This paper discusses the governance practices in the Malawi tourism and hospitality sector and their impact on the sustainability of natural resources. The focus of this paper is the National Tourism Policy (NTP) for Malawi and how central and local government structures enforce it to promote environmental sustainability practices in hotels. The paper uses a Case Study approach whereby the Sogecoa Golden Peacock Hotel and the Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel are used to explore how the NTP has ensured sustainable environmental practices are followed. A qualitative research method was used through semi-structured interviews to secure the perceptions of key informants. Through a Grounded Theory analysis, the findings revealed that the NTP does not facilitate the enforcement of sustainable environmental practices. Furthermore, because of this shortfall in the NTP, hotels do not have an environmental management policy to promote sustainable environmental practices. This paper, therefore, recommends an urgent need to revise the NTP and introduce sustainable environmental management guidelines in order for the hotel sector to emulate. It is further recommended that hotel managers should have a thorough understanding of environmental sustainability to ensure that the industry addresses negative environmental impacts.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between grading standard as a dimension of hotel rating system and customer satisfaction. 203 hotel guests participated in the study. Survey questionnaires based on a modified performance-only instrument were used to collect data, analysed using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 22.0. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to establish the relationships between grading standard and customer satisfaction as latent constructs of the hypothetical model. The underlying factor structure of the manifest variables in the model was established using both unidimensionality test and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study concluded that grading standard is a predictor of customer satisfaction in star-rated hotels. This study recommends that hotel managers need to pay adequate attention to grading standard dimension of the rating system for it provides an array of features or attributes that the hotel may use to enhance customer satisfaction in order remain competitive and distinguish itself from the competition.

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