Developing an Environmental Management System for Evaluating Green Casino Hotels

Abstract

In the field of tourism, casino hotels consume considerable energy and water resources. They differ from general hotels due to their specific features; consequently, the environmental practices of casino hotels differ from those of general hotels. Thus, the application of a general hotel’s environmental management system (EMS) to a casino hotel is not suitable. To this end, in this study we developed an EMS for green casino hotels in Macau. We selected the casino hotel EMS indicators from ISO 14000 and nine representative green hotel evaluation systems. We additionally employed the Delphi method to determine the preliminary EMS evaluation framework. Based on our findings, indicators in 10 dimensions were identified and prioritized according to their relative importance and feasibility. The EMS developed in this study provides management suggestions for governments, hoteliers, and consumers to improve environmental management.