From reviews to reality: tourist perceptions of sustainability in the top 15 global sustainable hotels

This study assesses tourists' perceptions of sustainability in hotels labelled as 'sustainable' by analysing 10,361 TripAdvisor online travel reviews. The goal is to address gaps in sustainable tourism literature and understand tourists' perspectives. Content analysis is applied to reviews from 15 of the world's most sustainable hotels on TripAdvisor. Analysing keywords aims to understand tourists' perceptions, emphasising the significance of online reviews and utilising rigorous Big Data analytics. Despite sustainability branding, tourists often overlook sustainable aspects in their reviews, revealing incongruity between industry perceptions and consumer awareness which emphasises the need for tailored marketing and management strategies. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the tangible perception of sustainability in online reviews. It highlights a potential gap in tourists' understanding of sustainability and their ability to recognise its value. Additionally, it underscores the industry's insufficient emphasis on marketing strategies to effectively communicate hotels' sustainability features. The findings encourage sustainable hotels to adopt robust digital marketing strategies to enhance global visibility and promote their environmental initiatives. Ultimately, the study emphasises the critical role of marketing in shaping tourists' perceptions of sustainability.