Abstract:
It is believed that tourism slowly and silently destroys environment, therefore implementing green technologies and responsible business behavior are among the most trending issues in contemporary tourism.Necessity to implement the green issues in the service sector speaks in favor of tourism destroying the environment "silently". The hospitality industry does
not grossly pollute the environment, nor does it consume vast amounts of nonrenewable resources, but it does have a significant effect on global resources and a vested interest in protecting the environment, since it depends on attractive and safe surroundings as a part of the core product (Leonidou et al. 2013). Despite the fact that natural environment forms a part of the tourism product itself, in most countries environmental legislation in hotel sector is still relatively rare. Big international hotel companies implement eco standards in their businesses. By doing so, they influence the transformation of the relationship between tourism operators and the environment; raise awareness of its responsible consumption and the need to sustain the resources (Bradic, 2011). On a flipside, small private hotels and other types of accommodation that do not have buzz names or rich capital, have their own market sustainability high on the list of their priorities. Therefore, they should sustain the positive balance between investments and profit, which indicates that in practice it is not always the case of placing ecological awareness and business on top of priorities. Some hotel operators use the term 'eco-hotel' as a marketing tool, presuming this name has a positive impact on attracting guests and on influencing the
final choice of potential clients (Pizam, 2009), while they neglect the basic eco principles in their business. Hsiao et al. (2014) define a green hotel as one that is successfully, "providing tourists with a comfortable, natural, healthy and safe lodging service infrastructure on the basis of environmental protection,
 
Impacts of green marketing strategies on ...
focusing on sustainable development and minimizing the negative impact on the environment".The main goal of this study was to investigate the major obstacles for implementation of business based on ecological awareness and to assess to what extent the Green Marketing Strategies have influence on the image of the hotels, relations with the local community, competitiveness on the market, profitability and satisfaction of employees.Therefore, the main goal of this study was to investigate the major obstacles for implementation of business based on ecological awareness and to assess to what extent the Green Marketing Strategies have influence on the image of the hotels, relations with the local community, competitiveness on the market, profitability and satisfaction of employees.Implementation of green marketing is often caused by a company's moral obligation, pressure from government bodies and competitors, the potential to improve revenues, the opportunity to save on costs and the opportunity to build
a positive image ((McIntosh, 1990; Bansal and Roth, 2000; Saha and Darnton, 2005; Delmas and Toffel, 2008; Kuo and Dick, 2010).Unprofessionalism, inadequate marketing and ignorance of the contemporary trends lead to the fact that Serbian hotels are currently occupied by 30-35%, whereas the average occupancy rate is twice as this number (Krsmanovic, 2013).Green marketing is in many studies described as an company's efforts at designing, promoting, pricing and distributing products that will not damage the environment (Pride and Ferrell, 1993, Salaiman et al., 2015).Furthermore, the results show that there are no differences in the implementation of such strategies regarding the hotels location, categorization and capacity, whereas certain benefits of green marketing vary in relation to location and the capacity of the hotel.Some leading companies are using environmental pressure to improve their operational efficiency, raise their corporate image, develop new products and opportunities, and thus gain a competitive edge (Taylor, 1992).Tourism, which has a complex relationship with the environment, is both a negative factor and a vector of profoundly ecological policies and strategies (Popescu et al., 2014).In the hotel industry of Serbia, the implementation of ecological principles EMS (Environmental Management System) and quality standards ISO14000
i ISO14001 is still at its early stage and the results are barely recognizable.In addition, the authors sought to find out whether implementation of sustainable marketing depends on the location, categorization and capacity of the hotels.Hsiao et. Al. (2014) establish attributes of an Environmental Management System (EMS) for the hotel industry in Taiwan to create an instrument for green hotel evaluation.Various stakeholder groups have increasingly put pressure on companies to take drastic measures to protect and sustain the natural environment."Real" eco hotels and eco lodges use eco-friendly technology and contribute to environmental protection as they recycle, reuse
and save their resources.The president of the Hotelier Association of Serbia claims that Serbian hospitality has been facing many problems in the past decades, putting an emphasis on the issue of the owner of the hotel and the management.Business has an essential role in preventing environmental damage, as it is responsible for much of the environmental degradation (Chan and Wong, 2006).Thus, companies should take into account not only economic prosperity, but environmental quality and social justice (Badulescu et al., 2014).In the field of tourism, it is known that destinations that promote sustainable development have better performances in the market (Berry and Ladkin, 1997).Literature review
Implementation of 'green' techonolgies into the hotel industry dates back to the late eighties, predominantly on the teritory of the North America.4, No. 2
are: environmental policy, water resource, energy, solid wastes, indoor environment (health and safety), green purchasing, corporate management, staff education, public and community relationship and consumer education.Implementing Environmental Management System and quality standards ISO14000 and ISO14001 in hotels in Serbia are still at the early stage.The regression analysis shows that the most beneficial are the satisfaction of employees and profitability.Keywords: hotels, green marketing, sustainability, Serbia
1.In the last decade of 20th century and at the beginning of 21st century, significant efforts were made to create green business policy in hotel marketing, which started to globalize very soon (Bradic, 2011).Environmental management system indicators were selected from ISO14000 and nine representative green hotel assessment systems.Chan (2013) attempts to address important green marketing ploys from
the perspective of hotel managers.The sample comprised 20% of the total number of hotels in Serbia which are known to use any form of 'green' marketing.The results confirm that the process of implementation of sustainable marketing strategies is at a very low scale (M=2.89).Hotel industry worldwide increases the efforts to sustain the environment.2.