How is sustainability integrated in luxury hotel marketing? The case of Swiss hotels

Abstract

Luxury hotel marketing increasingly promotes sustainability, yet how this communication aligns with the experiential and symbolic foundations of luxury remains insufficiently understood. While prior research has often framed luxury and sustainability as conflicting concepts, limited attention has been paid to how sustainability is strategically embedded and communicated in service-based luxury contexts from a managerial perspective. Addressing this gap, the present research examines how sustainability is integrated into the marketing communications of Swiss luxury hotels, with a focus on underlying motivations, practices, and challenges. A qualitative multiple–case study approach is adopted, triangulating semi‑structured interviews with hotel managers, academic literature, industry reports, and online travel reviews. Findings show that sustainability is incorporated through environmental, socio‑cultural, and managerial practices and is communicated mainly via dedicated online channels, destination‑based experiences, and collaborations with local actors. The study identifies implicit versus explicit communication strategies, and key challenges related to measurement, greenwashing concerns, and audience alignment. By mobilizing signaling theory and the Online Communication Model, the research reveals how sustainability communication operates through complementary visible and embedded signals, allowing hotels to convey sustainability while preserving exclusivity and experiential value.