<p>The awareness regarding environmental issues is increasing and as a result a large number of products are eco-labeled. This enables the consumers to make enlightened environmental decisions when purchasing products. Eco-labeling is no longer for products only, but also for services like hotels. It’s difficult to determine what it actually means to eco-label a hotel and what kind of benefits it includes. Our goal for this essay regarding eco-labeling of hotels is to consider the question –why eco-label?</p><p>The essay also considers benefits or disadvantages connected to eco-labeling and also aim to collect theories and thoughts about the meaning of this in the future. In order to reach this goal the essay involves a case study with hotels who are eco-labeled and those who are not. It also contains information from interviews with representatives from four different eco-labeling organizations and one government environmental scientist. This combined with collected theories aim to give a clear picture about the main focus point –why eco-label? The results show that the hotels whom were studied consider environmental work as very important. It also shows that they notice an increasing demand among customers. The demand also seems to be higher among corporate customers. Eco-labeling can be used as a tool to show the customers that the hotel is working according to special criteria which aims to a more sustainable environment. Care about the environment and increasing customer demand are two main important reasons for the hotels to get an eco-label. It has also shown that there can be more reasons behind the decision to eco-label like; the assistance regarding environmental issues from the eco-labeling organization, competitive advantages, brand related and corporate values. There are also challenges associated with eco-labeling; the ones we have seen are that the environmental work can stop evolving after the label has been accepted. Sometimes the eco-label might not even be the most environmental friendly solution. We have also seen that the eco-labels are combined with different compromises and that they often cost money and take time to implement.</p><p>We have reached the conclusion that in the future eco-labeling of hotels is likely to be significantly important and collaboration between eco-labeling organizations will probably grow and be more international. The results do not generally apply for all hotels but it gives an important insight on eco-labels for hotels, and can give arguments about the subject.</p> / <p>Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen bygger på frågan – varför miljöcertifiera? Uppsatsen ger således en bild av miljöcertifieringars roll och betydelse för hotellverksamheter, där för- och nackdelar ställs mot varandra. Även resonemang kring miljöcertifiering av hotellverksamheters sannolika roll och betydelse i framtiden behandlas.</p><p>Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och en hermeneutisk tolkningsstrategi. Informationsinsamlandet består av fallstudier, intervjuer, litteraturstudier och informationsinhämtning på internet. Tio intervjuer genomfördes med fyra personer från fyra olika hotell, både miljöcertifierade och inte, fem personer som på ett eller annat sätt arbetar med de olika miljöcertifieringarna samt med en forskare i miljöpolitik.</p><p>Slutsats: Studien visar att många vill engagera sig i miljöarbete, både hotellverksamheterna och deras kunder. Miljöcertifieringar kan även vara ett verktyg för att förmedla och strukturera miljöarbetet. Dessutom har det genom denna studie visat sig att miljöcertifieringen kan bidra med andra positiva aspekter som exempelvis en förbättrad image och identitet samt en tydligare struktur på miljöarbetet. Det finns dock problem och nackdelar även med miljöcertifieringar och med att miljöcertifiera sig, exempelvis att de kräver mycket resurser och att själva miljöcertifieringen inte behöver vara det miljövänligaste.</p>

The awareness regarding environmental issues is increasing and as a result a large number of products are eco-labeled. This enables the consumers to make enlightened environmental decisions when purchasing products. Eco-labeling is no longer for products only, but also for services like hotels. It’s difficult to determine what it actually means to eco-label a hotel and what kind of benefits it includes. Our goal for this essay regarding eco-labeling of hotels is to consider the question –why eco-label? The essay also considers benefits or disadvantages connected to eco-labeling and also aim to collect theories and thoughts about the meaning of this in the future. In order to reach this goal the essay involves a case study with hotels who are eco-labeled and those who are not. It also contains information from interviews with representatives from four different eco-labeling organizations and one government environmental scientist. This combined with collected theories aim to give a clear picture about the main focus point –why eco-label? The results show that the hotels whom were studied consider environmental work as very important. It also shows that they notice an increasing demand among customers. The demand also seems to be higher among corporate customers. Eco-labeling can be used as a tool to show the customers that the hotel is working according to special criteria which aims to a more sustainable environment. Care about the environment and increasing customer demand are two main important reasons for the hotels to get an eco-label. It has also shown that there can be more reasons behind the decision to eco-label like; the assistance regarding environmental issues from the eco-labeling organization, competitive advantages, brand related and corporate values. There are also challenges associated with eco-labeling; the ones we have seen are that the environmental work can stop evolving after the label has been accepted. Sometimes the eco-label might not even be the most environmental friendly solution. We have also seen that the eco-labels are combined with different compromises and that they often cost money and take time to implement. We have reached the conclusion that in the future eco-labeling of hotels is likely to be significantly important and collaboration between eco-labeling organizations will probably grow and be more international. The results do not generally apply for all hotels but it gives an important insight on eco-labels for hotels, and can give arguments about the subject. / Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen bygger på frågan – varför miljöcertifiera? Uppsatsen ger således en bild av miljöcertifieringars roll och betydelse för hotellverksamheter, där för- och nackdelar ställs mot varandra. Även resonemang kring miljöcertifiering av hotellverksamheters sannolika roll och betydelse i framtiden behandlas. Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och en hermeneutisk tolkningsstrategi. Informationsinsamlandet består av fallstudier, intervjuer, litteraturstudier och informationsinhämtning på internet. Tio intervjuer genomfördes med fyra personer från fyra olika hotell, både miljöcertifierade och inte, fem personer som på ett eller annat sätt arbetar med de olika miljöcertifieringarna samt med en forskare i miljöpolitik. Slutsats: Studien visar att många vill engagera sig i miljöarbete, både hotellverksamheterna och deras kunder. Miljöcertifieringar kan även vara ett verktyg för att förmedla och strukturera miljöarbetet. Dessutom har det genom denna studie visat sig att miljöcertifieringen kan bidra med andra positiva aspekter som exempelvis en förbättrad image och identitet samt en tydligare struktur på miljöarbetet. Det finns dock problem och nackdelar även med miljöcertifieringar och med att miljöcertifiera sig, exempelvis att de kräver mycket resurser och att själva miljöcertifieringen inte behöver vara det miljövänligaste.