Energy Conservation Practices and Performance of Hotels in Conservation Areas in Uganda. The mediating effect of Organizational Support

Hotel operations in Uganda’s conservation areas impact the surrounding ecology, influencing hotel performance. Unsustainable practices such as excessive energy use contribute to biodiversity loss and resource depletion, estimated at 10–11% per decade. These environmental challenges lead to higher operational costs, reduced revenue, lower guest satisfaction, and loss of competitive advantage. The implementation of energy conservation practices (ECP) is critical to mitigating these effects, yet research has produced mixed findings on their effectiveness. While organizational support (OS) is recognized as a key factor, its role in linking ECP to hotel performance (HP) remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between ECP, OS, and HP in Uganda’s conservation areas. Grounded in human capital development and natural-based view theories, the study adopts a positivist paradigm and employs a quantitative, correlational research design. A sample of 265 employees from a population of 851 employees in 19 star-rated hotels was selected using Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) formula, with multistage sampling techniques applied. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS 25 and SmartPLS4 for factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings reveal that ECP explains 60% (R² = 0.598) of hotel performance variation. ECP and OS show a significant direct effect on hotel performance (P< 0.05); both ECP (P < 0.05) and OS (P < 0.05) significantly improved performance. Mediation analysis confirmed OS’s partial mediating role in the relationships between ECP and HP, as indicated by significant indirect effects (p < 0.05). The bootstrapping analysis further validated these mediation effects, with bias-corrected confidence intervals not straddling zero. The study concludes that while ECP are vital, their effectiveness is significantly enhanced by strong organizational support mechanisms. Hotel management should focus on internal support structures to maximize sustainability benefits and overall performance. This study is the first to examine OS as a mediator in Uganda’s conservation-area hotels and therefore makes a unique contribution to the literature. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and industry practitioners in shaping sustainable hotel operations. Future research should explore the long-term impact of GEP and OS using longitudinal studies, assess variations across different hotel categories, and incorporate customer perceptions to understand their influence on satisfaction and loyalty. A mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative data, is recommended for a more comprehensive analysis.