Page 32 - Sustaining Accommodation SMES

4 Sustainability Standards as Enablers of the Sustainable Transition

nised schemes accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Coun-
cil. Examples such as Green Key, Travelife, Green Globe, Earth-
Check, Nordic Swan and the eu Ecolabel for Tourist Accommo-
dation provide sector-specific criteria covering energy and water
management, waste reduction, chemical use, social responsibility,
accessibility and community engagement. These schemes rely on
third-party assessment and periodic renewal, offering hotels both
managerial guidance and a credible signal of responsible practice to
guests and partners. Empirical studies show that certified hotels tend
to adopt more systematic environmental procedures, achieve mea-
surable improvements in resource efficiency, and often report repu-
tational or marketing benefits (Chan, 2008; Esparon et al., 2014).
2. A second category includes regulatory frameworks mandated at
national or destination level. These may take the form of envi-
ronmental performance requirements, minimum energy efficiency
thresholds, water-use restrictions, waste-sorting obligations, or des-
tination-based quality and sustainability schemes. Practical exam-
ples include mandatory energy performance certificates for accom-
modation buildings, legally required waste separation systems for
hotels, seasonal water-use restrictions during drought periods in
Mediterranean destinations, or local regulations obliging accom-
modation providers to monitor and report energy and water con-
sumption. In some destinations, regulatory requirements are fur-
ther complemented by destination-based quality or sustainability
schemes that define minimum environmental and social standards
for accommodation providers operating within protected areas or
high-pressure tourism zones. While less widely studied in academic
literature than voluntary programmes, regulatory standards influ-
ence the accommodation sector by establishing baseline expecta-
tions and reducing the risk of uneven implementation. In destina-
tions where such frameworks exist, they help stabilise sustainability
as a system-wide norm rather than an optional initiative. They also
lessen the burden on individual hotels to interpret sustainability in-
dependently, embedding sustainability in local tourism governance
structures.

3. The third category comprises international management system
standards, such as iso 14001 and, more recently, iso 21401, which
is specifically designed for accommodation establishments. These

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