The Circular Economy Strategy in Hospitality: A Multicase Approach

José Miguel Rodríguez-Antón and María del Mar Alonso-Almeida
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José Miguel Rodríguez-Antón: Department of Business Organization, Faculty of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
María del Mar Alonso-Almeida: Department of Business Organization, Faculty of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: The circular economy (CE) is considered a possible solution to problems, such as the increasing global demand for resources, climate change and worldwide pollution. CE can help to transform the hospitality industry from its current linear model of production to a circular one. However, there is a lack of research on circular tourism, therefore, this paper’s main purpose is to shed light on CE strategies—reduction, reuse, recycle, redesign, replace and rethink—developed in the tourism sector, as well as the tourism sector’s CE initiatives by means of a business case analysis method. This qualitative multicase analysis allows us to comprehend the CE practices deployed by large hotel chains, thus identifying the CE strategies and best practices. The results show that the main strategies adopted are the reduction, recycle and reuse, in this order. Nevertheless, the remaining strategies have yet to be adopted in the mainstream. This research emphasises the need to promote the CE in the hospitality industry, especially among independent hotels.

Keywords: circular tourism; circular hotels; circular economy; business case (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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