Have Discussion, Take Action!

Lately, more and more consumers are making their travel choices based on factors other than price or convenience.

A recent study reports that even despite a tough economic climate, 40 percent of U.S. travelers are choosing travel service providers based on their level of environmental responsibility (PhoCusWright, 2009).

From choosing the greenest airlines and utilizing public transportation to staying in eco-certified resorts and supporting local businesses, today's travelers want to know their travel choice will make a difference helping them to lessen their impacts before they book their trips.

Hoteliers deal with a variety of unique challenges in their efforts to operate more sustainably, and because sustainable tourism has become part of consumer and corporate culture, the industry as a whole is beginning to respond to this increase in consumer demand.

At the end of last month, more than 25 hotel industry leaders gathered at Cornell University's Statler Hotel in Ithaca, New York for a Sustainability Roundtable to discuss topics ranging from hotel operations-specific subjects like the role of a sustainability department and guest engagement to broader categories such as corporate responsibility, carbon emissions and the impacts of emerging codes, laws and regulations on policy making within the accommodations sector.

An overarching theme of the Roundtable discussions was an emphasis on the need for every single organization in the world to be operating with the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) as their basis for doing business.

Besides being better for destinations and society as a whole, a side-effect of this model is that profits typically increase by reducing waste and conserving resources, enabling hoteliers to self-finance incremental improvements over time.

The discussion surrounding eco-certification perhaps left participants with more questions than answers, identifying the need for an industry standard for reporting climate impacts, for example. The question was posed: "Is it necessary to write the standards, or will the industry take care of it?". In this Roundtable, at least, there was no easy answer.

Many of the executives participating in the Roundtable reiterated the importance of having a sustainability department to help lead hotel management down the path toward sustainable operations. The group also identified the lodging industry's need for development models that prove the financial value of going green.

The Roundtable also broached the subject of hotel guest participation in green programs. Employee and staff training was deemed the most effective solution to educating hotel guests; as Global Hyatt Corporation's Brigitta Witt put it, aggressively getting guests to participate isn't one of Hyatt's responsibilities, but utilizing the more than 60,000 people who work for them as agents of change most definitely is.

Roundtable discussions such as this are extremely helpful in getting industry leaders together to share ideas and challenges, and to begin necessary conversations to help move sustainability into the mainstream.

While much can be gleaned from these discussions, the next step is taking action and implementing sustainability policies and procedures into daily operations to start seeing real change.

STI works with accommodations providers of all sizes in a number of ways, providing market-tested programs that generate bottom line results with programs ranging from carbon management, employee education and training, and corporate philanthropy, to becoming certified through our Sustainable Tourism Eco-certification Program.

To learn more about STI's programs for accommodations, please click here http://sustainabletravelinternational.qm4.net/a/0/10175791/581467/default.aspx or contact us anytime.