Abstract
Tourism can drive positive, transformative changes in modern societies, but also becomes a source of significant environmental externalities. This is often the case for developing economies where the problem is exacerbated by immature national sustainability agendas. Targeted research, accounting for the local context, is necessary to enable transition of developing countries towards more sustainable patterns of tourism development. This study targets the hotel sector in Iran, one of the most energy inefficient hotel sectors around the world, to explore its pathway towards environmental sustainability. The dominance of domestic ownership and control and the prevalence of international economic sanctions are the distinctive features of the Iranian hotel sector. The study pinpoints reconfigurations in technology, knowledge, legislation and behavioural norms as the determinants of the sector’s environmental sustainability quest. Domestic hospitality companies should champion transformative pro-environmental changes in the Iranian hotel sector until international economic sanctions are lifted.
•First attempt to explore how/if hotels in Iran conserve energy.•Domestic ownership and control exert a negative effect on energy conservation.•Reconfigurations in technology, knowledge, legislation and behavioural norms towards energy conservation are pinpointed.•International stakeholders exert an insignificant influence on energy conservation due to punitive sanctions.•Closer engagement of all domestic stakeholders is required to conserve energy.