MRR
33,8
818
Management Research Review
Vol. 33 No. 8, 2010
pp. 818-826
# Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2040-8269
DOI 10.1108/01409171011065626
Tourism and hospitality small
and medium enterprises and
environmental sustainability
Abel D. Alonso
School of Management, University of Western Sydney, Australia, and
School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure, Edith Cowan University,
Joondalup, Australia, and
Alfred Ogle
School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure, Edith Cowan University,
Joondalup, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – While environmental sustainability is increasingly gaining relevance, it appears to have
been ignored in certain areas, such as in research on water usage of small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) in the hospitality and tourism industries. The purpose of this paper is to examine this
dimension from the perspective of the operators.
Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews were
conducted with ten managers/operators in the Swan Valley region of Western Australia.
Findings – Strong manager/operator awareness of the impact of their actions on the environment
was demonstrated. Also salient was the factors impinging on implementation of environmental
initiatives. Business demands or added costs also present challenges in fully materializing an
operator’s environmentally sustainable practices, particularly concerning water consumption in
service areas, such as in toilets, which represents a large proportion of total water usage.
Research limitations/implications – The limited number of participants does not allow for
making generalizations of environmentally sustainable practices among SMEs in the hospitality and
tourism sector. However, this exploratory study provides insights into an area that has received very
limited attention in academic research.
Practical implications – As environmental issues may increasingly become more serious, the
engagement of managers, operators, the wider business community and other bodies at different
levels is critical. In this regard, the study provides several implications for these stakeholders.
Originality/value – Very few studies have attempted to investigate environmental issues among
small hospitality and tourism enterprises. This paper not only seeks to close knowledge gaps in an
under-researched area but also to open the door for future studies in the area.
Keywords Tourism, Water supply, Small to medium-sized enterprises, Australia, Sustainable
development, Natural resources
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Despite a pronounced decline in water consumption in urban areas in 2006 (The Daily
Telegraph, 2007 ), Australia’s problems with water have been ongoing for decades. Rural
areas have been particularly hard hit resulting in the loss of materials and in some cases,
human lives (Bryant, 2006). Ironically, it is the rural areas specifically in agricultural
applications, that by far contribute to higher water usage compared to other industries
and even more so in comparison to household consumption (Fickling, 2004). It is therefore
not surprising that recently, authorities in several Australian states have taken extreme
measures to try to mitigate problems associated with the water issue.
Water restrictions, for example, are being enforced in metropolitan areas with direct
effects on many households (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2007; Warren and Wahlquist,
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