As reported here last week, Greenview has released its 2024 Green Lodging Trends Report. The report is based on data from 20,000 hotels across 50 countries. One part of the report that caught my attention was “Management System.” That section of the report addresses topics ranging from sustainability champions to third-party sustainability certifications.
“A successful sustainability program requires leadership commitment to initiate and effective collaboration to thrive,” Greenview states in the beginning of that section. Greenview found that overall, 61.3 percent of hotels have a sustainability team.
The top three countries whose hotels have sustainability teams are the Maldives (100 percent), United Arab Emirates (93.3 percent) and Qatar (93.1 percent).
Hotels with a sustainability champion fell from 50.3 percent to 34.3 percent between 2022 and 2024. “One possible explanation is that hotel leadership, such as the General Manager or Hotel Manager, may be directly taking on the role of sustainability champion. By prioritizing sustainability and leading initiatives from the top, they can ensure more rapid and effective implementation across all departments,” Greenview says.
High Adoption Rate in Luxury Segment
With 50.3 percent adoption, luxury hotels show the highest commitment to having sustainability champions. The segments with the lowest commitment: upper midscale and convention or convenience hotel (21.5 percent).
A total of 62.9 percent of hotels conduct sustainability meetings at least once a month. Across the STR chain scale segments, luxury hotels lead with 68.7 percent conducting sustainability meetings at least once a month.
Almost 60 percent of all hotels have a dedicated sustainability budget. Airport hotels lead with 65.9 percent having a sustainability budget. “This could be attributed to the fact that airport hotels are closely linked to the aviation sector and are thus part of an ecosystem with heightened awareness of carbon emissions and other sustainability targets,” Greenview says.
Third-Party Sustainability Certifications
According to Greenview, to combat greenwashing and achieve greater alignment with recognized industry standards, there is now an increasing expectation for hotels to align with rigorous, third-party accredited sustainability certification schemes. Between 2022 and 2024, having a third-party sustainability certification has progressed from being an innovative practice to an emerging one, with uptake more than doubling to 45.7 percent.
“Major chains and sustainability leaders in the hospitality industry, including Accor, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Radisson, are setting portfolio-level targets for achieving sustainability certifications,” Greenview says.
Full-Service hotels have a much higher rate of certifications (52.8 percent) than limited-service hotels (39.6 percent). The prevalence of third-party sustainability certifications generally increases across the STR chain scale segments, with upper upscale and luxury segments performing better than the average. The top three countries with hotels pursuing sustainability certifications include Belgium (100 percent), Denmark (100 percent) and Austria (92.6 percent).
Certifying organizations including Green Key Global and Audubon International have recently stepped-up certification efforts. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com highlight hotels with third-party verified sustainability certifications.
The full report can be downloaded here.
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