Hotelmarketing'com

Daily must-reads for hotel marketers.

Sustainability is good business. With the appearance of hundreds of green marketing campaigns, many hotels have been known to over-illustrate the “greenness” of their businesses.

Changing travel patterns to decarbonize business travel. The idea of carbon budgets, similar to spend budgets, is gaining traction. A traveler based in New York who is planning meetings in London, Paris, and Amsterdam may look to combine those meetings into a single trip.

EU’s sustainability reporting directive gets green light. Starting 2024, large companies have to give detailed information about their impact on environment. Companies will have to disclose information about their sustainability due diligence process, and detail their actual and potential negative effects of its operations.

How hotels can embrace ESG efforts. Hotels ultimately will be required to operate more efficiently to reduce energy, water and waste consumption, as regulations will intensify.

OTAs move away from tourist hotspots for sustainability. Accommodation supply is adjusting to new demand for rural areas. As the European Commission and local authorities seek to manage over-tourism in populous European cities, OTAs are encouraging stays in more remote and rural areas.

Net-zero hotels gaining steam in the world of sustainable travel. A look at six hotels and resorts that are leading the way. As big hotel groups move at a sluggish pace in reducing carbon emissions, a few smaller players are taking the green lead, boldly committing to a net-zero future well ahead of government targets.

Bleisure and blended options helping travel build back better. Euromonitor sees a broad shift away from mass tourism. New options, blurring the lines of business and leisure, are creating “better” ways to travel because they are high-value, arguably more intentional and thoughtful, and also varied.

Booking.com introduces new levels to its sustainability program. Aim is to highlight accommodations that made outstanding commitments in sustainability. The new levels have been designed to clearly demonstrate a broader spectrum of where different accommodations are on their individual sustainability journeys.

Sustainability presents new opportunities for marketers. The global economy is fundamentally changing as the demand for environmentally friendly practices grows louder. The sustainability movement is likely to reshape the entire global economy, fundamentally changing how products are made, transported, stored and financed, according to Forrester.

Marriott touts sustainability. Its annual environmental, social and governance report, highlights the company's efforts toward sustainability and diversity efforts.

Travel industry warned ‘tackle climate disaster before it’s too late’. We won’t have a world to show our customers if we don’t act soon. The travel industry has been urged to prove its commitment to sustainability with “rapid decarbonization” to avoid a climate disaster - there is no vaccine for climate change.

Is your hotel really eco-friendly? Here’s how to tell. These are the 10 ways to check how green your hotel is. Condé Nast Traveller sustainability editor Juliet Kinsman has put together the ultimate cheat sheet to judge hotels and travel operators – and tell if they’re really green.

How to travel more sustainably. Being an imperfect traveler is better than not trying. Experts on actions travelers can take to lower their negative impact, support the destinations they're visiting, and have an overall better trip.

Sustainable Travel: Where next? A new short-form documentary series aims to tell uplifting stories of conservation, regeneration, inclusion, empowerment, and resilience.

The rising awareness of sustainable travel. Sustainable travel an increasingly accepted idea. The pandemic is a key driver of a stronger collective desire to travel sustainably resulting from shifts in consumer mindset and behaviour, according to a new Trip.com report

Future of travel mobility. Sustainability and innovation are not just buzzwords, but central pillars of the industry’s growth in coming years.

Accelerating the transition to net-zero travel. Demand reduction may be part of the answer. There are many practical steps travel companies can take right now to accelerate their journey toward greater sustainability - and potentially create value while doing so.

Hilton pushes responsible business travel. Hotels have a tougher job than airlines in proving their green credentials. Hilton’s LightStay platform enables the company’s managed and franchised hotels to report figures such as energy, water and waste data on a monthly basis.

Corporate travel planners don't just want environmental platitudes from hotels. Recycling, water usage, carbon footprint among key data points. As the world grapples with weather extremes, business travelers want to know that when they stay at a particular hotel there are some efforts to promote sustainability.

US Travel forms Sustainable Travel Coalition. Seeing the world and saving the world should not be mutually exclusive. As technology advances and consumers demand more sustainable travel options, the work of the coalition will ensure that the U.S. travel industry can meet the needs of an evolving market.

The hotel industry’s carbon lie. Don’t fall for meaningless certifications. One way many hotels reach so-called net-zero status is through offsets, an unregulated and unstandardized practice that, at best, sequesters a hard-to-verify amount of carbon from the atmosphere - and, at worst, actually contributes to emissions.

How sustainability has become a marketing necessity in luxury hotels. The requisite amenities of luxury hotels has long been focused on the room. Hotels have engaged more than ever in sustainable practices, not only to save themselves the effects and cost of climate change, but because their clientele are demanding it.

How to get smart about business travel reduction. Corporations that prioritize sustainability will travel less. A report from GBTA found that 60 percent of industry representatives surveyed support reducing the frequency of business travel in order to cut emissions.

Green-washing blurs the lines. As companies struggle to meet the complex demands of sustainability “green-washing could happen because we don’t know what we don’t know.”

CWT on ways to build a more sustainable hospitality industry. Sustainability needs to be built into the travel program, not seen as a bolt-on. According to a recent CWT survey, 87% of customers asked last year said they wanted sustainability information provided to their traveling employees at the point of sale.

Ready, get set, go green! A new Amex GBT whitepaper sets out key strategies and approaches to help travel and meetings professionals deliver sustainable events.

Make travel matter. As we stand on the precipice of a new travel age, unless consciously addressed the same old habits of traveling unconsciously will, sadly, endure.

The future of hospitality is green. Winner of numerous sustainability awards, Parkroyal Collection lifestyle hotels shares why they remain the choice destination for eco-conscious travelers.

Hotels with net-zero ambitions. It’s not easy for sustainability-minded travelers to find truly green accommodations, but these new hotels are aiming high.

How to spot greenwashing and actually travel sustainably. It's important to know which companies' actions back up their marketing. It can be hard to decipher whether companies are taking sustainability seriously or simply greenwashing their meager efforts in a bid to secure the almighty tourist dollar.

Cornell: 12th Annual Sustainability Roundtable Highlights. Robust and meaningful work being accomplished, despite pandemic setbacks. There were two main areas of focus for this years’ discussions: climate commitments in supply chain contracts; and how sustainability can help in rebuilding the workforce family.

Travel cuts as green tactic. Most buyers in a recent GBTA survey indicated cutting back on travel would be a tactic in reducing their carbon footprint.

WTTC launches 'Hotel Sustainability Basics'. 12 actions that are fundamental to hotel sustainability. Hotel Sustainability Basics is a globally recognized and coordinated set of sustainability indicators that all hotels should implement as a minimum.

How hoteliers prioritize sustainability efforts. Hoteliers are trying to be better stewards of the planet. Through development and operations, many hoteliers are introducing more environmentally friendly practices to protect their local ecosystems and communities as well as their guests.

A traveler's guide to shopping sustainably. Sustainable, eco-friendly, upcycled - these words are touted across the retail space as companies strive to tap into today’s sustainably-focused consumers' wallets.

Is global consensus on climate action in travel possible?. Travelers still prioritizing price and connections over sustainability. Business travel is in the spotlight, and many large corporations have made public their intentions to significantly reduce their carbon footprint from travel in the next three years.

Corporate travel key to moving needle on sustainability. Stimulus for greater sustainability will come from the corporate travel sector first. Many large corporations have committed to strict carbon reduction guidelines that have a direct connection to their travel activities.

Cornell: Sustainability is a top priority for hospitality industry. More customers are looking to travel responsibly and book sustainable hotels. While in the past the commitment has been viewed through the lens of marketing and product differentiation, sustainability has become an essential pillar of corporate strategy.

Hotel industry has opportunity to enact real change with sustainability. As the industry looks to right-size profits, sustainability should come top of mind. As the world looks to reduce its carbon emissions, hotels play an important role as they are the most energy- and water-intensive of any commercial building type globally.

Can corporate hotels survive the green travel revolution?. Most hotel chains aren’t capable of switching to a sustainable model instantly. With sustainable and conscious travel becoming more mainstream, consumers might soon be presented with different choices when booking accommodation.

Travel industry must stop pretending it can offset its high carbon footprint. Sustainability expert and author Mike Berners-Lee sees the industry at a "crunch point" in time. Speaking during the GBTA conference in Berlin, he shares that the carbon dioxide emission of an economy class long-haul flight to Hong Kong and back is about 3.5 tonnes - that's more than the average person's annual carbon footprint.

Travel will go big and green in 2022. Businesses are already seeing trends and signs of what to expect for the rest of the year, many of which point to the industry going big and green.

Nature tourism: the eco-friendly way to travel. According to GlobalData, 19% of travelers said they traveled on an eco-holiday in 2021. The growing awareness amongst consumers regarding their carbon footprint is changing attitudes and behaviors, resulting in a growing demand for eco-holidays.

How hotels are innovating for the eco-friendly traveler. On-property hotel details that make a difference. Access to digital keys, EV chargers, sustainable dining and on-site recycling programs are a few ways the industry is redefining sustainable travel.

A greener travel space to emerge. Many travel providers are making strides toward a greener industry, and sustainability-minded travelers are applauding those steps.

New net-zero methodology for hotels. Released by a group of global hospitality, travel and tourism organizations, the methodology guides hotels on how to set a net zero pathway.