SAINT PAUL, MINN.—Minnesota’s travel and tourism industry is going to be getting much greener in coming months thanks to efforts on two fronts. The first initiative is a day-long seminar scheduled for May 13 at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront hotel. The purpose of the seminar is to help the area’s businesses prepare for the Republican National Convention (RNC) that will be held September 1 to 4 in Saint Paul. The second initiative is the formation of a Minnesota Travel Green Task Force. Its mission is to develop a travel green program aimed at increasing the environmentally beneficial practices of Minnesota tourism businesses and at directing consumers seeking green businesses to those that are implementing green practices.
The seminar is being put together by GreenGatherings, the Minnesota Restaurant Assn., Minnesota Lodging Assn., and the Minnesota Resort & Campground Assn. GreenGatherings is a partnership formed to shape the greening of events, large and small, in the Ramsey County/St. Paul area, beginning with the RNC event. GreenGatherings partners include Ramsey County, the city of St. Paul, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the U.S. EPA-Region 5.
The May 13 event is an opportunity for hoteliers and restaurateurs to learn how to save money, conserve energy and water, and reduce waste. Buying local and organic food, composting, and environmentally preferable purchasing also will be addressed. One of the speakers will be Patricia Griffin, president and founder of the Houston-based Green Hotels Assn. Call (651) 778-2400 for more information.
Legislature Mandated Green Program
It was in 2007 that Minnesota’s state legislators directed Explore Minnesota Tourism to develop a travel green program. As a result, a Travel Green Task Force was established that includes 22 representatives from various tourism associations, state agencies and businesses. The Travel Green Task Force has made three recommendations:
1. Educate tourism businesses about “being green.” This would include information about best environmental practices provided in print, online, and through educational sessions, such as the annual Sustainable Tourism Conference.
2. Create a self-reporting system to add “travel green” information for businesses and attractions included in the state’s Explore Minnesota travel website, to allow consumers to search for businesses utilizing green practices.
3. Promote the availability of Minnesota green travel information to consumers, increasing awareness of Minnesota tourism industry efforts to operate in an environmentally sensitive way.
Colleen Tollefson, manager of industry relations for Explore Minnesota in St. Paul, says the goal of the Travel Green Task Force is to develop an outline for the educational part of the three-part plan by the middle of June. The goal for completion of the self-reporting system is the end of 2008, and for the marketing component, early 2009. Tollefson emphasized that unlike other states such as Wisconsin, it is not the intention of the Travel Green Task Force to develop a green certification program for businesses—such as hotels—in travel and tourism.
Certification an ‘Obstacle’
“The task force does not consider certification as key to encouraging businesses and organizations to implement green travel practices and may actually be an obstacle, given the needed time and financial resources that the certification process requires on an annual basis,” states the Travel Green Task Force in its Report and Recommendations document.
“We believe we can reach more businesses without making it an elaborate certification process,” Tollefson adds.
How would a business such as a hotel note its green efforts on the Explore Minnesota website? An “amenity” grid would allow them to list practices such as recycling, LED light, local purchasing, etc. A consumer would be able to sort a list of potential destinations by green practices. After content is finalized and the database in place, Explore Minnesota Tourism would promote availability of the travel green self-reporting system to the industry.
To learn more about Explore Minnesota’s Travel Green Task Force and its plans, click here.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
