A Critical Review of Common Methodological Approaches in Environmental Sustainability Practices within the Hotel Sector: In Pursuit of a Befitting Synthesis.

Authors

  • Lameck Zetu Khonje School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg.
  • Mulala Danny Simatele School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies; Centre in Water Research and Development (CiWaRD); The University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg.
  • Regis Musavengane Midlands State University, Tourism & Hospitality Management Department

Abstract

This paper uses a qualitative meta-synthesis approach and suggests an appropriate methodological approach to study environmental sustainability practices in the hotel sector in Malawi. Twenty selected articles published between 2007 and 2017 were purposefully selected for a meta-synthesis because of their scope. The results from this meta-synthesis indicate that the majority of researchers from developed countries use a quantitative method to establish the status of environmental sustainability practices in the hotel sector. The results also revealed that some researchers from developing countries used both quantitative and qualitative (mixed method) methods, whilst others preferred the use of qualitative. This paper, therefore, proposes a seven-stage version of the Grounded Theory methodology for studying environmental sustainability practices in the hotel sector in Malawi and Sub – Saharan Africa at large.

Author Biographies

  • Lameck Zetu Khonje, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg.
    Lameck Zetu Khonje is a Hotelier/Academician, an employee of the Mzuzu University in Malawi working in the Faculty of Tourism, Hospitality and Management studies as a Lecturer in the Department of Hospitality Management. His special research interest is in understanding how the hospitality industry and the physical environment interlink within different ecosystems and how the outcomes of these relationships influence policy and practice.
  • Mulala Danny Simatele, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies; Centre in Water Research and Development (CiWaRD); The University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg.

    Mulala Danny Simatele is an Associate Professor in Environmental Management and Sustainability Science. He is particularly interested in understanding how human and physical environmental processes interlink within different ecosystems and how the outcomes of these relationships influence policy outcomes. His research focus revolves within the following broad areas: Climate change adaptation, Urban and Peri-urban Transformations, Rural and Urban Agriculture, Environment and Migration, Water resource management and Community-based Development and Institution Building in sub-Saharan Africa and Asian countries.

  • Regis Musavengane, Midlands State University, Tourism & Hospitality Management Department

    Regis Musavengane is a Geographer interested whose interests are in political economy, political ecology, community development, tourism geographies, responsible tourism, and environmental policy. He has published in regional and International development, environmental and tourism journals. He has taught and undertook research at a number of Higher Tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe and South Africa – University of Johannesburg (UJ), Durban University of Technology (DUT), Midlands State University (MSU), University of South Africa (UNISA), Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences (MSUAS) and Damelin College.

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Published

2019-06-01

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 5 (2019)

Section

Articles

License

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How to Cite

“A Critical Review of Common Methodological Approaches in Environmental Sustainability Practices within the Hotel Sector: In Pursuit of a Befitting Synthesis”. (2019) e-Review of Tourism Research, 16(5). Available at: https://ertr-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/ertr/article/view/396 (Accessed: 18 September 2024).