NEW YORK—Fregate Island is excited to announce a new coral adoption program in partnership with Luxury watchmaker BlancPain and Coralive.org. The aim is to support the regrowth of corals and resilience using first of its kind mineral accretion technology. This trailblazing method results in a higher survival rate of coral fragments compared to classic rehabilitation and is one of the few locations in the world that utilize this practice. The coral adoption program will allow for participants to join this unique project in three ways; A complete coral dome donation, part of a coral dome donation, or the planting of coral fragments/a...

NEW YORK—1 Hotel & Homes Elounda Hills will be the newest sustainable sanctuary of 1 Hotels, offering an unparalleled luxury hotel experience that honors ancient Mediterranean history and its undeniable influence on the modern world. Situated on the northeast coast of Crete, this Grecian oasis is not only surrounded by the enchanting Elounda Hills and rugged coastline of Mirabello Bay—it’s welcomed by a culture centered around warmth, vitality, and hospitality. With their pioneering vision, Mirum Hellas will develop the property, and SH Hotels & Resorts will operate the exquisite escape, following its prospective opening in the summer of 2025. Seamlessly pairing ancient architecture...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. leisure travelers plan to significantly pare back travel plans amid rising COVID-19 cases, with 69 percent planning to take fewer trips, 55 percent planning to postpone existing travel plans, and 42 percent likely to cancel existing plans without rescheduling, according to a new national survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Nearly three in four (72 percent) are likely to only travel to places within driving distance. While leisure travel historically begins to decline after Labor Day, it remains critical throughout the year. The new survey highlights the ongoing negative effects of...

KAWASAKI CITY, JAPAN—In any conversation about green hotels, one of the hotels that deserves a lot of time is the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel in Kawasaki City, Japan. The 186-room property is run by 100 percent renewable energy. Thirty percent of the energy is derived from hydrogen. Seventy percent of the energy is derived from food waste generated renewable energy. Since transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy the hotel has saved more than $15,000 per year. To generate hydrogen, used plastics (household plastic trash plus hotel amenities) are sent to Showa Denko K.K.’s hydrogen production facility where they...

TAOS SKI VALLEY, N.M.—As the only B Corp certified ski resort in the world, Taos Ski Valley is compelled to conduct business in a manner that benefits employees, visitors, and the community through social responsibility, environmental sensitivity, and economic sustainability. As part of that commitment, Taos has raised its starting pay for entry-level positions to $15 per hour, exceeding the living wage of $14.94 for Taos County, as stated by the MIT Living Wage Calculator. Taos is one of the few U.S. ski resorts to offer starting pay that focuses on a living wage rather than a minimum wage. This hourly rate is also more than 40 percent above the...

MIAMI—Environmental and social issues are finally getting more recognition in the hotel investment arena, but it all comes down to location. ESG—or environmental, social, and governance—are increasingly bigger topics of conversation in the financial realm. European hotel investors significantly outpace their peers in other parts of the world when it comes to sustainability-minded projects. U.S. investors lead the world when it comes to investments geared toward equality, Gilda Perez-Alvarado—the global CEO for JLL Hotels & Hospitality—said in an interview with Skift. Conscious Certified Hotels, newly launched by investment firm CGI Merchant Group and that will operate under Hilton’s various soft brand...

CHICAGO—The National Restaurant Association’s recent webinar on the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic featured Larry Lynch, its SVP of Science & Industry, and Drs. Vishnu Chundi, Stephen Ondra, and Edward Linn of the Chicago Medical Society. They talked about how the delta variant is causing an increase in positive cases—mostly among unvaccinated populations—and how state and local mandates requiring proof of vaccination and/or face coverings are also on the rise. The four said to rely on the science behind the effectiveness of the precautions when enforcing mandates, and use the information to develop consistent, effective messaging that explains the...

NEW YORK—Emmy Award-winning writer, actor, director and producer, Dan Levy, inspires individuals to change their communities. Informa Connect, a division of Informa plc, and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the 2021 Greenbuild International Conference + Expo will feature an exclusive conversation with Dan Levy. He will take the main stage at Greenbuild on Wednesday, September 22 at 12:15 p.m. Pacific at the San Diego Convention Center. “Social equity is a huge aspect of sustainable building,” says Sherida Sessa, Greenbuild Brand Director. “Dan Levy is not only a talented and award-winning writer, actor, and producer, he is an advocate of social justice...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. business travelers are scaling back travel plans amid rising COVID-19 cases, with 67 percent planning to take fewer trips, 52 percent likely to cancel existing travel plans without rescheduling, and 60 percent planning to postpone existing travel plans, according to a new national survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Despite an uptick in leisure travel over the summer, the new survey highlights the dim outlook for business travel and events, which account for more than half of hotel revenue and are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024. The lack...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) President and CEO Chip Rogers and ECPAT-USA CEO Lori Cohen announced at an American Hotel & Lodging Foundation (AHLA Foundation) World Day Against Trafficking in Persons event that over 500,000 hotel workers have been trained through the hotel industry’s free human trafficking awareness training since it was released in early 2020. That number is in addition to nearly 100,000 Marriott workers who have completed the training, titled “Your Role In Preventing Human Trafficking: Recognize the Signs” in 2020. The training was produced by Marriott International in collaboration with ECPAT-USA and Polaris and was made available to...