Bootstrapped DEA and Clustering Analysis of Eco-Efficiency in China’s Hotel Industry
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
I appreciate the effort that you invested in realizing this paper.
Even if the paper comes with an empirical contribution, the results are not sustained by practical and theoretical interventions.
Firstly, the paper does not follow the template of the Sustainability journal.
In the introduction section there is information that is redundant and there is no cohesion of the text. I suggest reformulating it.
In the descriptive statistics I suggest adding information regarding the median of the variables.
Regarding the Pearson Correlation, there are very high scores. The variables are multicoliniar. I suggest addressing this aspect.
There is no information concerning the software used to perform the analysis. Please, add this information.
Figure 1 is not very clear, it's difficult to observe the provinces.
There is no discussion section of the obtained results.
I suggest including the limitations of the research.
Best regards,
Author Response
Please see the attachment. Thank you.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
Thank you for the opportunity to review the manuscript entitled “Bootstrapped DEA and Clustering Analysis of Eco-Efficiency of China’s Hotel Industry”. The manuscript investigates the challenge of balancing growth and eco-environmental protection and applies the bootstrapping DEA approach to measure the eco-efficiency of China’s hotel industry. It explores a topical concern and is of good quality. However, I recommend some major issue, before I can confidentially suggest the acceptance of the present research in the Sustainability journal.
Recommendation: Major
Best regards
Reviewer’ comments:
Introduction: The section “Introduction” is comprehensive, but the authors need to include some important details. It presents some figures and statistics of the tourism sector. However, I suggest the authors including a brief description of the hospitality industry. It is said that “hospitality is one of the key sectors in tourism”. However, hotels represent only a part of the entire hospitality industry. Please, try to make it clear by describing the sector and in-depth focusing on the hotel industry. Is there the chance to include brief statistics on the environmental impacts of the hotel industry? The authors could consider the subsequent articles:
- Malefors, C., Callewaert, P., Hansson, P.A., Hartikainen, H., Pietilainen, O., Strid, I., Strotmann, C. and Eriksson, M. (2019). Towards a baseline for Food-Waste quantification in the hospitality Sector- Quantities and data processing criteria. Sustainability, 11(13), 3541.
- Amicarelli, V., Aluculusei, A.C., Lagioia, G., Pamfilie, R. and Bux, C. (2021). How to manage and minimize food waste in the hotel industry? An exploratory research. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-01-2021-0019
Please, include some references related to: “In order to follow the trend of the world and solve the deteriorating domestic environmental problems…”. Which trend? Which countries have been followed?
In terms of eco-efficiency, is there the chance to briefly describe the eco-efficiency? What is eco-efficiency? Please, consider the subsequent references:
- Amicarelli, V., Rana, L.R., Lombardi, M. and Bux, C. (2021). Material flow analysis and sustainability of the Italian meat industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 299 (2021), 126902. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126902
- Verfaillie, H.A., Bidwell, R., 2000. Measuring Eco-Efficiency. A Guide to Reporting Company Performance. World Business Council for Sustainable Development (Geneva).
- United Nations, 2009. Eco-efficiency indicators: measuring resource-use efficiency and the impact of economic activities on the environment. United Nations, 2009, ST/ESCAP/2561.
If possible, I suggest the authors clarifying the last part of the section “Introduction” through a more clear and comprehensive description of the research methodology applied in the research, as well as a clear description of the aims and scope of the research. Then, I suggest avoiding the short paragraph which describes the organization of the paper.
Literature review: The section “Literature review” is clear. The authors should address some minor concerns. For instance, as already suggested, the authors should briefly describe the “hospitality industry”. If the authors have done it in the section “Introduction”, it is not clear to repeat it in the section “Literature review”.
Is there the chance to cite the definition of the sustainable development? I mean: “Sustainable development must not only fulfill the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations, but also attempt to accomplish a balanced development between human beings and nature”.
Methodology: The section “Methodology” should be briefly introduced by a short paragraph which summarizes the entire research strategy. For instance: How data have been collected? Which steps have been adopted by the authors? Through the description of the research strategy, it is cleared to readers what the authors have done.
Then, the authors should try to clarify some concepts. What do they mean by saying: “Carbon dioxide emissions are a by-product of hotel operations”? This is an important statement. I expect some more information. For instance, the authors should describe how these emissions are generated, during which steps, etc.
Further, I suggest the authors including a sub-paragraph in the section “Methodology” entitled “Data collection” or something similar. I understand the importance of describing the model, but it is also important to describe how data have been collected in detail. Is it possible to give additional details according to this sentence: “The dataset […] consists of 31 provinces over the period 2016-2019, and thus there are 124 observations”? It needs additional information to be clearer and comprehensive. Last, the authors should briefly describe the input-output variables in the section “Methodology”.
Empirical Analysis: Instead of the section “Empirical Analysis”, I suggest the authors entitling the paragraph “Results and discussion”. The authors could delete some parts of the description of results by adding them into a specific section called “Supplementary materials” (e.g., description of the statistical model), whereas they should enhance the discussion on the results obtained under social, environmental and economic perspective. As stated in the abstract, is there the chance to provide some managerial, theoretical and/or policy implications? It can help readers in understanding the significance of the present research.
Conclusions: The authors should highlight possible future research directions and limitations of the present research.
Author Response
Please see the attachment. Thank you.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
Considering the revised manuscript of your article I agree with the publication.
Best regards,
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
Thank you for the opportunity to read the revised version of the manuscript entitled “Bootstrapped DEA and Clustering Analysis of Eco-Efficiency of China’s Hotel Industry”. You have improved the manuscript according to the reviewer’s suggestions. First, you have clarified the background and the context of their research (i.e., hotel industry) by including statistics and figures on the sector, as well as the aims and scope (i.e., eco-efficiency). Further, you have improved their research by adding several new literature references, which at present make their analysis stronger and clearer. You have improved the description of the methodology and have addressed some important issues, for instance the definition of “undesirable by-products”. In addition, the manuscript presents an appropriate and suitable structure, and the authors have added limitations and future research directions. Last, you have also briefly presented the need to investigate policy implications (e.g., eco-environmental policies).
Recommendation: Accepted
Best regards
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
