Abstract
The global ecosystem, which includes air, water, soil, habitat of plant and animal species, is daily affected by natural and human factors. Environmental pollution is one of them. It affects people from all over the world equally and will endanger our health if it is not controlled and reduced. This is the reason why countries and international organizations are encouraging industries to make environmental management part of their normal day-to-day operations. There are many industries in the economy that owe their development to natural resources of various kinds, but there seems to be no other industry like tourism that depends so much on the state of nature. All activities in the reception area must comply with the maximum capacity of natural resources to respect the principle of the most economical use of resources. The need for „green“ hotels and the sort of requirements a hotel must meet in order to be environmentally friendly; what are its benefits not only for the environment, but also for the economy of the region in which it is located, is now increasingly relevant. Not only eco-organizations, but also many hoteliers and tourists are involved in environmental protection. That is why the future lies in the green hotels. But this alone is not enough, it is necessary to completely change the thinking of tourists, hotel owners and environmental staff and motivate them to follow the developed rules.
The purpose of this article is to identify the need of and provide guidelines for the implementation of sustainable practices for green hospitality in Bulgaria (in Albena Resort, in particular) based on theoretical clarification of the nature of green hotels and analysis of the impact of hotel business on the environment and the established consumer attitudes to green hospitality. The methods used include a review of the specialized literature, an empirical analysis of the information provided by international databases, as well as a survey conducted among users. Based on the analysis of the obtained results, conclusions and recommendations of practical and applied nature have been made.
Keywords: environment, green hotel, attitudes, consumers, sustainable practices