The capacity to generate value-added services in order to acquire and retain loyal clients is one of the challenges facing the hospitality sector. For this reason and because of economic realities and government policies, an ever-growing number of hotels are formally adopting certified environmental practices such as the ISO 14001. In this article, we attempt to analyze the relationship between the implementation of a proactive environmental management tool, the ISO 14001 standard, and the generation of economic revenues in the Spanish hotel industry. Also considered are the possible effects on the business results of moderating factors such as company size and the market segment where the hotel operates. Empirical economic information on 2,116 Spanish hotels was obtained from the SABI database (Iberian Balance-Sheet Analysis System) for the year 2008, during which 108 properties had ISO 14001 certification. Quantitative analysis techniques showed significant differences in the economic performance of ISO-certified hotels and those not certified, particularly for urban and beach hotels. The results showed influence of both company size and organizational factors on revenue. Only small rural hotels saw no difference in revenues due to the presence or absence of ISO certification.

A cluster is a geographical concentration of interrelated firms. Cluster theory states that the synergies created inside the cluster (by the interactions between firms that compete and those that collaborate) enhance the productivity and innovation of firms and therefore their economic performance. While manufacturing industries have been widely studied from the clustering perspective, service clusters and specifically touristic clusters have received less attention. In this paper, we identify U.S. touristic clusters using a concentration measure, the Location Quotient. Then we check whether hotels located in touristic clusters obtain higher economic results than those hotels located in areas where the level of touristic-related business concentration does not get the critical mass to consider it a cluster (instead of reducing their benefits due to the high level of competitors nearby). Our results find significant differences between the two sets of hotels. The effect is stronger for subsegments of hotels based on their star category, location, and management structure. Specifically, we demonstrate that the differences are more pronounced within luxury and upscale hotel categories and within chain-managed hotels. The differences are less important in resort and airport locations than in small-metro/town, urban, and suburban areas. These results have important location implications for managers. They also contribute to understanding that economies of agglomeration lead to benefits from being located closely and in highly concentrated industries. But there is still a lot of research needed to better understand the relations between cooperation and competition within touristic clusters and how these enhance the economic performance of hotels.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of consumer altruism and other socio-cultural factors in predicting how much attention consumers pay to seafood eco-labels.Design/methodology/approach: The empirical investigation was carried out by administering an online questionnaire to a sample of Italian and Spanish people from December 2019 to April 2020. After carrying out the principal component analysis procedure, the work made use of an ordinal logistic regression.Findings: Both Italian and Spanish consumers with an altruistic attitude, who feel that food produced in a sustainable way can protect the environment and workers, appear more likely to take an eco-label into account. In addition, in both countries, consumers with a higher level of education and in the older age range are more likely to read eco-labels before buying fish products.Research limitations/implications: The first limitation is mainly related to the sampling procedure, which is not probabilistic and does not allow for generalisation of the results. Furthermore, some indicators related to COVID-19 were not included as the planning stage of the research methodology occurred before the pandemic.Practical implications: A better understanding of the main determinants predicting consumers' attention to seafood eco-labels could be crucial to promote effective marketing strategies aimed at increasing consumer interest and awareness in sustainable seafood and eco-labels.Originality/value: Exploring the role of consumers' altruism in how much attention is paid to seafood eco-labels appears to be a new approach that emphasises the role of altruism as a variable capable of bridging the “value-action gap”.

This paper links two theoretical constructs underpinned by sustainable values, management of sustainable development and eco- innovation. The first one becomes a crucial process and adds competitive value and, the second, plays a pivotal role in the search for a sustainable economy and society. This research is an attempt to explore the Spanish companies ́ attitude towards sustainability when innovating. Industries were categorized as to their actual technological performance status as low, medium- low, medium-high and high tech, using a predefined framework. Then multivariate analysis techniques were applied to identify which variables influence the environmental attitude in each segment. A correlation between the industry tech level and its environmental orientation was found to be most relevant.

The sun, sea and sand model that has characterized the Spanish tourism sector and has caused Spain's tourist sector to become a world-class industry is actually undergoing drastic changes. This model is based on the existence of major tourism destinations characterized by high levels of industry specialisation, which makes them a target of analysis as tourism clusters in which the geographic concentration of synergies reinforces the competitive position. In this study, Spanish tourism clusters are identified using quantitative methods and the current validity of the economies of location that have made them possible are also analysed. Although all the identified clusters can be defined as mature and became less significant during the last decade in Spanish tourism, according to the results the creation of externalities measured in terms of higher generation of profit is higher in companies belonging to the tourism clusters than in those outside of them.

Diversification of fisheries has one of its main lines of development in tourism, especially in countries as touristic as Spain. An important part of the European Fisheries Funds (EFFs) has subsidized, through the Fisheries Local Action Groups, local development projects in fishing zones with a large part of these projects related to tourism, including nautical tourism. In this new context it is possible to quantify and analyse the subsidized projects’ typology and the relationship between recreational and professional fishing. This work analyses 705 projects financed by European funds, mainly the EFF, of which 172 are related to tourism and 48 to nautical tourism. The objective is to categorize and characterize the subsidized projects and, subsequently, to verify the degree of relationship, if any, between the projects of nautical tourism and professional fishing.