Business Travel, Hotels, and Environmental Sustainability
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BUSINESS TRAVEL, HOTELS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY An exploration of business travellers’ environment-related practices at the travel destination Wouter Geerts Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of London 2014 Department of Geography Royal Holloway, University of London DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Wouter Geerts, hereby declare that this thesis and the empirical work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: -2- ABSTRACT This thesis explores what evidence there is that business travellers engage in environment- related practices (ERP) when they are at their travel destination, and evaluates what scope there is to expand the uptake of pro-environmental practices. Research at the intersection between environmental behaviour and flying has been undertaken before, but to my knowledge no published research has covered the practices of business travellers at the destination (in situ practices). The opportunities for business travellers to make pro- environmental choices, but also the influence of corporate and hotel structures on these choices, deserves further investigation. To better understand business travellers’ in situ practices, empirical research was undertaken in London, UK, with three groups of stakeholders that are involved in business travel, namely hotel managers, individual business travellers, and to a lesser extent their employers. This source triangulation allowed for an understanding of in situ practices from the perspective of different integral actors, and enhanced the research’s reliability and rigour. Interviews were carried out with 34 business travellers, 22 London hotel managers and 4 company representatives, and business travellers were observed in hotel settings. The findings from the empirical research are examined in four discussion chapters. Firstly, the discussion focuses on the limited implementation and communication of CSR practices in the researched hotels. This is followed by examining business travellers’ experiences and attitudes to travelling, and the impact of the strenuous lifestyle on the uptake of ERP. By comparing the uptake of ERP at home and when away, it is argued that the strain of travelling negatively impacts the uptake of these practices when away. Next, through an exploration of the impact of corporate structures on travellers’ behaviour, it is argued that travellers have opportunities to change their practices. Finally, however, it is discussed how there are major constraints, like travellers attempting to minimize ‘friction’ and group identity, which inhibit these changes. Therefore, it is proposed that a collective and collaborative approach is needed, initiated by hotels and employers. The thesis emphasises the importance that should be placed by hotel management on the ‘friction’ that is added or reduced by implementing CSR practices. There is a scope for small changes to the practices of business travellers and to the structures that enable and inhibit these practices, in an effort to expand the pro-environmental practices that are currently present in individuals’ lifestyles and in the hotel industry. -3- TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 3 Table of contents ................................................................................................................... 4 List of figures ......................................................................................................................... 8 List of tables .......................................................................................................................... 9 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 10 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 13 1.1 Positioning the research .............................................................................................. 15 1.1.1 Globalization and environmental sustainability .................................................. 15 1.1.2 Defining business travel ....................................................................................... 16 1.1.3 Defining environment-related practices .............................................................. 18 1.1.4 Defining CSR ....................................................................................................... 20 1.1.5 Social practices and structuration theory ............................................................ 23 1.2 Research aim and questions ........................................................................................ 25 1.3 Research methods ....................................................................................................... 30 1.3.1 Choice of the geographical case .......................................................................... 30 1.3.2 London as the research location .......................................................................... 30 1.3.3 Research design ................................................................................................... 31 1.4 Thesis outline .............................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 2: PRACTICE THEORY, STRUCTURATION AND ‘GREEN’ LIFESTYLES ...................................................................................................................... 36 2.1 The emergence of ‘green’ lifestyles ............................................................................ 37 2.1.1 Climate change and sustainable development ..................................................... 37 2.1.2 Detraditionalization and individualisation .......................................................... 38 2.1.3 Ethical consumption ............................................................................................. 39 2.2 Lifestyles and practice theories ................................................................................... 41 2.2.1 Social practices .................................................................................................... 41 2.2.2 Understanding practices as routinized behaviour ............................................... 43 2.3 The influence of structures on practices ..................................................................... 44 2.3.1 The importance of researching structures ........................................................... 44 2.3.2 Shortcomings of research into values and attitudes ............................................ 45 2.3.3 Constraining and enabling structures .................................................................. 47 2.4 The duality of structure and performances ................................................................. 49 2.4.1 Goffman on social encounters and performances ................................................ 50 2.4.2 Individuals’ agency to change structures ............................................................ 53 2.5 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER 3: CSR PRACTICES, THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, AND CORPORATE CONTROL ................................................................................................ 56 3.1 Hotels and the implementation of CSR practices ....................................................... 57 3.1.1 The rise of commercial hospitality ....................................................................... 57 3.1.2 Debating the nature of hospitality ....................................................................... 59 3.1.3 The hospitality industry and guests’ demands ..................................................... 60 -4- 3.1.4 Reasons for hotels to implement CSR practices ................................................... 61 3.1.5 Criticism of hotels’ implementation of CSR practices ......................................... 64 3.1.6 Weak and strong sustainability approaches ........................................................ 65 3.1.7 Environmental certification schemes ................................................................... 67 3.1.8 Guest expectations and CSR practices ................................................................. 67 3.2 The influence of employers on business travellers’ behaviour ................................... 69 3.2.1 Value congruence ................................................................................................. 70 3.2.2 Corporate control and its limitations ................................................................... 72 3.2.3 Business travellers’ freedom and agency ............................................................. 74 3.3 Concluding remarks .................................................................................................... 76 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 78 4.1 Research philosophy ................................................................................................... 79 4.2 The research population