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News Blog

The News Blog gives Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, an opportunity to comment, in just a few paragraphs, on industry news and trends. A more condensed version of Publisher’s Point of View, the News Blog is updated on either Wednesday or Thursday each week. Want to step in as a guest blogger? Or, have some news to share for the News Blog? To contact Glenn Hasek, call (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

News Blog

Home News Blog
The News Blog gives Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, an opportunity to comment, in just a few paragraphs, on industry news and trends. A more condensed version of Publisher’s Point of View, the News Blog is updated on either Wednesday or Thursday each week. Want to step in as a guest blogger? Or, have some news to share for the News Blog? To contact Glenn Hasek, call (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

Nearly 4,000 Consumers Reveal Key Wellness Vacation Motivations Post-Pandemic

Nearly 4,000 consumers from 48 countries and territories responded to the Wellness Tourism Association’s second consumer survey, revealing their motivations for taking a Wellness Vacation as the industry begins to recover. The three-month (April, May, June 2020) online consumer survey was administered in collaboration with WTA Member, Professor Danny Kessler Ph.D. from Youngsan University, Busan, South Korea. Respondents were 54 percent female with 73 percent between the ages 26 to 74 (Millennials and Baby Boomers), and with close to 78 percent indicating they already include wellness activities when they travel. President & CEO of the Wellness Tourism Association, Anne...

The World’s First Hydrogen Hotel

In Japan, Toshiba is using its advancements in hydrogen energy in an innovative “Hydrogen Hotel” project, to help Kawasaki City overcome the city’s pollution problem. Opened on June 1, 2018, the hydrogen hotel in Kawasaki City is an innovative project, where the hotel creates hydrogen from waste plastics to supply about 30 percent of the energy the hotel needs. In the first year after its opening, the hotel ran a test in which it recycled even the amenities used in the hotel rooms (toothbrushes, hair combs) as feedstocks for hydrogen production. Headquartered in Kawasaki City, and having researched fuel cell...

Guest Blog: Carpet’s Contribution to Improved Indoor Air Quality

Green Lodging News spoke with Richard Radke, National Marketing Manager for Zeftron Nylon recently and allowed Zeftron Nylon to contribute this guest blog. As businesses begin to welcome employees back to the workplace, safety and wellness are top of mind. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued guidance to assist with the reopening, and states: “Reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by cleaning and disinfection is an important part of reopening public spaces that will require careful planning.” To be sure, designers and facility managers are faced with multiple challenges in creating the “new” workplace for today. They are looking...

Designers Take Look at Building Design/Humidity/COVID-19 Connection

New research shows that higher relative humidity in buildings significantly slows COVID-19 and other airborne infectious disease transmission. However, the way most American buildings are designed, this would cause catastrophic damage and mold issues. A group of designers with LEO A DALY conducted an in-depth study showing how various building types could be retrofitted to increase relative humidity without damage. The results of the study are detailed in a new whitepaper that can be viewed by clicking here. According to LEO A DALY, Compelling new research such as from the Annual Review of Virology shows that relative humidity levels of at...

Don’t Miss New Resources Available Through AHLA

To further expand the hotel industry’s Safe Stay initiative, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) this week announced COVID-19 Precautions for Hotels, an online course developed in partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and created to help hotels train their staffs on the enhanced safety and cleanliness guidelines. The new training course was created in consultation with the AHLA’s Safe Stay Advisory Council and represents a united industry approach around the Safe Stay guidelines endorsed by all major U.S. hotel brands, hospitality associations in 50 states and Canada, and thousands of hotel properties across the...

The Carelessness Acts of Some are Hurting Many in Our Industry

I have attended the AAHOA Convention & Trade Show before. It is a great event. That is why it saddened me to read yesterday that the event will now be a virtual event after the host state, Florida, saw a significant spike in new COVID-19 infections. I live in Florida in Hillsborough County where the number of cases has gone up as well. This week we were told we must wear masks inside most businesses. We are starting to go backwards instead of forwards. I am not a scientist but I have read enough over the past few months to...

Why Not Start Your Own GRA Recognition Award?

Guestroom attendants (GRAs) had a difficult enough job prior to COVID-19 with the constant exposure to hazardous chemicals, ergonomics-related aches and pains, and guest harassment so common that panic buttons were required. Add on having to wear PPE, dodge guests who might have COVID-19, and deal with even more chemicals and you have got quite an 8-hour day. In my book guestroom attendants should be treated like royalty as frequently as possible. This past week I learned that UMF Corp. is sponsoring the first annual Guest Room Attendant Excellence Award. “The award celebrates the often-unheralded workers who serve as the...

Loews Hotels Achieves Better Buildings Goal

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $11 billion in energy-cost savings by more than 950 public and private sector organizations in DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative. To date, partners have saved nearly 1.8 quadrillion British thermal units of energy, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 27 million homes in America over one year. Among the partners and allies that have achieved their energy goals this year: Loews Hotels & Co. Loews Hotels is the only hotel company to do so. (To learn a bit about Loews’ green policy, click here.) “Under the Trump Administration, we are...

Former Victoria Comfort Inn to be Temporary Home for Homeless

According to the Good News Network, the British Columbian government has managed to provide housing for more than 200 homeless Canadians while simultaneously bringing economic support to struggling hotels during the COVID-19 crisis. Last month, provincial legislators purchased the Comfort Inn Hotel in Victoria for $18.5 million as a means of sheltering homeless people living in street encampments amidst the pandemic. In addition to the hotel being equipped with 65 rooms for temporary accommodations, the province is also rehiring laid-off hotel workers to help manage the facility. “Often people experiencing homelessness are not able to access the support and services they need,”...

Palace Resorts and Le Blanc Spa Resorts Produces Highly Polished ‘Purely Palace’ Video

I have received many press releases from hotel companies announcing new protocols for ensuring hygiene and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the companies have put together videos that demonstrate some of the steps they are taking. Perhaps no other company has put together a more polished video that encapsulates their initiatives than Palace Resorts and Le Blanc Spa Resorts. Click here to access that video that explains many of the company’s initiatives that comprise its Purely Palace program. Here are some examples from Purely Palace: Each team member has his or her temperature checked before walking through a...