Abstract
Water is a crucial resource in accommodation businesses. The motel sector is a significant consumer of water in New Zealand, particularly water usage by the visitors can be substantial. Motels are thus concerned that high water consumption by their guests leads to negative effects in terms of
sustainability in the destination as well as implications for operational expenses. To plan and implement strategies focusing on reducing water consumption, a nuanced understanding of the multiple implications of water use in guestrooms is vital.
Employing an ethnographic case study approach and a mixed method design, the initial document review enabled a thorough comparison and contrast of the data extracted from two documents: the Qualmark Evaluation Report and the Housekeeping Process Manual, uncovering both commonalities and discrepancies, aiming with the objective of formulating water management processes for the accommodation business. Participant observation complemented and facilitated the document review process. Furthermore, this study details various interventions, including the use of soft visitor management tools, sand-timers, and sub-meters installed in four distinct guestrooms within a quasi experimental setting, aimed at the reduction of water consumption. These rooms were staged as (i) a control group, (ii) a room with an environmental appeal to conserve water, (iii) a room with an emotional appeal to conserve water, and (iv) factual information about destination water futures, a well as interaction with the guest regarding water conservation. In addition to these interventions, water meters were installed in all four guestrooms to measure cold and hot water consumption. All three rooms with interventions were also equipped with a sand-timer in the showers to encourage participants to limit their shower time to conserve water. The approaches are in line with various behaviour modifications found in the literature. This study further evaluates water conservation strategies implemented using guest feedback at checkout. Twenty-four semi structured interviews were thematically analysed using an inductive approach. The comprehensive data interpretation in this study seamlessly integrated both qualitative and quantitative methods successfully accomplishing the research objectives.
The findings of the document analysis employed a directed content analysis using a pre-defined framework and revealed water management processes from five distinct perspectives, namely, 1) Management, 2) Employee, 3) Visitor, 4) Process, and 5) Measurement. Additionally, the document analysis resulted in the formulation of specific recommendations for the development of standardized operating procedures concerning water usage in guestrooms. Armed with this information, the motel sector, and the broader hospitality industry, can work toward crafting a more effective strategy for reducing water consumption. Following these recommendations, findings of this quasi-experiment indicate that a combination of strategies have played an essential role in reducing in-room water consumption by guests at the motel. The results show that the incorporation of soft visitor management tools using education and interpretation, message-based appeals, guest interaction at check-in, and use of 4-minute sand-timers have resulted in impacting visitors’ behaviour on water saving. The factual appeal with researcher-guest interaction resulted in an impressive average water reduction of 73.76 litres per guest per night (L/G/N), equating to a remarkable 33.70% decrease and representing a water saving of approximately 101.71 L/G/N for guests compared to those in groups without interaction (environment appeal and emotion appeal). These groups also exhibited promising trends, with a reduction of approximately 15.29 L/G/N, potentially leading to a 7% decrease in water usage for the environment appeal, and a reduction of about 36.96 L/G/N, potentially resulting in a 17% decrease for the emotional appeal. Moreover, results of the quasi-experiment were well supported along with insights from qualitative interviews with motel guests contribute to the evaluation of the efficiency of water usage. The empirical data further explains the efficacy of water-saving strategies with motel visitors. Their responses, including expressions of joy, pleasure, concerns, and criticism of the interventions, influenced their behaviour towards water conservation. In conclusion, the findings from this comprehensive study highlight the nuanced impact of water management strategies in the motel sector, emphasizing the importance of a multifaceted approach to address water conservation in accommodation businesses. Moreover, the study's findings recommend the utilization of soft approaches to visitor management in alignment with environmental sustainability practices within the hospitality industry.