CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the study
Before the 1960s, the hospitality/tourism industry was perceived as an “environmentally friendly” and “smokeless industry” hardly worthy of harassment (Holden, 2000; William and Ponsford, 2008; Kasim, 2007). Some scholars even championed the industry as a promising economic and environmental alternative to the ‘Fordist-style’ resource extraction and production1. However, perspectives concerning the ‘smokelessness’ (Williams and Ponsford, 2008) of the industry began to shift especially when increasing trends of energy supply, the burden of waste management and pollution became evident as the negative environmental impacts in the hospitality sector of the tourism industry (Kasim, 2006). It is against this background that many scholars, governments, and ecological movements joined the bandwagon for the adoption of ‘green practices’ in the hospitality industry across the globe (Rogerson & Sims 2012). 2
Many labels such as ‘sustainable tourism’ (Middleton, 1998) ‘ecotourism’ (CeballouLascurain, as cited in Fennel, 2001), ‘Nature-based tourism’ ‘green responsible business’ ‘responsible tourism’ (Spenceley et al., 2002), ‘socially-conscious tourism’ (Debarbieri, 2008) among others have been
2 In fact, the essence of green business practices become evident especially in the 31-year-old Brundtland report which alerted the world on the essence of green business practice. According William and Ponsford, (2008) this conception of green business practice after the Rio Summit in 1992, compelled governments, business and other non-state actors to “recognize and mitigate the negative environmental impacts of their developments”
given to describe the adoption of ‘eco-friendlier’ (Mbasera, 2016) practices by the hospitality industry (Lindberg, 1991; Hunter and Green, 1995; Lozano-Oyola et al., 2012). Throughout this study, the term ‘green business practice’ is used as a blanket concept, under which other terms, such as ecotourism and responsible tourism may fit.
Green business practice has over the years received several interpretations. Whereas some scholars consider the concept as seeking just environmental quality or producing green output (Business Dictionary, n.d;3 Brown and Ratledge 2011), others also argue for a more comprehensive approach of seeking ecological concerns while maintaining the profitability of the enterprise (Hassan, 2000; Spenceley et al., 2002). With reference to Makower and Pyke (2009), this study defines green practice as the availability of policies and initiatives that seek to promote environmental quality and business sustainability.
Globally, the hotel industry has witnessed significant growth over the years. The increase in tourism, the establishment of business headquarters for multinational corporations etc seems to explain more of the rise in the accommodation sector. A hotel industry analysis reveals that bookings in travel and tourism hit almost $1.6 trillion in 2017 4. The hotel industry which is one of the significant sectors of the hospitality industry constituted over 30 per cent of the value 5. Hotel industry market statistics according to Statista and Deloitte in 2018 asserts that the global hotel industry is set to cross USD 500 Billion in 2018. Again, the hotel industry alone is expected to sustain by growing at 6-7% in 2018 6.
3 Business Dictionary, n.d www.business dictionary.com accessed 20th May, 2018
5 Ibid no 4
6 Ibid no 4
The hotel industry in Ghana has received much improvement after the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme in the 1980s (Mensah and Blankson, 2014). This according to Kuuder (2012), is in response to the issue of investor friendliness, appreciable political stability, and recent oil discovery of the country. International travellers to Ghana increased significantly between the year 2000 to 2009 from 399,000 to 802,779 respectively (Kuuder 2012). This growth simultaneously increased the number of registered hotels between 1992 to 1,595 (Ghana Tourism Board, 2009). However, the geographic distribution of hotels in Ghana has not been uniform, with Greater Accra Region alone accounting for about 40% of registered hotels (Mensah, 2006). In May 2017 for example, the region recorded the presence of 2,723 hotels and lodges7. This growth leaves the most significant, visible and permanent carbon footprint on the environment. This is because the growth of these hotels in the region has some correlation with the generation of negative environmental impacts such as excessive consumption of energy and water and the production of both liquid and solid waste (Mensah and Blankson, 2014).
Statement of the Problem
The accommodation sector is the largest in the tourism industry (Akyeampong, 2006; Ottenbacher et al., 2009). Hotels, a crucial component of the accommodation sector are characterized by several activities that collectively exert a significant impact on environmental resources (Kirk, 1995; Andrea 2007:1916; Bohdanowicz, Zientara & Novotna 2011:801). According to estimations by Han et al., (2010), an average hotel emits between 160 kg and 200 kg of carbon dioxide per square meter of room floor area per year. Water consumption per night by a guest is between 170 and 440
7 https://www.myjoyonline.com assessed June, 3, 2018
litres in an average five-star hotel. On average, hotels produce 1 kg of solid waste per guest per night (Ibid).
The government of Ghana, in the quest to arrest the looming effects of hotels’ operations on the environment, created state institutions such as Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to guide and guard the activities of hotels in the country. For example, hotels in consonance with the legislative instrument are required to conduct and submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of their proposed project for review (Environmental Assessment Regulations LI 1652). They (hotels) are thereafter required to submit an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) within 18months after the commencement of business to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EMP outlines how the environmental impact of their activities will be managed. However, evidence from the literature (Mensah and Blankson 2014), suggests that hotels, especially those owned by foreigners do not comply after license and permits have been granted. This negligence confirms earlier observations by the 1996 Tourism Development Plan that hotels in Ghana are likely to be confronted with the challenge of waste disposal which might lead to the pollution of water bodies.
In fact, there have been reported cases of hotels prosecuted for discharging offensive effluent waste into public gutters (Ghana News Agency, 2009). In the view of Pigram (1995), tourism is like a two-edged sword which has the potential to create and destroy. It is against this backdrop that many calls have been made for hotels across the globe to adopt and practice some environmental management practices in order to minimize its negative impacts on the environment. For example, international hotel associations such as the International Hotels Initiative (IHEI), Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) among others can be cited for their respective efforts to employ some ecological rationality in their operations (Mensah and Blankson, 2014).
However, implementation of green initiatives in hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana is very limited (Mensah and Blankson, 2014). Even though some studies by Mensah (2006) and Kuuder, et, al., (2013) have been conducted in this regard, both studies approached the issue quantitatively. Even though the quantitative approach facilitates comparisons between organizations or groups (Yauch and Steudel, 2003), in this case, low and high star-graded hotels, qualitative methods on the other hand allows the researcher to explore the perspectives of these hotels in other to yield information that is more nuanced than data derived from surveys (Dudwick et al., 2006). Again, the case-setting for both studies excluded the La-dadekotopon municipality which is the focus of this study. Whereas Mensah (2006) focused on some hotels in Greater Accra Region, Kuuder, et al., (2013) focused on the northern part of Ghana. In the view of Dudwick et al., (2006), many important characteristics, beliefs, motivations, perceptions of people and communities cannot be meaningfully understood or reduced to numbers without particular reference to their local context. In other words, even though similar studies have been conducted internationally as well as in other parts of this country (Bohdanowicz et al., 2014; Bohdanowicz, 2006; Mensah et al., 2014; Kuuder, et, al., 2013; Mensah, 2006), conclusions made by these studies cannot be generalized in interpreting the types of green practices, policies and factors motivating the adoption of green practices in the La-dadekoton Municipality given its unique characteristics. It is against this background that this study seeks to understand green business practices among star-graded hotels in the La-dadekoton Municipality. Thus, instead of generalizing, this study seeks to uniquely understand the environmental policies and practices among 2 low graded (1-2 star) and 2 high graded (3-4) hotels in Ladadekotopon (LADMA) Municipality.
