with these goals. In addition, tourism sector has also been discussed in terms
of sustainability and concepts such as sustainable destination, sustainable city, sustainable tourism
have emerged. Among these, one concept that should be handled carefully is the concept of
sustainable hotel. Hotels aim to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction with 24-hour
customer service. However, issues such as high energy and water consumption and waste
generation are among the functions that need to be meticulously managed for hotels, as in other
service businesses. The concept of sustainability in Turkish tourism attracts increasing attention.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been pioneering and guiding in this field. Hotel
businesses, on the other hand, are taking steps to obtain the necessary certificates in terms of
sustainability, to develop measures and to become green and sustainable hotels. This research
examines the perceptions of Turkish visitors on the concept of sustainable hotel; its impact on their
hotel selection and questions whether the demographic differences may impact their perception.
For this purpose, a scale is developed. In the first part of the developed scale, perception for the
sustainable hotel concept is questioned; in the second part, their hotel selection preferences are
asked. The data obtained are evaluated according to demographics like age, occupation, income
level, education etc. to find out the impact of demographic differences on their perception and
preferences. The results of this research may contribute to understand the perception level of
Turkish visitors for sustainable hotels and how this perception may be further developed. Further
studies may be performed to compare the perceptions of different countries with different
variables. Sustainability has become an important driver for our future. However, its future
depends on the level of peoples’ understanding and consciousness. Therefore, the findings of this
research may contribute to the sustainability progress and development by providing important
information for the society’s understanding for sustainable hotel concept. The findings will help
tourism stakeholders to develop further strategies to implement better sustainability applications
for hotels and tourism.