Do Tourists Really Care About Sustainability? The Impact of Eco-Friendly Practices on Hotel Choice Behaviour

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which tourists appreciate sus-tainable tourism and what effect eco-friendly practices have on the decision-making process of selecting a hotel. Through the use of large-scale analysis of online reviews of hotels and the application of sentiment analysis techniques, the research investigates the impact of environmental factors (e.g., energy usage reduction, minimizing waste, and promoting nature experiences) on customer perspectives and decision-making processes for lodging. This research adopts an approach that utilizes machine-learning based sentiment analysis as its source of understanding. The results of this research demonstrate that as more individuals become aware of sustainable tourism; however, sustainability often plays a secondary role in determining whether or not to stay at a specific hotel when compared to such lodging attributes, as comfort, price and quality service. Based upon these findings, this research indicates that while many tourists’ value sustainable tourism and make an effort to choose eco-friendly lodging establishments, the influence of sus-tainability on tourists' lodging decisions is not as strong as other attributes. These results indicate important implications for hotel managers that will help them to balance envi-ronmental stewardship with a competitive stance.