Since the 1950s, the tourism industry has been growing almost constantly. As such, the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2010) has estimated at 5% (up to 10% in some countries) this industry's share of the world's GDP. For instance, the International Hotels & Restaurants Association (2010) numbered 300 000 hotels and eight million restaurants in 2009, generating economic benefits of 950 billion US dollars. In satisfying the growing needs of tourists, there are however many negative impacts such as the degradation of the biosphere, the destruction of coastal and mountain areas by the construction of hotel, parking and entertainment sites (Middleton and Hawkins, 1998), non-compliance with fundamental labor standards, and the growth of prostitution (Frangialli, 2002). Therefore, a sustainable development (SD) orientation is a strategy for organizations in tourism to minimize the negative impacts of their activities on natural, cultural and social environments (Barr et al., 2003 and United Nations Organization, 1999), and thus counter this industry's self-harming activities (Cazelais et al., 1999), given its reliance on nature and culture to thrive (Lindberg, 1991).
In the tourism industry, managers preoccupied with the environment have undertaken various initiatives in this regard (Hobson and Essex, 2001) while others have adopted SD practices rather unmindfully (Paradas, 2006). Moreover, these practices have focused for the most part on the environmental dimension of SD (Ayuso, 2007), for instance through international eco-labels such as ISO 14001 and the European Regulation EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) (Bohdanowicz, 2005). Yet the level of adoption of such practices remains modest. For example, in 2004, less than 1.5% of Spanish hotels possessed an environmental certification (Ayuso, 2007). In a survey done within six European regions, only 30% of tourism SMEs declared having a formal environmental policy (CAST, 2009). And in the Canadian hospitality industry, 14% of establishments were “Green Key” certified, a program offered by the Hotel Association of Canada (Green Key Global, 2010).
With regard to the previously mentioned eco-labels and certification programs, emphasis is placed on energy and water conservation, that is, on the environmental dimension of SD in order to promote their adoption (Hobson and Essex, 2001). Thus few enterprises in the tourism sector, including the hospitality industry, have adopted a SD orientation that also integrates the economic and social dimensions. In comparison to what has been learned on environmental management systems in the hospitality industry, there is still little knowledge on the integration of the three dimensions of SD (economic–environmental–social) into a hotel's business strategy and on the impact of such practices on hotel customer satisfaction.
At the individual consumer level, studies have looked at the customer's attitudes toward the environmental practices that have been adopted in the hospitality industry (Clarke, 2001, Dalton et al., 2008 and Watkins, 1994). Given that a general attitude toward a product or service is insufficient to predict a behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 2010), one could put into question the determinants of the choice of a SD-oriented hotel by the consumer.
Now, as opposed to customer attitudes, customer satisfaction requires a buying experience (Vanhamme, 2002). Moreover, researchers have clearly established a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and the firm's financial performance (Cronin and Taylor, 1992, Lee et al., 2000 and Reichheld, 1996). Hence it seems more relevant to evaluate those aspects of hotel customer satisfaction more directly linked to financial performance, for instance the customer's intention to return and to recommend the hotel following a satisfactory experience (Anderson et al., 1994 and Brady et al., 2002).
To the best of our knowledge, previous empirical studies only looked at the customer's attitudes toward – rather than satisfaction with – one dimension of the sustainable development practices adopted in the hospitality industry, that is, the environmental dimension to the exclusion of the economic and social dimensions. Consequently, our study of sustainable development practices in this industry distinguishes itself both by analyzing hotel customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions rather than attitudes, and by including all three dimensions of SD rather than solely the environmental dimension.
In addition, the criteria traditionally used to establish tourism consumer profiles, that is, the purpose of trip (business vs. leisure) and the demographic characteristics of customers (Chesworth, 1999), appear insufficient to profile tourists concerned by SD and by corporate social responsibility (CSR), as shown by the equivocal results of certain studies (Bergin-Seers and Mair, 2009, Dolnicar, 2004, Dolnicar et al., 2008 and Straughan and Roberts, 1999).
Therefore, a study was designed to overcome this lack of knowledge and given the fact that no conservation of natural and social resources can be done without the consent of consumers, or in such a way they do not perceive any reduction in the quality of service (Kirk, 1995). We will explore the hotel customers’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions with regard to the sustainable development practices adopted on all three dimensions, namely economic, environmental and social, in order to answer the following research question: In the hospitality industry, what are the antecedents, including those related to SD, of customer satisfaction and the customer's intention to return and recommend?
