Assessing Factors Affecting Success of Green Accommodations

Tourism is an increasingly growing activity in the world. However, it is an important threat for the environment (both cultural & natural). In recent decades, the approach of sustainable tourism and the concepts such as ecotourism, green tourism, and responsible tourism are considered as strong mechanisms to control the negative impacts of tourism. Ecotourism is a new concept in tourism context which has been created with the idea of being in harmony with the nature. Among this, one of the most important ways considered in ecotourism and green tourism, is the idea of green accommodations like green hotels or Eco camps. Green accommodations are environmentally friendly lodging facilities which are initiated in environmentally sustainable accommodations. Matin Abad Eco camp, as a type of green resort, is one of the first Eco camps in Iran. This paper aims to recognize effective indicators for Eco camps of the world and then, to assess the level of success of these indicators in Matin Abad site. The population of the study are the tourists who have visited Matin Abad Eco camp (N=180). For gathering data, a questionnaire was designed by using a theoretical basis. The effective indicators and their criteria on Eco camp success were evaluated by T-test. The findings from assessing indicators with their related criteria showed that all of the indicators have positive impact on the success of this green accommodation, but the important differences are about their criteria. In other words, details or the criteria of each indicator must be considered.