Corporate travel planners look for details on hotel sustainability efforts

As the world grapples with extremes in climate, from extreme heat to severe hurricanes to dangerous droughts, business travelers want to know that there are some efforts to promote sustainability when staying at a hotel.

When today’s travel planners are looking for ideas for corporate travel deals, they’re not just looking for environmental protection from hotels. They look for metrics in reducing carbon footprints, water use, recycling and other areas.

“We believe this is a new era of travel, and sustainable travel is becoming an increasingly important consideration for travel planners as business travel returns,” said Jean Garris Hand, Hilton’s vice president of global environmental, social and governance. “When clients choose Hilton to host their events, they are looking for a partner that can help them make a meaningful difference in the audience experience and make a positive impact on the local and the communities they visit.”

Companies want to see specific things from hotels in their environmental programs and want measurable data related to these initiatives. For example, Hilton has LightStay, a proprietary tool that tracks environmental and social impact. Its meeting impact calculator tool allows event planning clients to see the estimated carbon footprint of their event using each hotel’s unique facilities and emissions data, she said.

Many clients may be trying to reduce the carbon footprint of their events with things like carbon neutral meetings, Hand said. Many of the brand’s properties participate in the Carbon-Neutral Summit program, in which Hilton offsets its customers’ carbon footprint by redeeming its carbon credits on behalf of its customers. The footprint of all business events with 10 or more delegates at participating hotels will be offset by carbon credits.

It will be allocated to various projects that support Hilton’s journey with the goals of Goal 2030, including the repair and maintenance of boreholes to provide access to fresh water sources in Rwanda, the generation of clean and pollution-free energy at a geothermal power plant in Turkey, and the development and maintenance of wind power plants in India, and maintenance, he said.

For example, at the Hilton Pensacola Beach Hotel in Florida, there was a 25% increase in inquiries during the RFP process to verify green efforts, said Stephanie Barbe, director of sales.

In the past quarter, three firms have asked her to provide information on green initiatives to ensure the client is partnering with someone aligned with the company’s mission to become carbon neutral.

“A lot of the questions are about making sure we have recycling efforts, and making sure we’re implementing environmental best practices and being mindful of waste,” Barbee said.

Jennifer Barnwell, president of the Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, noted that with hotel customers looking for information on things like carbon, recycling and hotel water use, sustainability efforts are vital. Potential customers are asking for specifics such as a hotel’s average carbon emissions per room night, if the property is LEED or BREEAM certified, and if the hotel is certified by programs such as Green Key, Green Seal, Green Globes, Green Mark. , Green Check, Travel Life or Earth Check. You’ll also want to know what the hotel’s average water usage is per room night.

” of [Curator] Hotels talk about their green initiatives and create sustainability committees to solve the above problems, “said Barnwell. Corporate clients “want to see that there are at least some sustainable and environmentally-oriented efforts, and it is the main mind for the hotel. And his team.”

Corporate clients are looking for hotel operators that focus on environmental protection in four key areas: water conservation, energy efficiency, carbon emissions and waste reduction, said Travis Murray, president of McNeil Hotel Co.

They want to see hotel management practices that conserve water, provide energy efficient accommodations. and provide energy-efficient event spaces.

“This is very important as we continue to move forward from the epidemic.” Murray pointed out. “We know that business travel supports economic growth by bringing people together across national borders, and companies want to do this while doing what’s right for society and the environment.”

Ashley Manley, director of sales for the Fairfield at California Marriott San Diego North/San Marcos, agrees, citing the specifics demanded by corporate travel planners.

“Sustainability questions for hoteliers are straightforward questions: carbon per room-night in kilograms, water per room-night in liters, what is the hotel’s energy consumption, and what is its waste? Conversion rate,” she said. “The best thing a hotel can do is to have collaborative operations and sales teams educate each other about sustainability measures and how to incorporate them into the sales process.”

Certification by a third-party, internationally recognized organization like LEED is important because it ensures certain standards are met. If a hotel can’t get certified, corporate buyers at least want to make sure the hotel management company has its own responsibility program and objectives, he said.

“From the top, companies are now encouraging travelers to make environmentally-focused travel decisions, including emissions information in their onboarding tools,” Manley said.

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