Good environmental practices in the hospitality sector: the case of the Algarve

The emergence of serious socio-environmental problems, during the later half of the 20th century, started an intense mobilization which aimed to find a new model of development which would allow the equilibrium of economic, social and environmental issues. This new paradigm, known as sustainable development, started at the beginning of 1970s, bringing along the humanization of the concept of development, thereafter in-cluding the concern with preserving our resources for the future genera-tions. This new perspective quickly spread out through the tourism industry, since tourism is a crucial factor for economic development, and gathers enormous potential to promote better social and environmental conditions which, in turn, contribute to the sustainable development of communities and in-coming countries. The hotel sector, as the main com-ponent of the tourism product, interacts directly with the environment and its activity causes important negative impacts. Thus, since the 1990s, this sector began to adopt several spontaneous initiatives in order to improve its environmental behavior. Amongst these initiatives, the most common are the codes of conduct, good environmental practices, eco-tags and the EMS (Environment Management Systems). This study analyses how good environmental practices have been experienced and implemented by hotels in the Algarve region (Portugal) and aims to assess the hotels' contribution for sustainable tourism in the region. The main results indicate that the en-vironmental practices considered are still insufficiently implemented, with the best results being for those related to energy management. The majority of the hotels contacted have neither an environmental management system nor any kind of environmental certification, leading to the conclusion that the hotel sector in the Algarve should be investing more, and more effec-tively, in the implementation of environmental actions that will allow it to contribute in a more significant manner to tourism sustainability in the region.A procura por um modelo mais sustentável de sociedade tem-se transformado, ao longo das últimas décadas, numa verdadeira vaga de fundo à escala internacional. A emergência de graves problemas socio-ambientais, na segunda metade do século passado, à escala global, fez eclodir uma intensa mobilização no sentido de encontrar um novo modelo de desenvolvimento que permitisse compatibilizar os aspectos económicos, sociais e ambientais. Esta nova perspectiva depressa se estende à actividade turística, não fosse o turismo um importante factor de desenvolvimento económico, detentor dum enorme potencial para promover melhorias sociais e ambientais e, através delas, contribuir para o desenvolvimento sustentável das comunidades e países receptores. O sector hoteleiro, enquanto principal componente do produto turístico, interage directamente com o ambiente e da sua actividade decorrem impactos negativos relevantes pelo que, a partir dos anos noventa, o sector começa a adoptar várias iniciativas voluntárias no sentido de melhorar o seu comportamento ambiental. De entre essas iniciativas, as mais comuns são os códigos de conduta, as boas práticas ambientais, as eco-etiquetas e os SGA. Com este trabalho pretende-se analisar a experiência com as boas práticas ambientais nos hotéis do Algarve e assim avaliar da sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento turístico sustentável da região