Il valore della sostenibilità nelle PMI nel settore dell’ospitalità: dalla teoria alla pratica

The purpose of this work is to fill and overcome the existing gap detected in the existing literature and in the business practices of tourism organisations regarding the application of effective sustainability strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with specific consideration of the hospitality sector.
Over the last few years, the growing sensitivity to the issue of sustainability has induced notable changes in tourism organisations. In this context, some examples of new sustainable approaches and strategies are emerging in the hotel industry, redefining management models towards more sustainable paradigms. Nevertheless, it is unsurprising that, in hospitality, there is still a remarkable gap between sustainable development ‘theory’ and its ‘practice’. Some authors have detected not only a proliferation of initiatives adopted to minimise adverse environmental impacts, but also a scarcity of methods able to ensure these are not just greenwashing tendencies (Chen et al., 2019; Self et al., 2010).
Despite its international recognition and popularity, corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism (Font & Lynes, 2018; Kalisch, 2002; Kang et al., 2010), unlike other sectors, is still largely considered an unexplored field (Koseoglu et al., 2021; Latif et al., 2020). The use of codes of conduct, reporting systems and certification programmes is not yet sufficiently widespread and commonly shared, especially in family-run businesses (Memili et al., 2017).
Not surprisingly, the concept of sustainability is often misunderstood and used as a marketing strategy to attract nature-based tourism that does not really promote environmental conservation or the improvement of local communities’ wellbeing (Dwyer, 2020; Hartwell et al., 2016; Zheng et al., 2020). Notably, recent studies in tourism literature have focused particularly on tourists’ perception of sustainability principles (Andereck, 2009; Cottrell et al., 2004; Gao et al., 2016; Juvan & Dolnicar, 2016; Mzembe et al., 2020) or on environmental footprint measurements and eco-certifications (Dunk et al., 2016; Font, 2002; Geerts, 2014; Leroux & Pupion, 2018), overlooking the hotel managers’ perspectives. The relevance of CSR and a well-balanced triple bottom line approach in the hospitality industry, mainly in small and family hotels, in fact, has been relatively under-researched (Garay & Font, 2012; González-Rodríguez et al., 2019). Moreover, no in-depth research has yet to be conducted regarding the simultaneous analysis and application of the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) in family-run hotels (Roberts & Tribe, 2008).