Travelocity Report Supports the Importance of Going Green

Do green hotels please travelers more than non-green hotels? In case you missed it, this summer Travelocity reported that those properties noted as eco-friendly on its website got higher consumer reviews than their non-green counterparts. Does that surprise you? Travelocity allows consumers to rate its hotels on a scale of 1 to 5 smiley faces. When the company studied the reviews for its green hotels, a fascinating trend emerged. Consumers gave 83 percent of non-green hotels three smiley faces or more, but they gave 94 percent of green hotels three smiley faces or more. The difference between 83 percent and 94 percent is certainly not huge but it is significant. "This data confirms something we have long suspected," says Alison Presley, manager of Travelocity's Travel for Good program.

"Our eco-friendly hotels care deeply about the entire experience they provide and that attention to detail translates into an awesome stay overall," she adds.

Travelocity has more than 2,000 hotels in its Green Hotel Directory and the company works with an elite group of certification programs to ensure that each hotel in its program is making significant strides in sustainability. Travelocity is the only major online travel company that flags green hotels site-wide with an eco-friendly tag and the company holds the line against "greenwashing" by not accepting "self-certified" hotels. Travelocity recently offered an "It's Good to Be Green" sale where travelers could save up to 30 percent on more than 160 eco-friendly hotels around the world that have an average rating of 3.5 smiley faces or higher.

Within your brand or collection of hotels, have you surveyed your customers to see if your green hotels are perceived as a better value than your non-green hotels? Perhaps you should. I am pretty confident your findings will be similar to Travelocity's. Your thoughts?