In order to offer high quality services for tourists by respecting all environmental regulations, first of all, the location (small hotel / small restaurant) should be designed and planned accordingly.

Therefore, these first steps should be:

• to hire architects in order to implement free energy sources such as natural light, natural heating and shading from trees where possible;
• to invest in renewable energy systems such as solar water heaters, solar pumps, windmills, photovoltaic systems and other low wattage appliances;
• to try and use evaporative cooling systems or heat exchange pumps, which use re-circulated water; ceiling and floor fans to provide a cool air supply;
• to insulate roofs and heating pipes;
• to double glaze windows to prevent heat loss;
• to install automatically closing doors to prevent loss of either warm or cool air;
• to position water tanks close to the point of use and install gravity-fed water systems where possible.

After creating an appropriate location (small hotel / small restaurant and not only), the next important step is to position the company in the market as an entity that supports environmental conservation actions. On the market this invites guests to support these efforts, up to the contribution to the education of consuming services responsibly. Often, the location may receive a very positive image on the market for this kind of activity, contributing to increase the business.

When a small hotel or a small restaurant decides to become a location that respects environmental regulations, it is very important to inform also the clients about it; the best ways of informing the clients about the internal policy are:

1.  to mention energy policy on the website;
2.  to inform guests by direct communication (written, oral or visual);

The most common methods for informing guests about environmental policy and about the actions they can take to reduce energy consumption are:

• printed documents (e.g. a brief notice, leaflet or brochure). For example, hotels can display this information at the reception desk or leave it in the guest rooms;
• oral (to ensure maximum impact of the communication, it is important that the staff at the reception desk informs the arriving guests that the hotel has an environmental policy);
• visual (special posters that appear in the reception area, rooms and of course on the website).

Informing the guests about the environmental activities of the hotel, makes them more sensitive to the environmental policies of hotels. They will certainly appreciate the location and the fact that they can contribute to environmental regulatory compliance.