Uptake of green energy practices: Evidence from hotels in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Hotel industry is a major part of development of tourism that spend a lot of its resources on energy intensive facilities. Uptake of energy efficient practices is relevant to hotels in saving approximately twenty percent of its operating costs. The aim of this study was to examine the uptake of green energy practices by hotels in Nakuru County. The study was anchored on stakeholder’s theory and resource-based theory. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design that involve both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in generating rich information to help fully explore the objective of the study. The target population of the study comprised 259 hotels registered within the categories of medium, large and very large, from which a sample of 204 hotels were selected using stratified random sampling method and 204 hotels were sampled and completed. Quantitative and qualitative data was obtained from respondents using a questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and data was presented using tables and graphs. Qualitative data was analyzed using NVIVO software, and data was categorized into themes and presented in form of narratives. Findings show that hotels reported high uptake 90.2% of green energy practices policy, However, the results of the study revealed low uptake 24.5% in creating awareness to employees on green energy policy, 16.7% budget for supporting green energy practices, and 26.0% in capacity building for hotel manager participation in any green energy environmental sustainability trainings. The study concludes that green energy uptake in hotels in relation to creation awareness and budgeting for green energy. The hotel management should consider budgeting and trainings for staff on green energy practices to increase uptake levels and manage hotels energy consumption efficiently.