You’ve taken the plunge and greened your hotel. Now, how do you make people aware that your hotel meets their standards? How do you reach your most important target market—the eco-conscious, often referred to as geo-tourist? If your hotel is located in one of the states that has few, if any, green hotels, this may prove to be an easier feat. You won’t have to contend with an overcrowded marketplace and heavy competition. One of the first things you need to do is determine what knowledge point or base you are starting from with the media. This can easily be...

A hotel housekeeper, ignoring the strong odors that filled the guestroom as she worked, always scrubbed the shower stalls with a commercial cleaner she had used for years. The housekeeper liked the product because it was powerful and effective, cutting her cleaning time considerably. However, one day she began coughing uncontrollably. It was then that she wondered if this “tried and true” product might be more harmful to her health than she ever thought. In addition, she realized that although she had read the directions on how to use the product, she never read anything more on the label such...

Hotels spend a sizeable sum maintaining their landscapes. Maintenance steps include: pre-emergent, post emergent, herbicides, mowing, trimming and a host of other “necessities” that grounds personnel consider to be part of a well maintained site. What if you could slash the budget for these items by making your own maintenance products? And, what if these products rid the site of fire ants, erosion, and even create some great benefits like birds and butterflies? What if these cost saving products also reduce the watering needs of the plants? Here are a few tips to help you benefit from items you...

I believe we are at a critical moment when “green” will become more important than anyone ever imagined—with better results for all our lives and no less phenomenal growth. For those who are pioneering the movement, green hotels are more than just politically correct properties. They inspire guests, connect communities, and yes, they are profitable. Profitable? Yes! Profitable! A few years ago everyone asked how you could possibly afford to go green because of premium costs without premium revenues. Now, the question may have turned. Can you afford NOT to build green? And the answer may surprise you. So What are...

A newspaper left at the guestroom door every morning is a fabulous courtesy. But the tendency not to recycle the newspapers is not a great courtesy to the Earth and to future generations. I would like to promote better recycling of these newspapers. When my family and I stay in hotels, we all enjoy the newspaper. My stepfather and mother read the front sections, I like the sports, and my sisters fight over the crossword puzzle. As we leave the hotels, the hotel cleaning carts are often already in the hotel hallways as the staff sets up the rooms for...

Accommodation providers around the globe are adopting environmental marketing and management strategies to not only improve efficiency, but also increase competitiveness and gain access to niche markets. The cost savings and public relations benefits associated with hotel greening are well known, but the question remains: do meeting and conference planners care about green accommodations? Also, does the presence of environmental practices influence which vendors meeting planners select? Available research, association case studies and public policy suggest that it does. According to IMEX, the Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events, 67 percent of meeting and incentive planners have taken...

With green certification programs still being fairly new and most consumers not understanding what they mean, it can become increasingly difficult to know how to market a green hotel. Choosing to just focus on certification can leave leisure travelers and meeting planners alike confused by the myriad of green-certified symbols. It’s a much better idea to choose to focus on your hotel’s green offerings, mission and values—what sets it apart. It’s easy to assume that the eco-conscious travelers will naturally find your green hotel and choose it because it is green, but that is not always the case. It reminds...

Nothing keeps guests coming back like a fresh, clean, healthy indoor environment. The average hotelier most likely assumes that if the temperature is not too hot or too cold and if the humidity is not overly dry or clammy that they are supplying a sufficient indoor environment for their guests. That mistake could cost you repeat guests or find you on the receiving end of a subpoena. Microscopic bioaerosols such as fungals, bacteria, virals and even chemicals are present everywhere. Temperature, humidity and air movement are tactile. We feel them physically. Microscopic bioaerosols affect us in different ways. We cannot...

Building managers find that effective recycling programs reduce waste management costs. Strong recycling programs also advance sustainability by reducing the need for new resources and the environmental impacts of landfills. Recycling turns the ‘waste’ stream into a resource stream than can be mined for materials. Recycling services, the prices paid for recycled materials, and the demand for recycled materials are growing. Facility managers can take advantage of the continually evolving recycling market by reducing waste disposal costs through recycling and by getting paid for recyclable materials. There are widespread recycling markets for paper, cardboard materials, HDPE and PET plastics, aluminum and...

The “green” bandwagon moves triumphantly through our communities. Where we used to be called “tree huggers” and fringe conservationists, many now understand that sustainable hospitality is within reach, where we can be good stewards of the environment AND make money. Let’s put the green movement in perspective, just from today’s news items. Detroit still pimps the Hummer and SUVs, big oil is even bigger, and our governments refuse to address global warming. Areas of the world have fragile ecosystems under siege, the glaciers are melting (Boston the new Miami?), and certain species require protection. Oil, landfills, the greenhouse effect, acid...