The hotel industry consumes large amounts of energy in order to maintain the high level of comfort and service quality. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and propose new measures to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy costs and achieve sustainable local development. Design of the paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of investment projects, and in the methodology are used secondary internal data on energy consumption obtained from hotel companies on the Crikvenica – Vinodol Riviera. The analysis was conducted on a small, medium and large hotel in order to determine whether the hotel size affect the return on investments. This research approach can be used as a base for decisions on the introduction of new energy efficiency measures. Findings demonstrate that the introduction of new energy saving measures plays an important role in reducing energy costs. According to the conducted analysis, the quickest return on investment is achieved in the medium size hotel, since ROI is affected not only by the size of the hotel, but also the manner of energy consumption. Only few studies have been carried out by academics in tourism and hospitality, so this paper tends to fill the research gap. Based on the conducted economic-financial analysis, the authors suggest new measures for reducing energy costs, which at the same time represents the practical contribution and originality of this research. The proposed measures provide the guidelines for tourism management on how to achieve succes