The global move toward sustainable hospitality has raised the need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to connect academic research with real-world action in green hospitality. This study looks at how public higher education institutions, especially Kyambogo University, turn research on green-hospitality marketing into successful startup businesses. Despite extensive research on green-tourism and green marketing, commercialisation remains low. This limits real-world impact and job creation driven by innovation. The study focused on three research questions: 1. What are the current green-hospitality marketing research outputs at Kyambogo University? 2. What are the ways these outputs are turned into marketable innovations and startups? 3. What barriers and enablers affect the commercialisation of green-hospitality marketing research outputs? Purposive sampling selected 15 academic staff and innovation managers. Stratified random sampling guided the selection of 60 final-year students in Hospitality and Tourism entrepreneurship at the Department of Hospitality Management, School of Vocational Studies and Hospitality Management, Kyambogo University. Data were collected through document analysis, interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, and structured questionnaires. Quantitative data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Inferential statistics included chi-square tests, multiple regression models and SEM. Qualitative data were studied through thematic analysis. The findings show that while there are research outputs on green-hospitality marketing, issues such as unstructured commercialisation pathways, limited funding, and weak connections between universities and industry hinder the transfer of innovation. However, successful student-led green startups emerging from research-based coursework show strong potential. The study concludes that improving institutional structures for research commercialisation is essential for promoting green-hospitality entrepreneurship in public higher education institutions. The results show the need for policy changes and innovation centres to speed up the transition from knowledge to business