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Once you have built a green program, how do you use it to your advantage to put heads in beds? Green Lodging News reports on the ways hoteliers are incorporating the environment into sales & marketing to build business. Does "green" appeal to a particular type of traveler or meeting planner? Got a great idea about how to turn green into gold? Contact Glenn Hasek, editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

Sales & Marketing

Home Sales & Marketing
Once you have built a green program, how do you use it to your advantage to put heads in beds? Green Lodging News reports on the ways hoteliers are incorporating the environment into sales & marketing to build business. Does "green" appeal to a particular type of traveler or meeting planner? Got a great idea about how to turn green into gold? Contact Glenn Hasek, editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

Green Lodging News Welcomes Plan A as Directory Partner

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Plan A Public Relations & Marketing as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Plan A Public Relations & Marketing is a full-service advertising and public relations firm, specializing in suppliers of sustainable solutions for the hospitality industry. With more than 25 years experience, Plan A offers a full range of marketing services, including public relations, branding, creative and media strategies. Andrea Roland is the president of Plan A. Her team includes Diane Van Leunen, art director, Ryan Marks, public relations specialist, and Sheila Folk, traffic manager/office...

Green Meeting Demand Addressed in Recent PKF Hospitality Survey

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotel managers are not the only party at the negotiating table struggling to control costs and operate within the limits of austere budgets. Meeting planners have also been given the challenge of setting up effective events at the least possible cost. In an effort to work within the framework of slashed government, corporate, and association meeting budgets, planners have continued to cut banquet menus and off-site events as they have in the past. However, now they have begun to flex their negotiating leverage and ask for aggressive room rate concessions from hoteliers. In response, it appears that hotel...

New Hampshire Tourism Site Adds ‘Green’ Booking Option

CONCORD, N.H.—Visitors to New Hampshire who want to stay in a “green” property can now search and book a room via the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development’s website. According to officials, New Hampshire is the first state in New England to have a live, interactive “green” booking system enabling visitors to search and make an immediate reservation at a green lodging property in New Hampshire. “Traveling green just got a whole lot easier in New Hampshire,” said Alice DeSouza, director of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development. “Now when a visitor makes the choice...

2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference Registration Goes Live

DENVER—The 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference has opened registration with a new theme, keynote speaker Annie Leonard, a wide-ranging program, and the ambitious goal of drawing 500 participants to Denver from February 9 to 11, 2010. The conference theme, “Scaling it Up,” underscores the growing importance of sustainability in meetings and events, as well as surging interest in the Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) premier annual event (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference). “This conference is the opportunity for meeting organizers and hosts to address the sustainability issues that are redefining the industry,” said GMIC president Amy Spatrisano, CMP. “GMIC...

Red Roof Giving Back $5 to Guests Who Donate to Feeding America

COLUMBUS, OHIO—Red Roof will give $5 cash back to every guest making a minimum $1 donation to Feeding America during the week of Thanksgiving, Sunday November 22 through Sunday, November 29. Donations must be made at the property and guests will receive the rebate upon checkout; the $5 back is per stay, not per night. According to Red Roof, it is their way of giving back and showing their thanks by teaming up with Feeding America and country music artist and Red Roof brand ambassador, Phil Vassar, to help put food on America’s tables over the holidays. Country Music star...

Maryland Launches Green Travel Program, Includes Certification Component

BALTIMORE—As an extension of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s “Smart, Green and Growing” agenda, the Office of Tourism—in partnership with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Maryland Tourism Council—is launching “Maryland Green Travel.” The new initiative will encourage environmentally-friendly practices throughout the state’s tourism industry and promote Maryland as a “green” destination to eco-minded travelers. The initial stage of the program will create an online, self-certification application for the lodging sector that uses environmental guidelines adopted by the American Hotel and Lodging Association and the best practices of MDE’s Green Registry. A similar process will be implemented for restaurants,...

Green Key Global to Exhibit at IH/M&RS in New York City

HORSHAM, PA.—Green Key Global, the exclusive provider of the Green Key Eco-Rating Program (“Green Key”) in the United States, will be exhibiting at the 2009 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS) in New York City from November 8 to 10. Green Key is among the first programs of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts based on their commitment to sustainable “green” practices. The show is being held at the Javits Center; Green Key will be exhibiting at Booth No. 2578. Those attending the show can visit Green Key to: • Learn more about the Green Key program...

Survey Shows Gap in Consumers’ Green Attitudes & Behavior

BLACKSBURG, VA.—A significant gap lies between consumers’ attitudes towards “green” initiatives in the hospitality industry and their actual behavior, says a recent study by two hospitality and tourism management graduate students at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. Moreover, consumers who engage in environmentally friendly behavior at home behave differently when staying at a hotel, their study found. Master’s students Melissa Baker, of Marshfield, Mass., and Eric Davis, of Lorton, Va., in a project supervised by hospitality and tourism management professor Pamela Weaver, say that while more hotels are adopting green practices, few scholars have examined the relationships between such...

Two Hotel Management Groups Join Pineapple’s FreshStay.com

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—Pineapple Hospitality announced that two new hotel management groups have joined FreshStay.com, the largest online directory of 100 percent smoke-free hotels in the world. Potomac Hospitality Services and Charlestowne Hotels combined offer 22 properties that have completely eliminated smoking on their properties, adding to the comprehensive list of more than 4,800 other FreshStay.com hotels, motels and B&Bs. “Potomac Hospitality and Charlestowne Hotels are two well-known, well-respected management groups in this industry, so we are excited they see the benefits and are leading their properties to be smoke free,” says Dave Janicke, FreshStay’s CBO—Chief Breathing Officer. “It’s clear that...

Buffalo Green Hospitality Initiative Expands with ‘Green & Mean (It)’

BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Buffalo Green Hospitality Initiative, formed in August 2007 to develop and maintain environmentally responsible practices and promote a green experience for travelers and conventioneers visiting the Buffalo Niagara region, is expanding with the launch of “Green & Mean (It).” Led by the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau, the purpose of the program is to help make Buffalo Niagara a more environmentally responsible meeting destination. As part of Green & Mean (It), a comprehensive lodging certification program has been introduced. It is now available to lodging establishments in the Buffalo Niagara area. A corresponding website, www.greenandmeanit.com, will...