GREEN HOTELS FROM SINGAPORE TRAVELLERS' PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This dissertation, through a survey of 259 local respondents, seeks to examine the awareness and appreciation of green hotels among Singapore residents travelling overseas. The related issues of green certifications and greenwashing are also discussed to provide an in-depth exploratory study. The survey indicates that 64.1% of the respondents are not aware of the existence of green hotels and at least 65.6% of them hold the opinion that green hotels can only partially reduce environmental footprint. Cross tabulation analysis also suggests that the majority of Singapore travellers, regardless of gender and age group, do not consider the eco-friendliness aspect when choosing overseas hotels for their accommodation. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is also used to calibrate the willingness to pay based on the green certification programmes across varying quality of accommodation ranging from 1-star to 5-star hotels. The findings reveal that Singapore consumers are willing to pay a premium ranging from 0.7046% to 3.3282%. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between willingness to pay and star-rating of lodging properties. Another noteworthy finding of this study is that consumers are price-conscious. To increase consumers’ willingness to pay for green features, it is recommended that hoteliers obtain green certifications to boost green credibility. Travellers are also sceptical of the green movement adopted by hotels and are mindful of the possibility that hotel businesses are merely engaging in greenwashing. Hence, hotel operators need to enhance their communication channels to bring home the message to their customers that they are walking the green talk.