Enables guests to make a conscious decision for greener travel.  

The Leading Green Initiative is a carbon neutral program whereby The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. will directly absorb the cost to offset guests' energy consumption for stays at any of its 440 hotels worldwide by actively supporting Sustainable Travel International (STI), the foremost non-profit organization in responsible tourism.    

"We are extremely proud to be the first luxury hotel brand to provide a carbon offset program with STI. While many companies offer the opportunity for customers to voluntarily make donations, we feel strongly about taking a leadership position in environmental responsibility and setting the example.  We are, therefore, delighted to be making the financial contribution on our guests' behalf," said Paul M. McManus, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

"We will make a donation of 50¢ to STI for every night of a guest's stay when their reservation is made through our website, or when ‘Leading Green' is mentioned to any one of our worldwide voice reservations centers. The investment per guest represents 29.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity supplied by new wind and solar power, which equates to 33.7 pounds of greenhouse gas emission reductions. The Leading Green Initiative is entirely underwritten by The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. corporate entity; prices have not been augmented to support this effort."

Brian T. Mullis, President of Sustainable Travel International stated, "We are excited to be partnering with The Leading Hotels of the World to educate their guests and hotels to reduce their environmental footprint by the efficient use of energy and minimization of waste." 

"We are most pleased to see how seriously Leading Hotels executives are taking this partnership as they have already committed to offsetting the energy consumption of their upcoming annual Sales & Marketing Conference held in Stockholm May 9 – 12, 2007.  A corporate donation will be made to STI to offset the energy consumption of all nearly 200 attendees, not only including accommodations, but also air transportation, meeting rooms and common areas," Mullis concluded.

The Leading Hotels of the World and STI are evaluating a number of other programs, including sustainable tourism certification, travel philanthropy, and the potential implementation of environmental management systems by Leading Hotels.  Additional information can be obtained by visiting www.lhwgreen.com.