by Glenn Hasek
August 17, 2010 04:24
San Francisco-based CMIGreen is collaborating with leading tourism, hospitality and green/sustainable organizations to conduct its Green Traveler Study. Your participation is needed. Those who complete the survey by August 31 will be eligible to win a $50 Amazon credit. The survey will take just 10 to 12 minutes to complete. To access the survey, click here. Last year's CMIGreen Green Traveler Survey Report, which was based on a survey of 4,109 adults in the United States, produced some fascinating findings. The survey revealed that hotel chains are not doing a good job branding their green programs and those that run green lodging certification programs are doing a poor job as well.
In last year's report, respondents voted Kimpton and Southwest Airlines as the environmentally friendliest brands in their categories with a 4 percent response and 97 percent of respondents could not name a green lodging certification program.
What types of questions are being asked in this year's survey? Participants are asked about their purchasing practices and to what degree decisions are based on a company's green policies and practices. Participants are also asked to state what their understanding of green travel is and how much extra they paid to decrease their ecological footprint on their most recent trip. Survey participants are also asked how their environmental concerns have impacted their discretionary travel in the past 12 months. Many other questions are also included in the survey.
Those participating in last year's survey indicated that recycling is the most important environmental initiative they look for when traveling. Second is energy efficiency, then water efficiency and then non-toxic cleaning chemicals. In regard to the importance of a hotel's green efforts, 38 percent they are more important than brand and 30 percent said they are more important than star rating.
The CMIGreen survey is one of the best in our industry. I am looking forward to seeing the results from this year's survey. Be sure to participate in this year's survey.
