Fighting greenwashing throughout the online booking process when staying in the Balearic Islands

Abstract

[eng] In this neoliberal globalisation, the Balearic Islands are highly vulnerable to pandemics and climate change, but the archipelago’s dependency on tourism is a contributor to these problems. However, in this rebound of the industry in 2022 there is a clear trend that consumers are becoming more and more aware about sustainability, which companies are trying to take advantage of through sustainable marketing strategies, but most importantly through green marketing. Moreover, COVID-19 has propelled the technological transformation, which has inevitably eased the use of promotional tools. For this reason, corporate social responsibility and ecolabels have been studied, as they are clear indicators as to whether the Balearic Islands must be fighting greenwashing (i.e., misleading green marketing that leads the public into thinking than an organization is adopting environmental practices) or must be understanding why “greenhushing” (i.e., the deliberate avoidance of reporting an organisation’s sustainable practices) is taking place throughout the online booking process. The conclusions of this study based on information between 2020 and 2022 show that both greenwashing and “greenhushing” are occurring.