How do tourism firms innovate for sustainable energy consumption? A capabilities perspective on the adoption of energy efficiency in tourism accommodation establishments

Previous studies demonstrate the role of firm capabilities in the adoption of environmental innovations and sustainability measures. However there remains a gap in understanding how particular combinations of capabilities may give rise to different patterns of innovation adoption across firms in the tourism industry. The study addresses this gap by advancing insights on the capabilities of tourism accommodation establishments to adopt environmental technologies and measures in their maintenance and operational activities; and the extent to which tourism firms exploit their relation with a type of business partner (engineering consulting firms in this study) to appropriate knowledge about environmental innovations and build absorptive capacity. For this purpose, the research builds a qualitative study on the adoption of energy efficiency measures in hotels in Malta, a Mediterranean tourism destination. The findings demonstrate different patterns of innovation adoption amongst the firms in terms of the range of energy technologies and measures adopted that are contingent on the firms' particular combination of capabilities to solve problems around energy efficiency; and to accumulate knowledge about energy solutions through creating spaces for innovation adoption. Tourism firms that build internal capabilities for adoption of energy efficient measures and technologies are more likely to mobilize their relation with engineering firms in order to co-produce innovative energy efficient solutions. The policy implication is that policy measures should increasingly promote the development of capabilities for energy management alongside programmes that are focussed on the diffusion of environmental technologies.