Sustainability Practices at Hotels and BnB Establishments …
355
as a control instrument and provide no advice or support for further development
of the operations. This in turn shows that hotel managers do not use these results
to evaluate and develop their organizations (Bergman and Klefsjö 2012). The hotel
managers also testify to the lack of cooperation and lack of network with other actors
and hotels on the abroad and mainland, but also on the island. This means, probably,
that they feel that they do not have the supporting structures they would want and
need in their daily work.
Respondents also address aspects that are directly linked to their economic reality.
Local traffic on the island is deficient and counteracts sustainability thinking. The
ferry traffic between the mainland and the island during the high season is perceived
as under-dimensioned. This causes uneven guest influx due to cancellations. Hotel
managers also show a dissatisfaction with the abolished state tax benefits for young
employees. All the hotels multiply their staff during the high season (April-Sept).
Most workers come from the mainland, are young and have little or no education
in the hotel industry This seasonal staff structure seems to make it uninteresting for
many of hotel managers to train their staff on sustainability issues.
Other areas that managers want Region Gotland to take on greater responsibility
and help is with energy conversion. They want to be offered subsidies to reduce
their energy costs. Another area that they want help with is to educate visitors in
the sustainability thinking. As one of the hotel managers expresses it: ‘Many of the
guests are not acting sustainable, we can’t control everyone what they do!’
Statement shows that they really don’t have communication channels to the guests.
All these statements above show that responsibility is strongly linked to the economic
sustainability at the hotels, that is, to accountability. Still, managers note that they
can’t fulfil all the wishers of guests, regarding sustainability, due to economic reasons.
One of the ten managers seem to take her responsibility by stating that being critical
is good but you also need to find and create solutions.
23 Conclusions
Sustainability is increasingly attracting attention within global hospitality industry
including marketing variations in the volume and the detail of the data and information expressed by the owners and managers. This exploratory study discusses how
some BnB owners and hotel managers in Gotland reflect on issues of sustainability,
what kind of solutions they implement in their establishments and what are the potential policy impacts. It is stated that collaborative consumption strategies can achieve
sustainability in businesses. The sharing economy is based on network effects in
which consumers-peers (both hosts/mangers and guests) not only exchange goods
and services (a room in a BnB/hotel) but also act upon each other’s knowledge, experiences, and social and cultural capital to create a valuable product. An individual’s
network of connections is thus essential part of the societal structure. Here, human
capital creates a social-relational bridge between consumption and production, mak-
355
as a control instrument and provide no advice or support for further development
of the operations. This in turn shows that hotel managers do not use these results
to evaluate and develop their organizations (Bergman and Klefsjö 2012). The hotel
managers also testify to the lack of cooperation and lack of network with other actors
and hotels on the abroad and mainland, but also on the island. This means, probably,
that they feel that they do not have the supporting structures they would want and
need in their daily work.
Respondents also address aspects that are directly linked to their economic reality.
Local traffic on the island is deficient and counteracts sustainability thinking. The
ferry traffic between the mainland and the island during the high season is perceived
as under-dimensioned. This causes uneven guest influx due to cancellations. Hotel
managers also show a dissatisfaction with the abolished state tax benefits for young
employees. All the hotels multiply their staff during the high season (April-Sept).
Most workers come from the mainland, are young and have little or no education
in the hotel industry This seasonal staff structure seems to make it uninteresting for
many of hotel managers to train their staff on sustainability issues.
Other areas that managers want Region Gotland to take on greater responsibility
and help is with energy conversion. They want to be offered subsidies to reduce
their energy costs. Another area that they want help with is to educate visitors in
the sustainability thinking. As one of the hotel managers expresses it: ‘Many of the
guests are not acting sustainable, we can’t control everyone what they do!’
Statement shows that they really don’t have communication channels to the guests.
All these statements above show that responsibility is strongly linked to the economic
sustainability at the hotels, that is, to accountability. Still, managers note that they
can’t fulfil all the wishers of guests, regarding sustainability, due to economic reasons.
One of the ten managers seem to take her responsibility by stating that being critical
is good but you also need to find and create solutions.
23 Conclusions
Sustainability is increasingly attracting attention within global hospitality industry
including marketing variations in the volume and the detail of the data and information expressed by the owners and managers. This exploratory study discusses how
some BnB owners and hotel managers in Gotland reflect on issues of sustainability,
what kind of solutions they implement in their establishments and what are the potential policy impacts. It is stated that collaborative consumption strategies can achieve
sustainability in businesses. The sharing economy is based on network effects in
which consumers-peers (both hosts/mangers and guests) not only exchange goods
and services (a room in a BnB/hotel) but also act upon each other’s knowledge, experiences, and social and cultural capital to create a valuable product. An individual’s
network of connections is thus essential part of the societal structure. Here, human
capital creates a social-relational bridge between consumption and production, mak-