Sustainability Practices at Hotels and BnB Establishments …
345
12 Methodology
12.1 Case Area
The island of Gotland is situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Around 58,000
people live permanently in Gotland. Visby is the island’s capital and only city where
the principal administration, education, and health services and the most hotels are
found. As in many other parts of the country, centralization is strong in Gotland.
Approximately 24,000 people live in Visby, close to 40% of the island’s permanent
inhabitants. About as many live in the countryside, however, rapid depopulation and
loss of public services “has been rapid and is still going on, except during a couple of
months in summer, when the population in some places multiplies 20 times or more”
(Ronström 2003: 2). The inscription of Visby into the World Heritage List in 2005
has propelled the medieval town and the island into the global circuit of tourism.
Improved transportation to and from the island as well as complete digitalization of
the island (completed in 2017) has added to its competitive and attractiveness as a
place to work and live. This has certainly enabled the town of Visby as well as rural
Gotland to more easily and efficiently enter the global digital platforms and booking
systems, and thus develop new forms of entrepreneurship. The enhanced number of
visitors to the island has also demanded increased hotel room capacity. Even hotel
business has benefited from digitization through the many different booking sites on
the internet. Recently, the inauguration of the new cruise pier in Visby in April 2018
has opened up new opportunities and fears for tourism development in the city, and
probably, on the whole island.
12.2 Data Collection
Primary data collection for this study took place between June 2017 and October
2018 as well as Jan–Feb 2019 on the island of Gotland in Southern Sweden. Twenty
qualitative semi-structured interviews (Bernard 2006)—one hour each—were conducted with ten BnB owners in rural Gotland and with managers on ten hotels in
the city of Visby. Interviews were based on an open-ended questionnaire developed by the author. All interviews were conducted in Swedish, except for one, in
English. The questionnaire was composed of four sections, each containing related
questions: (1) Introduction (owner’s/manager’s age, background etc.…), (2) On the
business’s establishment (when and why the owner started the BnB, accommodation’s features/started working at the hotel etc.…), (3) Questions about sustainability
(general questions about sustainability and how owners/managers implement sustainable solutions in their accommodations), (4) Sustainability and the future (what
owners/managers wish to develop in the future in regard to sustainability in their
accommodation, sustainability and tourism on the island etc.…).
345
12 Methodology
12.1 Case Area
The island of Gotland is situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Around 58,000
people live permanently in Gotland. Visby is the island’s capital and only city where
the principal administration, education, and health services and the most hotels are
found. As in many other parts of the country, centralization is strong in Gotland.
Approximately 24,000 people live in Visby, close to 40% of the island’s permanent
inhabitants. About as many live in the countryside, however, rapid depopulation and
loss of public services “has been rapid and is still going on, except during a couple of
months in summer, when the population in some places multiplies 20 times or more”
(Ronström 2003: 2). The inscription of Visby into the World Heritage List in 2005
has propelled the medieval town and the island into the global circuit of tourism.
Improved transportation to and from the island as well as complete digitalization of
the island (completed in 2017) has added to its competitive and attractiveness as a
place to work and live. This has certainly enabled the town of Visby as well as rural
Gotland to more easily and efficiently enter the global digital platforms and booking
systems, and thus develop new forms of entrepreneurship. The enhanced number of
visitors to the island has also demanded increased hotel room capacity. Even hotel
business has benefited from digitization through the many different booking sites on
the internet. Recently, the inauguration of the new cruise pier in Visby in April 2018
has opened up new opportunities and fears for tourism development in the city, and
probably, on the whole island.
12.2 Data Collection
Primary data collection for this study took place between June 2017 and October
2018 as well as Jan–Feb 2019 on the island of Gotland in Southern Sweden. Twenty
qualitative semi-structured interviews (Bernard 2006)—one hour each—were conducted with ten BnB owners in rural Gotland and with managers on ten hotels in
the city of Visby. Interviews were based on an open-ended questionnaire developed by the author. All interviews were conducted in Swedish, except for one, in
English. The questionnaire was composed of four sections, each containing related
questions: (1) Introduction (owner’s/manager’s age, background etc.…), (2) On the
business’s establishment (when and why the owner started the BnB, accommodation’s features/started working at the hotel etc.…), (3) Questions about sustainability
(general questions about sustainability and how owners/managers implement sustainable solutions in their accommodations), (4) Sustainability and the future (what
owners/managers wish to develop in the future in regard to sustainability in their
accommodation, sustainability and tourism on the island etc.…).