Assessing the Environmental Sustainability in the Italian and Romanian Hospitality Sector: The Case of Accommodation Facilities

Tourism is amongst the fastest growing economic sectors, notwithstanding the interruption by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. This study focuses on the adoption of life cycle-based sustainability indicators in the hospitality sector. The article assesses the environmental sustainability of four tourist accommodation facilities of different sizes in two countries, using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The study identified that electricity use is important for environmental impacts across most categories for all facility sizes and examined locations, whilst water and firewood consumption are significant in specific regional contexts. Facility size does not necessarily determine the most impacting processes, but it may affect the feasibility of adopting more sustainable solutions. Human carcinogenic toxicity, ecotoxicity, and water consumption emerged as the most influenced impact categories.