Thai Generation Y Tourists’ Perception of Hotel’s Environmental Roles, Green Hotels and Green Practices

Abstract

‘Going Green’ has become an important issue for people and industries including hotel business. This preliminary study examined Thai Generation Y tourists’ perception of hotels’ environmental roles, green hotels and green practices. It also explored the interest of Thai Generation Y tourists in green hotels and their intention to stay at green hotels. For the research methodology, this study employed a survey method and accidental sampling technique to collect primary data from Thai Generation Y tourists (aged 21 – 41 years old) whose residences were based in Bangkok. Usable 387 questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics. According to the findings, majority of respondents recognized green hotels. They considered that hotel business should establish policies and missions regarding environmental conservation and energy-efficiency. They also had a high level of positive perception towards most green hotel practices proposed in this study, especially “using automatic lighting system in guest rooms”and “encouraging employees to participate in energy saving and environmental conservation”. Among those practices, however, “room linen reuse for a multiple night guest” was the only one that was valued at moderate level. The respondents presented their interest as well as intention to choose green hotels as their accommodation.