Sustainability and eco-friendliness is gaining considerable attention within the hotel industry (Chen, Sloan & Legrand, 2009; Kim & Han, 2010). There has been a growing awareness of the environmental and social influence of hotel operation and development among customers, operators and investors. (Chen and Peng, 2012; Jones, Hillier & Comfort, 2014; Pryce, 2001). Especially hotel customers’ demands for environmentally responsible lodging have been rapidly increasing in recent years (Chen and Tung, 2014; Han, 2015). Sustainability is therefore regarded as one of the key issues within the global lodging industry (Jones, Hillier & Comfort, 2014) and one of the most important drivers for innovations in tourism in general. Considering that today’s customers are more and more sensitive to sustainable matters and are willing to change their consumption habits to reduce environmental and social harms, it is becoming inevitable for hotels to establish a sustainable orientation and to develop sustainable innovations. Otherwise the hotels are not able to maintain competitiveness or obtain competitive advantages in the lodging marketplace. (Chen and Peng, 2012; Jones, Hillier & Comfort, 2014; Hofmeister-Toth et al., 2011; Kim and Han, 2010; Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007).

Zimmermann & Straub, Providing sustainable innovations in the hospitality industry….pdf