SUSTAINABLE TOURISM: THE ROLE OF GREEN FINANCE IN ENHANCING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Increasingly important factors in modern sustainable tourism and hotel industry business are green finance and energy efficiency. The subject of this paper is the identification and analysis of the role of green finance in supporting sustainable practices in the tourism and hotel industry with a focus on improving aspects of energy efficiency. The paper used an analytical method to diagnose the research problem, a comparative analysis to compare case studies, and a synthetic method to summarize the results. It identified and analysed case studies of companies in the hospitality industry that used credit lines with a grant through the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) to enable investments in energyefficient technologies and sustainable practices. In the context of the hotel industry, energy efficiency not only reduces operating costs but also contributes to reducing the carbon footprint, thereby increasing the competitiveness and attractiveness of tourist facilities. This work, based on the analysis of examples of good practice in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Croatia, provides recommendations for the integration of green finance into business strategies, emphasizing that a multidisciplinary approach is important for achieving sustainable goals in tourism and hospitality.