The Measurement Gap: Resource Efficiency Monitoring and the Limits of Voluntary Sustainability Frameworks in Irish Hotels

Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Tourism Management and Hospitality

Year: 2026

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The Measurement Gap: Resource Efficiency Monitoring and the Limits of Voluntary Sustainability Frameworks in Irish Hotels

Sahar Attari

ABSTRACT:

The hotel industry faces increasing pressure to reduce emissions and improve resource efficiency across energy, water, food, and waste. Yet a persistent gap exists between the sustainability frameworks hotels adopt and the operational outcomes those frameworks produce. This paper argues that a fundamental reason for this gap is the fragmented and uneven state of resource efficiency measurement and monitoring capability across the Irish hotel sector. Drawing on qualitative thematic analysis of 8 semi-structured interviews with hotel operation managers in Ireland and grounded theoretically in Resource Dependence Theory (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003), the study examines how hotels collect, interpret, and act upon sustainability data and why measurement capability varies so substantially across the sector. Four levels of data maturity are identified empirically: ad-hoc tracking, reactive analysis, proactive management, and predictive investment. The study finds that data maturity is not primarily a function of managerial awareness or commitment, but of structural resource endowments specifically, the availability of financial capital, dedicated human resource, and corporate infrastructure. Hotels lacking these resources are systematically unable to achieve the measurement depth that substantive sustainability requires, regardless of individual managerial intention. The paper concludes with recommendations for standardised mandatory measurement frameworks, collective monitoring infrastructure for independent hotels, and the embedding of dedicated sustainability roles as minimum-standard requirements for certification schemes operating in Ireland.

Keywords: Resource Efficiency, Hotel Sustainability, Resource Dependence Theory, Green Hotels, Irish Hotels