Are Travelers Willing to Pay a Premium to Stay at a “Green” Hotel? Evidence from an Internal Meta-Analysis of Hedonic Price Premia

A growing number of hotels provide “green” lodging for travelers with strong environmental preferences. Twelve states have developed certification programs to regulate these claims. After describing the new market for green lodging, we use data on prices and amenities of “green” and “brown” hotels in Virginia to estimate a hedonic model of hotel room pricing. We find that travelers can expect to pay a significant premium for a standard room in a green hotel. An internal meta-analysis is used to evaluate the robustness of this result to subjective econometric modeling decisions. Our results indicate a premium between $9 and $26.