Non-Financial Information in Hotel Companies

Abstract

The enactment of EU Directive 2014/95/EU and EU Guidelines 2017/C215/01 for large European public interest entities with more than 500 employees recognised the importance of non-financial information and made its disclosure mandatory. The importance of disclosing non-financial information for the hospitality industry is significant, as it is an industry that is highly sensitive and connected to the environment and social interactions. The aim of this paper is to investigate the content of non-financial information disclosed by Croatian hotel companies that list their shares on the financial market since this became mandatory. For this reason, the following research questions were posed: Is the non-financial information presented in the reports of Croatian hotel companies sufficient? If this information is insufficient, how can its content be improved? To answer these research questions, a content analysis of non-financial information in relation to general information, emissions and pollution prevention, sustainability, other environmental information, and EU Directive requirements from publicly available sources of hotel companies was conducted. The research results show that Croatian hotel companies mainly publish satisfactory levels of non-financial information related to waste management and recycling, as well as energy and water consumption, while the content of other non-financial information should be improved. The research results will be used in defining and improving the content of non-financial information for hotel companies as guidelines for publishing non-financial information specifically tailored to the hospitality industry.