From Awareness to Action: Green Practices in the Iberian Peninsula’s Hospitality Sector

Purpose. This paper examines the adoption of green practices by food and lodging establishments in the Iberian Peninsula’s hospitality sector, identifying the extent and character of sustainability integration and revealing structural and behavioural barriers to implementation. Design / Method / Approach. A mixed-methods design, emphasising a quantitative survey of employees and customers, was employed, supported by descriptive statistics, independent-sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA to compare patterns across establishment types, years of operation, and workforce size, enabling robust analysis of environmental practices. Findings. Results show strong institutionalisation of waste management, water conservation and sustainable purchasing, alongside consistent but low-cost energy efficiency measures; significant differences emerged between hotels and restaurants, while none appeared by age or size of business; employees displayed high motivation and positive perceptions but limited formal training, and customers reported favourable attitudes yet inconsistent awareness and low willingness to pay a premium. Theoretical Implications. The study advances sustainable hospitality literature by demonstrating how micro- and small-enterprises prioritise pragmatic, behaviourally driven measures over capital-intensive innovations, contributing to debates on the attitude–behaviour gap and stakeholder engagement. Practical Implications. Findings provide a roadmap for targeted training programmes, communication strategies to enhance customer awareness, and policy interventions to support high-cost investments and sector-specific strategies. Originality / Value. This is among the first studies to combine employee and customer perspectives with inferential analysis across multiple sustainability domains in the Iberian Peninsula, producing an empirically grounded picture of green practice adoption at the micro- and small-enterprise level. Research Limitations / Future Research. The scope and sample limit generalisability; future work should employ longitudinal designs, develop readiness scales and test interventions to improve customer engagement and willingness to pay. Article Type. Applied Research.