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Sustainability and efficiency of rural accommodation business: an approach in the main tourist region of southern Europe

Ana Belén Mudarra-Fernández (Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain)
Elia García-Marti (Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain)
Charles Ramendran Spr (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman – Kampus Petaling Jaya, Kampar, Malaysia)
José Luis Durán-Román (Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain)

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2044-1266

Article publication date: 12 January 2024

82

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of tourist accommodation companies located in the main tourist area of southern Europe as one of the three elements of the local sustainable development triangle.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis, carried out using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology on 130 companies, has obtained that from the CCR perspective (results-oriented method when companies present constant returns on the input variables).

Findings

The companies involved are quite inefficient, while which from the BCC perspective (where the input and output variables used in the company respond to a variable and not constant scale) are quite efficient. The efficiency of these companies in the seven provinces of Andalusia has also been analysed to determine if there are patterns that differentiate them and thus be able to propose strategies that improve the sustainability of these territories. The conclusions of the study indicate the need to improve the operational efficiency of rural accommodation companies.

Originality/value

The analysis of efficiency in the hotel sector and even more so in the rural tourism sector is relatively scarce in the literature, especially in Spain. More specifically, Rubio and Román (2006) have demonstrated the existence of scale inefficiencies in hotels, but no evidence has been found in previous studies that this behaviour carries over to accommodation establishments located in the destinations under study.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors report that there are no acknowledgements to declare.

Citation

Mudarra-Fernández, A.B., García-Marti, E., Ramendran Spr, C. and Durán-Román, J.L. (2024), "Sustainability and efficiency of rural accommodation business: an approach in the main tourist region of southern Europe", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-11-2023-0190

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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