More Tidbits from New CMIGreen Survey

If you are interested in learning about consumer attitudes toward green hotels and green travel, I highly recommend checking out the new CMIGreen 2nd Annual Green Traveler Survey Report from Community Marketing, Inc. The 145-page document includes some fascinating findings--too many to mention all of them here. (See related article.) There are a couple of areas in the report that caught my eye for the second year in a row. The first is the conclusion that hotel companies are not doing a very good job marketing their environmental commitment. When asked which hotel brand has done the best job presenting itself as environmentally friendly, of the 564 who answered the question, only three hotel companies received more than 10 votes.

Seems to me that hotel companies are missing a huge opportunity to connect with eco-conscious consumers. What are they doing wrong? In the report it is stated travelers primarily rely on travel publications, guidebooks and websites to gather information about green vacation options. In those areas, perhaps hotel companies are doing a poor job telling their green stories? I have found that hotel companies often bury their green information on their websites. Why not link to green information from a prominent spot on the home page?

The second interesting finding that caught my eye: consumers are still very clueless when it comes to knowing what green certification means. In fact, when asked to name a green travel or hospitality certification program, of 678 responses, only two certification programs received more than 10 votes and it was not much more than 10. It is obvious that while green certification remains a hot topic within the lodging industry, it is still of little consequence to the typical traveler. Perhaps those properties that have certifications are not doing a good enough job mentioning them or explaining them?

When asked to rank the green initiatives of companies in the hotel sector, only 5 percent rated them as excellent. About 65 percent ranked them as either fair or needing work. Five percent considered them as terrible. (Yikes!)

Be sure to check out the CMIGreen 2nd Annual Green Traveler Survey Report. Then, let me know what you think by leaving your comments here.