Less than half of hotels share green practices on website
Not so long ago, hotel companies were frequently accused of ‘greenwashing’, being criticised for making grandiose claims about their environmental initiatives while in reality doing little to change practices and exploiting local resources and communities. At the World Travel Market in London this year, a number of speakers suggested that partly in response to this, businesses were now often reticent in publicising where they are making real progress. The latest Green Lodging Trends Report supports this view, saying that hotels and other lodges around the world are increasingly conducting sustainability initiatives in their establishments, yet most didn’t share information about what they do on their website.
The Green Lodging Trends Report 2016 has been released by Green Lodging News and Greenview. The report is based on data from more than 2,000 hotels in 44 countries and covers topics ranging from air quality to energy management to staff involvement. The report includes results of more than 100 questions asked in 11 categories. As Greenview is based in Singapore, the respondents were predominantly (1875 properties) in Asia-Pacific, with 242 from the Americas and just 31 from the rest of the world. Over half of the properties in the survey were city or urban hotels
“I am excited to announce the release of this groundbreaking report,” says Glenn Hasek, Publisher & Editor of Green Lodging News. “Since hatching the idea for the report more than a year ago, Greenview and Green Lodging News have worked hard to develop a survey that would uncover the most common, best and most innovative practices, determine what is trending, and create a mechanism for tracking continuous improvement. This report does just that.”
Some highlights of the Green Lodging Trends Report 2016:
- Most respondents (65 percent) indicated they currently offer a 100 percent non-smoking environment for guests.
- Seventy percent said they have moved at least 75 percent of their lighting to LEDs.
- Seventy-one percent said they practice recycling in all common areas of the property.
- One-half of respondents indicate they sub-meter water consumption.
- Sixty-nine percent said they reuse graywater (water from sinks, showers, baths, washing machines, dishwashers).
- Sixty-two percent said at least 50 percent of the green cleaning products used are certified by a third party.
- Fifty-two percent grow food ingredients, such as herbs or vegetables, on-site.
- Among respondents in the Americas, 82 percent said they have someone in charge of green initiatives.
- Seventy-three percent said they give employees the opportunity to volunteer their time and services toward various environmental events and campaigns during regular working hours.
- Forty-four percent said they sustainability-specific requirements in their procurement of goods and services from suppliers.
- Sixteen percent said climate change has no impact at all in their decisions to make operational improvements and investments.
Nearly half the properties had conducted an energy audit in the past four years, and about one-third measure their carbon footprint. Yet when it comes to communicating this initiatives, just 48% of respondents said they allocate space on their websites for the sharing of green practices. And just 54% had ever put out a press release about a green initiative they had undertaken.
In addition to publishing Green Lodging Trends Report 2016, a compare report was prepared for each survey participant, serving as a yardstick to understand the status of each specific practice within the general participant universe. Participating hotel companies also received a portfolio report and snapshot across properties.
“If you ask most hoteliers if their hotel is green, they’ll say yes and list some basic practices or for a small portion, their certification,” says Eric Ricaurte, Founder & CEO, Greenview. “But how do they really know if they are keeping up with their competitors on the green front? The Green Lodging Survey gives us all insight into what hotels are doing, should be doing, and where to improve. And collectively, we can accelerate best practices together.”
The Green Lodging Survey is the first of an annual exercise for industry trends and benchmarking. The PDF file of the report can be freely downloaded from Greenlodgingnews.com.