The Classification of Hotels in the Context of Sustainable Development Factors: A Case Study of Public Policy in the European Union and Poland

Abstract

With the growing awareness among entrepreneurs and consumers within the tourism industry regarding the field of sustainable development, it seems necessary to base hotel classification systems on an integrated approach to management quality, including the fulfillment of ecological and environmental criteria. However, this topic has yet to be recognized in the literature, especially concerning the European market. Therefore, this article aims to fill this research gap and indicate how environmental standards have been implemented in the European system of hotel classification—Hotelstars Union (HSU)—and that in force in Poland. With regard to these systems, the differences in the classification criteria taken into account by the certifying organizations in the European Union (EU) and the administrative hotel categorization system in Poland are pointed out. Particular emphasis is placed on the criteria related to environmental management in the hotel industry. The criteria related to environmental management were identified through an analysis of the criteria of eight environmental management systems that are applicable to the contemporary hotel industry. The results of this research prove that, even though the HSU system takes the principles of sustainable development into account to a much greater extent than the Polish system, its primary weakness is that most of its criteria related to the environment are optional. In addition, the optional criteria have higher weights than the obligatory ones. In turn, the Polish classification system makes very little reference to environmental standards. Moreover, it is not detailed, and the assessment criteria are not up to date. Therefore, it is recommended that a greater number of environmental criteria be included in the next update of the HSU system, which should be obligatory for hotels to meet. In addition, the sustainability criteria included in the HSU system should be adapted to the policy system aimed at the hotel industry in Poland and other EU countries.

1. Introduction

The level of quality offered by the modern hotel service market is one of the most significant factors distinguishing hotel companies from their competitors. The level of the services provided (service quality) and the customer service quality directly determine the satisfaction of customer needs, and subsequently their loyalty and satisfaction [1,2,3].

Bearing in mind the protections of the competitive market and, above all, consumer protections in the hotel market, actions have been taken by public entities to parametrize the quality of hotel services. Categorization is a state policy instrument that, in cooperation with the economic self-government entities of the hotel industry, is integrally related to the issue of the quality of the services that hotels are broadly understood to offer. What they offer includes services for consumers, as well as many other things, such as price, quality level, sales conditions, and service environment (facility where services are provided) [4]. When regarded both globally and within the European Union (EU), a unified approach to hotel categorization has not been developed. The already existing solutions in the EU member states vary greatly. Therefore, a consumer in the EU hotel market does not have any access to standardized information about the level of hotel services offered when using the services offered in different countries and, therefore, is not protected under uniform principles. The applied standards of classification include various criteria, and the importance of some standards, from the perspective of the functioning of the modern hotel market, is often of secondary value. Thus, the assessment of some parameters does not result in significant value for the consumer. A significant area that is not recognized by public entities undertaking categorization is aspects related to corporate social responsibility in the assessment criteria, including those related to environmental management. The criteria for sustainable development in the hotel industry are taken into account by international hotel organizations and programs, including hotel self-government entities.

The purpose of this research paper is to indicate how environmental standards are implemented in the European hotel categorization system—Hotelstars Union (HSU)—and the one in force in Poland. Considering the solutions that each system uses, the differences in the categorization criteria taken into account in the hotel categorization systems of certifying organizations in the EU in relation to the administrative hotel categorization system in Poland are pointed out, with particular emphasis on the criteria related to environmental management in the hotel industry. In the context of the conducted considerations, an additional research assumption was made that thanks to the analysis of the categorization systems in terms of including environmental management criteria in them, it is possible to adapt them both in the existing Polish categorization system and the developing Hotelstars Union system, by extending the previously applicable criteria. Consequently, it is possible to suggest changes to public policy in the field of the hotel industry in Poland.

The area for the analyses undertaken is the EU hotel market and the hotel categorization systems used within it, taking into account the criteria of sustainable development, and also includes the hotel market and classification of hotel facilities in Poland. The analyses cover the current reality of the functioning of public policy in the hotel industry and hotel categorization systems according to the data for July 2024.

For the purposes of this research, we conducted a critical analysis of the literature on the subject in order to present the theoretical basis of the research problem and a documentary analysis of the key environmental certification systems used in the hotel industry in Europe. Based on this analysis, this research presents a case study of the HSU hotel categorization system and the Polish administrative categorization system, taking into account the aspects of sustainable development.

This analysis is to be a starting point for broader research on the hotel classification system, including the aspects of environmental management in all EU member states. The result of this research is the proposal of model assumptions for EU policy in the area of the hotel industry, leading to the development and implementation of a unitary EU hotel categorization system.

The rest of the article is organized as follows. First, we discuss the literature on hotel service quality, including categorization and sustainability in the hotel industry. This section ends with a description of the hotel industry’s most used environmental certification systems. The following section provides a detailed description of our information collection processes, data, and research method. Then, we present and discuss the results of our analyses. Finally, the study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications for implementing environmental standards in European hotel categorization systems and important future research directions.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Hotel Service Quality

The problematic issue of quality is strongly embedded in the processes that take place in the tourism industry, including the activity of entities directly providing tourist services, which treat quality as an element of their offerings and an instrument for shaping their competitive advantage [5,6,7]. Thus, the level of quality of hotel services is a direct area of interest among consumers (mainly hotel guests), who choose offers on the market, thanks to which expectations regarding the services and the service providers can be met. Regardless of the two basic market participants, quality issues in the hotel industry are the area of interest of three further types of entities [8]:

• Public administrative bodies that regulate the market directly (e.g., the ministry responsible for tourism) and public authorities (tourism policy entities) that shape the supply structure of the hotel services market and have a decisive importance in protecting the rights of consumers using hotel services [9].
• Local government administrative bodies that support the activities of public administration, in practice implementing tasks related to the impact on quality in the hotel industry.
• Organizations that support the activities of regulatory entities, including non-governmental organizations formally acting as economic self-governments (hotel industry chambers) where hotel entrepreneurs are represented. The purpose of their activities includes representing their members in interactions with public authorities and consumers and ensuring high standards of service provision.

The basis for determining the common interest of all hotel service market participants that express their interest in the level of hotel service quality is defining methods and criteria for assessing the quality level [10,11]. In the service sector, this is an extremely difficult task, as the actual parameterization of the quality level cannot take place before the service is provided [12]. The forms of quality measurement in the hotel industry are based on criteria such as the following: the reliability and credibility of the service provider, the reliability and accuracy of service provision, the punctuality of service provision, the readiness of the service, the speed of service, the culture of guest service, comfort, and the security of service regarding technical, organizational, and financial aspects [13]. Regarding the theoretical and practical aspects of market functioning, objective methods for assessing the quality of hotel services have not been clearly developed. Quality research methods in the hotel industry, which are taken from other forms of service activity, and above all from the generally understood service sector, are used and are most often based on marketing research (including SERVQUAL and SERVPERF) [14].

Within the hotel market, the most common way to assess the quality standard offered by hotels is categorization [15]. Depending on the country in which it is applied, categorization is a generally applicable administrative and legal instrument. However, it is also a marketing instrument indicating the conditions an accommodation facility must meet in order to be recognized as a hotel, motel, or guesthouse, along with specifying detailed requirements for meeting the categorization criteria, usually included in the star system. Categorization is a certification tool that confirms a certain state, often met at a minimum level, which is considered appropriate from the point of view of the adopted criteria [16].

However, the development of digital technology and social media has revolutionized the quality rating system in the tourism sector [17]. Reviews have emerged on platforms such as TripAdvisor and Booking.com, on which hotel customers can share their experiences with other users and rate the hotel according to different criteria (location, cleanliness, service, and value for money).

The diversity and disparity of consumer opinions posted on different opinion portals may make the information presented therein somewhat limited, but they do have several advantages over certification systems. The main limitations relate to credibility and value. The client does not usually have the same knowledge and capacity as an auditor to observe the various aspects of the service in a systematic and detailed manner.

The traditional instrument for dealing with asymmetric information (typically customer feedback and recommendations) is the use of certification systems. Hence, the literature often emphasizes that rating and review systems complement these classical instruments (certification systems) [18,19].

2.2. Categorization as an Instrument of Public Policy Aimed at the Hotel Industry

Categorization standards are set at a minimum level, which means that they are designed to meet the basic needs of hotel customers/guests as a minimum [20]. A hotel category has a significant impact on customers’ expectations regarding the services offered. The higher the category, the higher the expectations, and therefore, the customer is more willing to accept higher prices [21]. However, this does not mean that the level of quality offered in every hotel of the same category is exactly the same and that a hotel guest can expect the same minimum standard of service in every hotel of the same category. The hotel category carries a certain package of information, important for both the guest and all types of agents, as it constitutes the state of knowledge on some essential elements of hotel service, as well as the approximate price level compared to the price level in hotels of a higher or lower category [22]. Such information makes it easier for the hotel guest to choose a facility, allows them to narrow down their search to objects of the standard they are interested in, represents basic material for comparative analysis, and can be a valuable marketing instrument for the hotel. Thus, in many countries, there are official hotel categorizations, or they are created by enterprises, hotel industry organizations, and tourist portals for the use of customers [23]. Owners of hotel facilities increasingly offer customers a categorization standard higher than the officially assigned category of the object. This category is a starting point for further actions related to improving quality and offering a product with a higher standard of service [24].

The hotel categorization system involves assigning an appropriate category in accordance with the application and the identified factual situation. The purpose of the categorization system is to standardize the standards a guest may expect at a given hotel. The star system reflects whether a hotel meets certain requirements in terms of many different criteria. These requirements determine the standard and equipment of rooms, the functioning of catering establishments located within the premises, the availability of additional services, as well as many other factors. The more stars a hotel facility has, the higher the standard of services it offers. The hotel standard is a set of adopted norms, patterns, requirements, and quality features designated for a given group.

In the practice of the hotel market, two formulas have been developed for organizing the categorization of accommodation facilities:

• Administrative categorization, run by public government or local government institutions;
• Industrial categorization, run by economic self-government institutions.

Categorization carried out by public institutions is an expression of social and economic policy. In EU countries, there are no specialized state policies aimed at the hotel industry. The tourism economy, including the hotel industry, is not treated as a specific set of sectoral tasks in and of itself. It is instead seen as a set of tasks of a complex nature coming from various areas of EU policy [25]. Activities in this area provide great support for European regional policy, the aim of which is to create equal living and working conditions across the EU, i.e., reducing internal differentiation by supporting the harmonious development of economic life [26]. Therefore, interference of the state in the hotel industry is limited to the protection of consumer rights and their safety related to the use of hotel services, and thus is aimed at pro-quality issues. When assessing the scope of regulation of the hotel service market in EU countries, one can state that the attitude of these countries towards the entities that provide hotel services is of a liberal nature [27]. Limited interference of the state in relation to hotel market entities also results from the competitive model of the market, and therefore leads to its self-regulation [28]. Therefore, categorization of accommodation facilities undertaken by public institutions is an instrument of consumer protection whose task is to secure a minimum level of service provision in accommodation facilities of a specific type that have been assigned a specific category. Categorization systems supervised by public institutions are mainly limited to taking into account the elements related to tangible service potential.

Industry categorization, conducted by economic self-government hotel entities, usually extends the scope of elements that are subject to assessment, in relation to which the minimum requirements that must be met are formulated in order to obtain a specific category. These usually include parameters related to the qualifications of staff and the service system, as well as criteria related to aspects of corporate social responsibility and those related to sustainable development [29].

The categorization of accommodation facilities can be carried out in a mixed system, with the participation of public institutions and the economic self-government of the hotel industry. It can be performed on the basis of cooperation or the delegation of administrative powers to the units of economic self-government. The cooperation of these two groups of entities created the potential basis for the fullest inclusion of the interests of all market participants, in terms of both market regulation, including protection of the competitive market, and consumer protection (public entities), shaping the position of the hotel industry (economic self-government), its competitiveness (hotel enterprises), obtaining objective market information, and meeting the needs of consumers of hotel services.

The categorization of accommodation facilities performed by public entities is carried out on the grounds of the legal acts in force in a given state. Categorization involving industry entities is associated with significant difficulties. It often results from a significant fragmentation of activities of hotel industry entities that are organized in an economic self-government. These economic hotel self-governments assess the activities of their members on the grounds of various principles, which in consequence leads to an inability to compare the standards assessed during the certification process [30]. Categorization limited to a chosen group of entities does not allow for a full and objective assessment. Therefore, it does not represent fully reliable market information for both the consumer and market regulatory entities.

The issue of unifying the classification of the hotel base also results from international aspects, both globally and, in particular, in relation to the hotel market in EU countries [31]. Hotel categorization systems vary significantly in certain EU countries. There are countries where an official categorization system does not exist, those where the existing system covers the entire country or is of a regional nature, those where categorization proceedings are obligatory or optional, and those where categorization is carried out by entities belonging to the central and regional or local government, and as mentioned previously, it may be of an official, industrial, or mixed nature.

The development of European tourism policy activities began in 1984 with the declaration of the European Council on Community Policy in the Field of Tourism. It included a statement from the European Commission entitled A Community policy on tourism: initial guidelines [32]. The document indicated the role of tourism as a tool supporting activities for achieving the socio-economic goals of the European Community. In addition, the fields of interest of the EU authorities in the area of the hotel industry included the protection of buyers in relation to the use of real estate on a time-sharing basis [33] as well as actions to unify the hotel information system. Its purpose was to unify the type of information and graphic symbols in official hotel legal guides [34]. These actions, initiated many years ago, could have led to the unification of the hotel market in the EU countries, to an extent that does not violate the liberal approach to the market yet supports its competitiveness and at the same time aims to strengthen consumer protection, but they were not continued [35].

Different rules of categorization are applied in different domestic hotel service markets, which means that consumers using hotel services in individual EU member states, both EU and non-EU citizens, do not have access to unified and objective market information on the standards and quality of services offered by hoteliers. Although opinions and reviews are available on opinion portals, i.e., Tripadvisor or Booking.com, as mentioned earlier, the quality of this information depends on a set of attributes including credibility and value [36]. The diversity and disparity of opinions can cause the information on opinion portals to have certain weaknesses. As an example, the neutrality of some opinions (e.g., positive reviews by people related to the company being evaluated) has limited credibility [36]. Although many platforms have implemented systems that allow users to assess the credibility of reviewers [37], these practices still create a problem related to the reliability of the information.

This dysfunctional situation is responded to by hotel industry organizations that propose and implement various certification solutions, including competitions and quality certificates, as well as classification systems with a global range. They have a chance to become systems that may be in force in the EU member states, thanks to the potential for public institutions and the economic self-government of the hotel industry to cooperate in the implementation of categorization procedures or transfer the existing competencies of public institutions to the activities of industry institutions only.

The need to unify the systems of hotel categorization has been seen in many European countries (Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland) under the patronage of HOTREC—the umbrella association of hotels, restaurants, and cafés in Europe. The HSU system, the main goal of which is to provide universality, integrity, and transparency in the criteria corresponding to hotel standards, was created in 2009. On 25 March 2021, almost 12 years after its foundation, the HSU system was transformed into an international non-profit under Belgian law, with its statutory seat in Brussels. HSU is currently a partnership between 19 European countries—Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland—and some observers, providing a harmonized hotel classification system with common criteria and procedures. However, despite the fact that Poland is a member of HSU, it has not implemented a hotel categorization system based on its criteria yet.

For countries such as Spain, France, and Italy, although they are very important in terms of tourism flow in Europe, the coexistence of different regulations in these markets (as many as 17 in Spain, for example) makes it difficult to establish a common line of action for the implementation of the HSU system [38,39].

In the above-mentioned scope of activities, an important role could be played by EU policy aimed at the hotel industry. This would create the basis for a common unified categorization system in the European hotel industry, and categorization would become an instrument for the assessment of not only the accommodation base, but also the quality of hotel services, taking into account not only the evaluation criteria related to the tangible service potential of the hotel but also related to staff, service quality, and service systems, including the issues of corporate social responsibility and taking into account sustainable development criteria.

2.3. Sustainable Development in Hotel Industry

Sustainable development is a concept that is deeply embedded in individual economic sectors, not only due to promotion but also due to customer requirements, economic benefits, and the general perception of stakeholders [40,41]. For many years, such benefits have also been noticed by tourism industry entities, the development of which also has negative effects on the natural and social environment. However, actions are taken gradually to eliminate the negative effects of the tourism industry on the environment or to prevent the occurrence of negative phenomena in the future [42,43,44].

The implementation of the principles of sustainable development into the functioning of the tourism industry is the result of research on the relationships between tourism, the environment, and development [45]. Responsible and ethical tourism is the response of contemporary tourism businesses and consumers to important social, economic, and ecological problems plaguing the world. It consists of organizing trips in a different, better way, taking full responsibility for any changes caused to the lives of other people and their social, cultural, and natural environment. It also means providing tourists with better experiences and tourism enterprises with greater development opportunities [46]. According to the definition included in Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Economy, sustainable tourism is understood as tourism that respects the needs of contemporary tourists and tourism reception regions while ensuring the possibility of meeting these needs in the future [47,48,49].

The concept of sustainable tourism shapes development trends in the hotel market, including the behavior of hotel guests and the functioning of hotel enterprises, together with economic self-government hotel units. In addition, it should also apply to public activities resulting from the socio-economic policies aimed at the hotel market. Sustainable tourism refers to situations in which the negative consequences of tourist activities for the environment are minimized while providing positive effects for tourists, the communities of the reception areas, and the entities that provide tourist services [50].

In practice, there are many standards and norms that refer to the principles of environmental protection. However, their implementation by hotel enterprises, especially small and independent ones (those that do not belong to international chains), is often quite complicated and expensive. Actions that encourage hoteliers to have a positive impact on the environment are undertaken at the global level by agencies of the United Nations (UN) such as the World Tourism Organization and the UN Environment Program, which promote the Green Key environmental label (https://www.greenkey.global/why-green-key, accessed on 8 May 2022), and on the European level by the European Commission, which also designed Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) [51].

The EMAS is voluntary, and its participants are mainly entrepreneurs, local governments, and non-governmental organizations. The primary goal of this system is to improve the environmental efficiency of business entities and other organizations. This system provides tools for measuring environmental efficiency, which enables a lower impact on the environment, higher efficiency, and obtaining reliable ecological information. The measurement and assessment cover six basic indicators that reflect direct environmental aspects. Then, they are included in the environmental declaration and calculated for production (

Table 1. Environmental assessment indicators according to EMAS. Source: [52].

Key Area	Key Performance Indicator
Energy efficiency	Direct energy consumption Total renewable energy consumption Total renewable energy generation
Material efficiency	Annual mass flow of key materials used (excluding energy carriers and water)
Water	Total annual water used
Waste	Total annual generation of waste Total annual generation of hazardous waste
Land use with regard to biodiversity	Total use of land Total sealed area Total nature-oriented area on site Total nature-oriented area off-site
Emissions	Annual emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2 eq.) Annual air emissions

).

The recommendations of the EU under EMAS apply to all forms of business activity, including the hotel industry. Hensens [53] analyzed the integration of environmental management standards into contemporary hotel categorization systems, pointing to the growing awareness of the fact that the classification of hotel facilities should be based on an integrated approach to quality, including environmental management practice. On the grounds of a content analysis of eight hotel categorization systems, he proved that hotel categorization systems include environmental management standards, yet they use different structures, causing different effects on the actual rating of the hotel and therefore presenting different levels of control. Thus, he identified the need for hotel categorizers to review the desired results in order to integrate environmental management standards with hotel categorization standards, leading to the possibility of structuring them in a way to make it possible for the categorized hotels to achieve the desired environmental standards.

In spite of the progress made by the industry towards sustainability, hotels are still struggling to find the most effective way to promote their ecological status. One of the mechanisms for the confirmation of such a status is a third-party declaration. Thus, formal certification is slowly becoming a common approach for hotels to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability [54,55,56,57,58,59]. Third parties offering certification include online travel agencies such as Travelocity.com, which has begun to mark hotels with a green flag based on their environmental certifications [60], and the US Green Building Council, which offers Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Another certification of growing importance is ISO 14001 [61], which is an international standard for sustainable operations.

Sustainability certifications have proven successful for some hotels promoting themselves as green destinations [62] and have been positively received by key stakeholders such as investors [63]. Despite the importance of sustainability certifications for the purposes of recognition and legitimacy [64,65], they are often costly for hotels [66]. Environmental certifications improve hotel productivity and efficiency, as well as improving customer perception of the hotel. Hotel guests generally rate environmentally certified hotels higher than uncertified ones [67], and certified hotels also achieve higher levels of performance.

In the field of environmental certification, there are studies indicating that the implementation and certification of the ISO 14001 standard can generate various benefits, as follows [68,69,70,71,72]:

• Internal or operational improvement;
• Increasing the effectiveness of marketing activities;
• Reducing waste management costs;
• Reducing energy and raw material consumption;
• Reducing regulatory costs, i.e., related to compliance with requirements;
• Improving the company’s image;
• Improving relationships with customers and other stakeholders;
• Improving financial results;
• Positive and significant impacts on performance.

Good environmental management practices can be applied particularly in the hotel industry to help reduce costs (e.g., through measures to reduce water and energy consumption) and increase the diversity of the hotel offerings [72,73]. Tourists and travel agents are becoming more and more demanding, meaning that hoteliers have to adapt to new requirements, including showing greater respect for the environment.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that many researchers have shown that there is no correlation between the implementation of environmental practices in hotels and increased hotel efficiency and productivity. Among others, [74] concluded that the degree of advanced environmental commitment (i.e., proactive, indirect, and reactive) in hotels does not affect financial or operational performance as assessed by the Occupancy (OCC), Gross Operating Profit (GOP), and Gross Operating Profit Per Available room (GOPPAR) indexes. In contrast, other studies have shown that booking revenue [75], average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR) [76] remained unchanged for certified hotels.

The research findings are inconclusive regarding the impact of implementing environmental practices on the efficiency and productivity of hotel operations. Nevertheless, the number of publications proving a positive relationship is far greater than those indicating neutral and negative impacts [77]

2.4. Sustainability Certification Systems in the Hotel Industry

Good environmental management practiced by hotels improves customers’ perception of quality of the hotel product [78] by offering distinctive and healthy accommodation, thereby improving their environmental image. As a result, some hotels have applied for and adopted various environmental awards (also known as “environmental awards”, “environmental certificates”, or “eco-labels”) to differentiate themselves from other facilities in order to improve consumers’ perception of their performance with regard to environmental protection [79]. Some leading hotel chains, including Choice Hotels, Marriott International, Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, have announced the receipt of various environmental awards to signal their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and improving their ecological credentials [63].

Environmental awards of an objective nature are given by external organizations [80]. The purpose of certification is to stimulate supply and demand for the products that have a reduced impact on the environment and thus stimulate the potential for continuous market-driven environmental improvement [81]. Therefore, the literature increasingly recognizes environmental awards as a kind of social legitimation action for the following three reasons [64,65]:

• Environmental certificates signal the voluntary implementation of environmental initiatives by hospitality service providers, providing credibility through compliance assessments that the hotel has conducted through specific environmental engagement activities [64].
• Bearing in mind that information asymmetry concerns are specific to service industries due to service inseparability at the point of consumption, environmental awards can assure the public that a given hotel is committed to reducing environmental harm, as certified hotel facilities are also awarded with identifiable logos. However, an additional complexity is the fact that there are over 456 environmental awards worldwide (ecolabelindex.com), with over 100 offerings specific to the hotel and tourism industry. Therefore, this raises concerns that a large number of awards will become less recognized and less trusted by consumers as they have different meanings, messages, criteria, and geographical scopes [82].
• Environmental awards provide opportunities to increase the profitability of certified hotels. On the one hand, environmental engagement can improve internal operational efficiency through increased production processes while reducing resource consumption and production costs [83]. On the other hand, however, environmental commitment brings external benefits, including an increase in stakeholder investment [84], improvement of the ecological image of hotels to create competitive advantages, and an increase in the share price value [85]. According to the latter, which indicates the benefits of external factors, this study is based on the current literature and seeks to assess the impact of environmental awards on the hotel market value.

Environmental management is a practice that includes both technical and organizational activities aimed at reducing the negative impact of a company’s activities on the environment [86]. Thus, environmental awards constitute the most widely used environmental management strategy [72], providing a wide range of internal and external benefits for hotel facilities, including a higher level of reputation, higher profitability, continuous image improvement, and growing competitive advantages thanks to the diversification of the hotel’s offerings. These factors provide an objective measure of the impact of environmental awards on the financial performance of hotels [72,73,74,87]. It is essential to adopt a legitimacy-based approach, particularly for chain hotels, that not only derive economic benefits from using fewer resources but can also increase their market position and improve their image through their commitment to environmental protection [88]. In this context, hotels are assigned a high level of environmental responsibility, mostly by external stakeholders who expect hotels to implement environmental protection initiatives to mitigate their impact on the environment as well as to improve their profitability. Contrary to government regulations that impose external requirements on companies, a hotel manager’s decision to implement environmental activities comes from within the company and is a voluntary, self-regulatory structure [89]. This unconventional environmental strategy is a departure from the dominant approach to compliance, comprising regulatory or legal requirements first (reactive) and then gradually increasing voluntary environmental practices (proactive). Therefore, this proactive approach can minimize the skepticism of the market regarding the ecological initiatives undertaken by hotel companies, as it signals that there is a real commitment to implement actions to reduce environmental impact [79].

Among the most recognizable and most frequently used certificates in the hotel industry to confirm that hotel facilities operate based on and in accordance with the concept of sustainable development, there are eight EMASs that apply to the hotel market [53]. These can be classified into three groups as follows:

• General systems, with a wide-ranging impact on the economy, including those that can be used in the tourism industry, including the hotel industry: ISO 14001 standard, the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), Ecolabel/Eco Flower, and the Green Seal.
• Specialized systems for industries other than the tourism industry, including the hotel industry, whose certification activity includes the environmental assessment of hotel operations; in the construction industry, one such system is LEED.
• Specialist systems relating exclusively to the tourism industry, dealing with environmental management in the tourism industry, including the hotel industry: Green Key, Green Globe, Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

The ISO 14001 standard is an internationally agreed-upon standard that specifies requirements for an EMAS. “It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders” [61]. It helps organizations to achieve the following:

• Minimize the negative impact of their activities (processes, etc.) on the environment (i.e., causing adverse changes in the air, water, or soil);
• Comply with applicable laws, administrative regulations, and other environmental protection requirements;
• Constantly improve the systems of the organization and its approach to environmental issues.

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is an environmental management instrument developed by the European Commission for companies and other organizations to assess, report, and improve their environmental efficiency. It covers all areas of business activity and in a practical way is applicable all over the world. EMAS supports hotels in finding the right tools to improve their environmental efficiency [90].

Ecolabel, frequently referred to as Eco Flower, is a voluntary environmental labeling system in the EU. Hotel properties awarded with this standard are characterized by low energy consumption, reduced waste production, and the promotion of ecological practices. It is the only green certificate that is officially recognized in the EU. In this system, criteria are established separately for each type of product to minimize their impact on the environment. As the circle of life of each product is different, the criteria are adapted to the unique characteristics of each type of product. Hotel facilities are assessed according to 22 mandatory and 45 optional criteria. The criteria cover five areas: governance, energy, water, waste, and sewage [91].

The Green Seal is commonly recognized as one of the strictest health and environmental sustainability standards on the global market. The strict assessment process under this standard includes annual monitoring of compliance as well as commitment to continuous improvement. This standard has three levels under which a lodging property may apply for certification: bronze, silver, and gold. Facilities are assessed according to five categories, i.e., performance in the field of waste minimization, energy saving, and water management, pollution prevention, and environmentally sensitive purchases, and nearly 70 detailed criteria [92].

LEED is a program that evaluates new premises built from scratch providing for sustainable development practices. To achieve LEED certification, hotels must undergo verification by a third party to prove that the structure, design, and building itself meet LEED standards. Any type of hotel building at any stage of construction can apply for a LEED certificate. Even quite old hotels (old properties) can apply for this certification to measure their performance and identify potential improvements. This program offers four levels of certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. Ratings vary depending on the type of certification. However, the certification board generally analyzes building capability in terms of eight categories: integration processes, location and transportation, sustainable location, water, energy, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. These categories comprise 58 detailed criteria [93].

The Green Key is the world’s leading standard of excellence for environmental responsibility and sustainable operations in the travel industry. Marking a hotel with this sign proves that it meets the strict criteria defined by the Ecological Education Foundation. Possessing the Green Key label means making a promise to hotel guests that by choosing this facility, they will contribute to protecting the environment. The high environmental standards expected from Green Key-labeled companies are maintained through strict documentation and frequent audits. Both the categories and criteria of the environmental standards are updated every five years [94].

The Green Globe is a certification system that assesses not only the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the company itself but also its partners in the supply chain. It is responsible for certifying hotels, resorts, conference centers, cruise ships, and attractions worldwide. The application of 44 basic criteria and over 385 compliance indicators ensures a comprehensive assessment. This makes Green Globe one of the most accurate ecological certificates for so-called green hotels all over the world [95,96,97].

The GSTC establishes and manages global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets of criteria, i.e., target criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers and industry criteria for hotels and tour operators. They are the result of global efforts to develop a common position on sustainable development in tourism. The criteria in both sets are divided into four pillars: sustainable management; socio-economic consequences; cultural impact; and environmental impact [98]. Information regarding the discussed certification systems for environmental management that can be used in hotel operations is presented in

Table 2. Environmental management certification systems for hotels as of 2023. Source: authors’ own elaboration based on the websites of the certification systems [61,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98].

Certification System	Year Launched	Number of Hotel Facilities with a Certificate	Region
ISO 14001	1996	136	Global
EMAS	1993, Brussels	over 270	Europe
Ecolabel	1992, Brussels	504 hotels	Europe
Green Seal	1989, Washington	39	Global
LEED	2000	47 hotel chains, 3 private hotels	Global
Green Key	1994, Denmark	Over 4400	Global
Green Globe	From 2002, program managed by the Foundation for Environmental Education and recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council	600 members, including hotels	Global
GSTC	1993	Over 18,000	Global

.

Most of the characterized certification systems are standards that were developed in the 1990s, i.e., during the development of the concept of sustainable development. However, these systems are still being improved, updated (every 5–7 years depending on the system), and adapted to current problems that appear in the field of sustainable development. Some of these systems use requirements, criteria, or indicators defined in other systems. To some extent, benchmarking solutions between systems can be observed. There are many examples in this regard. The Green Seal includes in its requirements those included in the ISO 14001 group of standards. In turn, the indicators and criteria used by the Green Globe to evaluate tourism companies are consistent with the GSTC standards, and ISO 14001 is an annex of the EMAS.

3. Materials and Methods

The basic method used in the empirical part of this work was a case study. This method allows one to investigate contemporary phenomena in their real context, especially when the boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not that obvious [99]. A content analysis was used here as part of the method to examine to what extent the practices of sustainability are taken into account by the HSU and Polish hotel categorization systems. Content analysis is an empirically grounded method, one of the most important [100] and widely used [101] in social sciences. It is used to analyze content in a specific context. It provides systematized and objective data and information that allow one to draw repeatable, correct, and valid conclusions [100]. Today, this method is frequently used to analyze the content of websites and information on social networking sites [102].

For the purposes of this article, a case study was conducted on two hotel categorization systems in Europe, i.e., the HSU system and the Polish system, in relation to the sustainable development criteria taken into account. Previously, it was necessary to define such criteria. For this purpose, a collective case study of the environmental certification systems that are most commonly applied in the hotel industry and were described in the previous section was conducted (first stage of research).

In the content analysis of both the HSU and Polish hotel categorization systems, as well as the environmental certification systems (Table 2), we used detailed information on systems and their evaluation criteria published on their Internet profiles and the available promotional materials of the certification systems.

We performed a collective case study (second stage of research) covering eight systems of environmental certification (Table 2), the descriptions and materials of which made it possible to conduct a full analysis of the content of the criteria taken into account while assessing whether a hotel facility meets the requirements to receive a specific marking or award (certificate, distinctions, etc.).

In this case, qualitative analysis was used only for the mandatory criteria defined in environmental certification systems, as they are the absolute minimum required from hotels when applying for a marking or award. As a result of the conducted analyses, the criteria taken into account by all eight systems of environmental certification were compared (second stage of research) (

Table 3. Comparison of the systems of environmental certification in the hotel industry. Source: authors’ own elaboration based on [61,91,93,94,95,96,97,98].

	Sustainable Development Certification Systems Used in the Hotel Industry
KPIs	ISO 14001	EMAS (EU)	Ecolabel (EU)	Green Seal	LEED	Green Key	Green Globe	GSTC
Environmental management	V	V	V		V	V	V	V
Staff involvement	V	V	V	V		V	V	V
Guest information	V	V	V			V	V	V
Water	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Washing and cleaning	V	V	V	V		V
Waste	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Energy	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Food and beverage	V	V	V	V		V
Indoor environment			V		V	V
Green areas	V	V	V	V	V	V		V
Corporate social responsibility			V			V	V	V
Green activities					V	V
Administration	V	V				V
Location and transportation	V	V	V		V	V	V	V
Materials and resources				V	V		V	V
Health and safety			V			V	V	V
Local employment			V			V	V	V
Support local entrepreneurs			V			V	V	V
Respect local communities						V	V	V
Equitable hiring						V	V	V
Employee protection			V			V	V
Conserving resources water energy	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Reducing pollution waste	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Conserving biodiversity, ecosystems, and landscapes	V	V	V			V	V	V
Legal compliance							V	V
Protecting cultural heritage						V	V	V
Environmentally preferable purchasing	V	V		V		V	V	V
Recycling	V	V	V	V	V	V	V	V
Refillable amenities			V	V		V
Towel and linen reuse program	V	V	V	V		V
Responsible suppliers	V	V		V		V
Thermoregulation	V	V	V
Automatic shutdown of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems	V	V	V

“V” means that the individual systems contain information about the given criteria.

).

A comparative analysis of the criteria used in particular systems of environmental certification allowed us to identify a list of 11 groups of criteria and 48 detailed criteria (

Table 4. A list of criteria common to all analyzed systems of environmental certification (summary of comparative research results). Source: authors’ own elaboration based on the research.

Groups of Criteria	Detailed Criteria
Environmental management	No specific criteria
Water management	Water-saving measures
	Water flow reduction/water-saving fittings
	The use of sensors and water-saving devices (including, e.g., pool roofing)
	Collecting rainwater
	Room cleaning on request
	Changing towels and bed linen on request
	Rainwater recycling
Energy management	Heating and air conditioning control systems
	Automatic turning on/off of heating and air conditioning
	Energy-saving light bulbs
	Checking the ventilation, air conditioning, and heating system (annually)
	The use of energy-saving devices
	Light sensors (motion sensors that activate the light)
	Using renewable sources
	Energy audits
	Thermal insulation
Waste and wastewater management	Recycling
	Waste segregation
	Not using disposable containers
	Failure to use a one-time pledge
	Using dispensers for soap, shampoo, shower gel, etc.
	Wastewater discharged to the public sewage system or having its own sewage treatment plant
Staff	Training in the field of environmental protection
	Established work procedures
	Supplier education
	Guest education
	Legal and ethical (non-exploitative) employment of workers
Communication	Behavior markings and pro-environmental instructions for staff
	Behavior markings and pro-environmental instructions for guests
	Encouraging the use of alternative means of transport
Food and beverage	Purchasing of raw materials and eco products
	Food waste minimization
	Offering beverages in glass containers
	Tap water for drinking
	Offering a vegetarian and vegan menu
	Purchasing of certified food products
Transport	The use of environmentally friendly means of transport
	Offering guests bicycles and scooters
	Guests travel together by taxi and bus
Safety and health	Use of chemical-free alternative cleaning and disinfection agents
	Use of safe cleaning products (eco-labels)
	No smoking in the facility
	Controlled air quality in the facility
Local development	Purchasing of raw materials for products
	Information about the attractions in the region
Green areas	Protection and support of local biodiversity
	Green areas around the hotel

) that are common to all or most of the analyzed systems of environmental certification (third stage of research).

In the next stage of this research, the content of 247 hotel categorization criteria according to the HSU system and 56 criteria included in the Polish legal regulations based on the regulations provided by the ministry responsible for tourism and hotels and other facilities that provide hotel services was also qualitatively analyzed [103] (fourth stage of research). The content analysis of the sets of criteria in the European and Polish categorization systems sought to check whether the environmental criteria listed in Table 3 are taken into account (fifth stage of research).

The presented list contains criteria in five categories according to which hotels are categorized. The HSU evaluation system takes into account the following issues: the quality level guarantee, the quality system of hotel service, the transparency of service, and safety in the hotel, as well as issues of sustainable development and technological development. HSU was founded in 2009 and operates under the patronage of HOTREC, which is the so-called umbrella association of hotel and catering companies in Europe.

The HSU system is updated regularly every five years (the last update was in 2020) and includes 247 criteria that are weighted with 1 to 25 points. In total, this system includes 141 mandatory criteria belonging to one or more categories [104]. In order to obtain a specific category, it is necessary to meet these criteria (standard, star), and each additional advantage means some extra points for setting the standard. In addition, if a given hotel does not meet some criteria and scores points in others, this lack does not lead to its exclusion from the rest of the procedure or that the hotel will definitely be graded in a lower category. The system assigns the five categories for hotel facilities a score from one to five stars.

It is worth noting that in May of this year, the HSU approved new criteria for the awarding of hotel stars between 2025 and 2030. As the organization points out, this new classification system is a step towards a more sustainable, efficient, and guest-oriented hotel industry. Once again, the system has been simplified by reducing the number of criteria from 247 to 239, resulting from the removal of some criteria that had become less important and the consolidation of others to simplify the system.

Some changes include the introduction of recommendations for mattress cleaning to meet the increased hygiene requirements after the COVID-19 pandemic and to extend the life of their use to positively impact sustainability. In the newly mandatory system (from 2026), hotels can earn additional points if they provide an indication of the carbon footprint of the hotel according to the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) [104]. At this stage of the changes, it is difficult to assess to what extent these measures will represent significant progress towards a sustainable hotel categorization system.

Despite the fact that Poland is a member of the HSU initiative, it has not implemented this new system yet. Therefore, the current system based on the Act of 29 August 1997, relating to hotel services and services provided by tour guides [105], and the regulations set out by the ministry responsible for tourism [103] are still in force. These regulations define the minimum requirements for various types and categories of hotel facilities, including hotels, and include five groups of criteria, i.e., external development elements, technical installations, and devices; basic elements regarding the functioning, service program, and usability of the facility; the residential area; the basic and supplementary service offerings; and the equipment necessary to adapt hotel facilities to the needs of disabled guests. The Polish system, like HSU, assigns these five categories a score ranging from one to five stars. However, as has already been mentioned, the Polish hotel categorization system requires that a facility that is applying for a specific star category meet all the minimum criteria indicated in the regulations.

4. Results and Discussion

The results of the content analysis of the European and Polish hotel categorization systems in terms of including environmental criteria proved (

Table 5. Comparison of Polish and European hotel categorization systems in terms of their references to the criteria of sustainability. Source: based on authors’ own research.

Groups of Criteria	Detailed Criteria	Hotelstars Union No Criteria	Poland No Criteria
Environmental management		(239)
Water management	Water-saving measures
	Water flow reduction/water-saving fittings
	The use of sensors, water-saving devices (including, e.g., pool roofing)
	Collecting rainwater
	Room cleaning on request	(40)	(51)
	Changing towels and bed linen on request	(41, 42, 43)	(50)
	Rainwater recycling
Energy management	Heating and air conditioning control systems	(118, 119, 211)
	Automatic turning on/off of heating and air conditioning
	Energy-saving light bulbs
	Checking the ventilation, air conditioning, and heating system (annually)
	The use of energy-saving devices
	Light sensors (motion sensors that activate the light)
	Using renewable sources
	Energy audits
	Thermal insulation
Waste and wastewater management	Recycling
	Waste segregation
	Not using disposable containers
	Failure to use a one-time pledge
	Using dispensers for soap, shampoo, shower gel, etc.
	Wastewater discharged to the public sewage system or having its own sewage treatment plant
Staff	Training in the field of environmental protection
	Established work procedures
	Supplier education
	Guest education
	Legal and ethical (non-exploitative) employment of workers
Communication	Behavior markings and pro-environmental instructions for staff
	Behavior markings and pro-environmental instructions for guests
	Encouraging the use of alternative means of transport	(11, 12, 13)
Food and beverage	Purchasing of raw materials and eco products
	Food waste minimization
	Offering beverages in glass containers
	Tap water for drinking
	Offering a vegetarian and vegan menu
	Purchasing of certified food products
Transport	The use of environmentally friendly means of transport
	Offering guests bicycles and scooters
	Guests travel together by taxi and bus
Safety and health	Use of chemical-free alternative cleaning and disinfection agents
	Use of safe cleaning products (eco-labels)
	No smoking in the facility
	Controlled air quality in the facility
Local development	Purchasing of raw materials for products	(199)
	Information about the attractions in the region	(137)
Green areas	Protection and support of local biodiversity
	Green areas around the hotel

) that the European HSU system references seven environmental criteria, while the Polish system only references two environmental criteria.

It is noticeable that the Polish categorization system focuses little on ecology, unlike the European system. This is evidenced by both the greater number of criteria related directly to pro-ecological activities and the importance that is assigned to them. Examples of three such criteria are “Sustainability label/certificate issued by the national decision on recognized labels and certificates”, “Charging station for electric cars”, and “Rooms with individually adjustable air conditioning”. For meeting the first of these criteria, the system grants 20 points, 10 points for meeting the second one, and 10 points for meeting the third one. The new program guidelines additionally include a fourth criterion for environmental measures, i.e., “Indication of the carbon footprint of the hotel according to the HCMI”, for which the hotel can receive 10 points. Sadly, none of these criteria currently in force or those that will be in force from 2026 are obligatory [104]. The remaining criteria of the HSU system related to the principles of sustainable development are assigned one to seven points. However, what is noticeable is that the optional criteria, i.e., those referring to having an air conditioning control system (“Rooms with centrally adjustable air conditioning” (seven points)) and the purchasing of raw materials and products from local suppliers (“Regional dishes. The food offer features a significant part of regional/national specialties”, “The majority of used products is from the region” (five points)) are scored higher than the mandatory ones. The latter are assigned one to three points and refer to the necessity to provide information on regional attractions (“Regional information material available (printed or digital)” (one point)) and to room cleaning jobs and the replacement of towels and bed linen upon a guest’s request (“Daily room cleaning with the option of opting-out” (one point), “Daily change of towels on demand” (one point), “Change of bed linen at least once a week with the option of opting-out” (one point), “Change of bed linen at least twice a week with the option of opting-out” (three points)).

The Polish hotel categorization system, along with the requirements attached, as indicated in Table 5, refers only to two environmental criteria, i.e., room cleaning jobs and towel and bed linen replacement upon a guest’s request: “Cleaning the room every day or at the guest’s request” and “Change of bed linen and towels daily or upon guests’ request”. These are obligatory, like in the HSU system. However, it should be stressed that in the Polish categorization system, both of these criteria are of equal importance for the final assessment. The Polish hotel categorization system does not rank criteria. Each of the requirements mentioned in the regulation must be met by a facility applying for a particular category.

Analysis of the European and Polish systems of categorization also proved that they both contain criteria related to the accessibility of hotel facilities for people with disabilities and various dysfunctions. These criteria go beyond the area of the analyzed environmental criteria, as they relate to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of hotels.

The results of the conducted research show that both the Polish and European categorization systems need to mature further in terms of considering the principles of sustainable development. Considering the growing awareness of entrepreneurs and consumers in the tourism industry regarding sustainable development, the requirements adopted in both analyzed systems need to meet the market’s needs. Therefore, an increasing number of hotels are applying for external environmental certificates to stand out in the market and respond to the requirements of their customers. Hotels are trying to be more sustainable [106], but customers are also looking for sustainable hotels. In particular, people from younger generations, whose preferences include values such as sustainable environmental development or ecological protection, seek sustainable hotels. Researchers rightly note [107,108,109] that the younger generations have a particular approach to global problems and solutions to the upcoming climate crisis. This perspective determines the next generation of consumers, and elements of their behavior should be used in hotels not as market differentiators but as mandatory standards.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

The results of the conducted analyses show that although the HSU system takes into account the principles of sustainable development to a greater extent than the Polish system, its main weakness is that most of its criteria related to the environmental standards are optional. In addition, these optional criteria have higher weights than the obligatory ones. In turn, the Polish system of categorization only briefly refers to environmental standards, is not very detailed, and the assessment criteria are not up to date in the context of the current economic reality.

A detailed review of the information included in Table 5, despite the differences in the scope of inclusion of the categorization criteria related to sustainable development, shows the strong potential for including the missing criteria in the Polish system of hotel categorization. None of the five missing groups of evaluation criteria are difficult to apply when categorizing hotel entities. In addition, within the scope of the detailed criteria utilized by HSU, hotels usually implement activities related to the following:

(a)

Environmental policy—This should be considered as an action consisting of the development and implementation of a document that is possessed by chain hotels, and which smaller facilities, if they are not yet in possession of one, are able to develop with no significant expenditure; some hotel self-government organizations might be of help in this respect by preparing framework versions.

(b)

Operation of heating and air conditioning control systems—This is a technical issue in every hotel facility.

(c)

Encouraging guests to use alternative means of transport—This criterion is of a technical and organizational nature, yet the form of “encouragement” indicates issues of a marketing nature and in the area of information policy.

(d)

Purchasing raw materials and products from local suppliers—This criterion is of an organizational nature and relates to cooperation in the local tourism industry. It also has effects of a marketing nature.

(e)

Providing information on the attractions of the region—This is a criterion of a marketing and information nature.

Among these, the only criterion that may relate to the need to incur expenses for some hotels is mentioned in point (b). In the case of the other criteria, it is relatively easy to meet these requirements, as in many cases, such activities are implemented in practice. In some facilities, the scope of current activity in this field should be expanded. These activities would mainly be of a low-cost nature and would involve the activities of staff that serve hotel guests directly. Therefore, taking these criteria into account will have a direct impact on the quality of operation of the entire hotel industry. In connection with the local tourism economy, it will also improve hotel information policy and directly influence the level of hotel guest satisfaction.

Thus, the above arrangements, in a relatively easy way, point to the possibility of adapting the criteria of sustainable development that are in force in the HSU system to the policy system aimed at the hotel industry in Poland, and therefore also in other EU countries.

The presented analysis leads to the conclusion that the inclusion of the criteria related to sustainable development in the hotel categorization system would lead to an improvement in the position of the hotel industry within the market and would be associated with the possibility of creating a competitive advantage in both the internal and the external market, mainly the European market, in relation to other entities and to consumer needs as well. A unified system of categorization would become real market information and would influence the level of hotel service quality.

Therefore, the actions performed by public policy entities aimed at the hotel industry may take the form of “pushing” through regulation and seem necessary, taking into account the contemporary conditions of running a business and the general assumptions of global and EU environmental policy. Bilateral activities within the framework of cooperation between public entities and hotel self-government organizations are also possible. In the modern hotel market, the impact of demand (pulled by demand) is a secondary issue. However, through their purchasing decisions, hotel customers can co-decide whether or not it is necessary to take sustainable development criteria into account in hotel operation.

The suggested solutions are not cost- or labor-intensive for either categorization entities or hotels. In addition, they are relatively easy to implement, providing opportunities to establish or deepen cooperation between organizations with competencies in the field of hotel categorization, including both public and industrial bodies.

Based on the presented analyses and conceptual considerations, the research objective of this study regarding the implementation of environmental standards in the European system of hotel categorization was achieved, with particular emphasis on the Polish system. A practical, relatively easy, low-cost, and non-labor-intensive means of adapting the system to the domestic categorization systems that are currently in force in this country, taking into account environmental management criteria, was also validated.

At this stage, the research is limited in its conclusions regarding the relationship between the HSU system and the categorization system in Poland. Taking market practice, including regulatory practice, into account in many EU countries and beyond, it was decided that the discussed systems should also be adapted in other countries, which would be beneficial for the goals set by the public policy of sustainable development, for the competitive market, and with a view to protecting consumers in the hotel market.

The aim of the authors is to continue this research by extending the scope of the analysis to further EU countries. This research should cover the EU countries that are involved in the HSU initiative, as well as others. The scope of the research should include the hotel categorization systems in force in the individual EU member states, together with an assessment of the scope of criteria related to environmental aspects. In parallel, an assessment of public policy actions directed towards the hotel industry in individual countries and the EU as a whole should be undertaken, taking into account environmental management instruments in the hotel industry. The long-term aim of the research undertaken is to develop a concept for a common categorization system for hotels in the EU, taking into account aspects of environmental management and, more broadly, sustainable development.