ORLANDO, FLA.—The Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) has partnered with Clean the World Foundation to provide visiting groups an on-site option for corporate social responsibility (CSR) events. An increasing number of organizations visiting Orlando wish to make a positive impact on the local community where they gather for their conventions and tradeshows. Through Clean the World’s ONE Project, meeting planners can unite the fortunate with the less fortunate.Attendees collaborate to build hygiene kits for disadvantaged people. Kits include bars of recycled soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a washcloth and an inspirational message. They are distributed to shelters,...

TORONTO—Green Hotels Global, a system that provides metrics-based information on the environmental footprint of hotels, and TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, announced a partnership to add 1,375 Marriott properties, which are Green Hotels Global’s clients, to TripAdvisor GreenLeaders. The addition makes TripAdvisor GreenLeaders the largest program of its kind in the United States with more than 3,600 participating accommodations.TripAdvisor GreenLeaders helps TripAdvisor’s community of more than 260 million travelers plan greener trips by highlighting U.S. accommodations engaging in environmentally-friendly practices.Through the partnership, hotel properties participating in Green Hotels Global’s environmental sustainability benchmarking tool will now be automatically screened...

CHEVY CHASE, MD.—The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company recently announced the launch of new, exclusive Ritz Kids children’s programming through an expanded partnership with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society.“We are very excited to continue our highly successful relationship with a unique individual whose entire life has been spent dedicated to preservation of the environment, with particular attention to marine conservation and education,” said Herve Humler, president and chief operating officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.The new global brand standard for children’s programming includes activities for resorts, in addition to multiple touch points for children at city and urban properties. The refined...

LAKE FOREST, CALIF.—For the first time, travelers who enjoy smoking have instant access to more than 100,000 hotels worldwide that cater to guests who smoke. Smoketels.com is a new online reservation service dedicated to smoking hotel rooms only. Bookings allow travelers the freedom to choose from more than 250,000 smoking hotel rooms across the country and around the globe.The site was designed to save travelers hours of surfing the Internet in their search for a smoker-friendly hotel. With this underserved demographic in mind, Smoketels.com provides immediate access to hundreds of rooms in many cities. It is becoming increasingly harder...

ST. LOUIS—Maritz Travel recently joined the fight against human trafficking by signing ECPAT-USA’s Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code) during a company-wide town hall meeting. Signing The Code, a set of business principles travel and tourism companies implement to specifically combat child sex trafficking, symbolizes Maritz Travel’s commitment to helping raise awareness of human trafficking and child sex trafficking throughout the travel and tourism industry. Nearly 21 million people around the world are victims of modern day slavery. In the United States alone, at least 100,000 of those victims are American children with another 200,000 to 300,000 at risk...

BOSTON—The Patrick Administration announced final statewide commercial food waste disposal ban regulations to take effect on October 1, 2014. The ban will divert food waste to energy-generating and composting facilities and reduce the Commonwealth’s waste stream. “We are committed to protecting our natural resources and creating jobs as the Commonwealth’s clean energy economy grows,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan. “The disposal ban is critical to achieving our aggressive waste disposal reduction goals and it is in line with our commitment to increase clean energy production.” The ban, regulated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), will...

ORLANDO, FLA.—The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) has launched the Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, a voluntary initiative to promote and demonstrate continual improvement in the cleaning products industry’s sustainability profile. The Charter was unveiled during the ACI’s 2014 Annual Meeting & Industry Convention.The Charter, which is designed to go beyond basic legal requirements, provides a framework for driving the industry toward common sustainability goals. It requires companies to have systems in place for continual assessment, review, and improvement of sustainability performance, including raw material selection, resource use, and occupational health and safety, at every important stage of the product lifecycle.“By...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—It is not often that an investment in renewable energy is celebrated with fireworks and mayoral visits but that is what happened this past Wednesday evening at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. The fireworks and visits by City of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler and Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief marked the official unveiling of six 52-foot, 4 kilowatt wind turbines that rise above the hotel’s rooftop. Approximately $500,000 was invested in the turbines that required the tallest crane in the state of Florida to install.“It is an exciting day for us,” said Andreas Ioannou, general...

CORAL GABLES, FLA.—The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Assn. (CHTA) will conduct its first hospitality and tourism conference since 2007 under the banner of the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Education Forum (CHIEF). According to CHTA, the event will include opportunities to learn how to adopt green sustainable development strategies to improve energy efficiency in every area of both hotel and tourism infrastructure. “The time is right to have a forum that brings together hoteliers and our allied members,” said Richard Doumeng, president of CHTA. “It will be an educational and sales setting with a strong focus on the use of technology...

DENVER—Xanterra Parks & Resorts has assumed operations of lodging, restaurants, retail and the famous Red Buses in Montana’s Glacier National Park. The 16-year contract includes the operations of Many Glacier Hotel, Lake McDonald Lodge, the Apgar Village Inn, Rising Sun Motor Inn and Swiftcurrent Inn featuring approximately 500 rooms and cabins, four restaurants with more than 500 seats and five retail outlets. Xanterra will also conduct tours of the park in 33 historic Red Buses.“We are all excited to work in such a spectacular park with a long and fascinating history,” said Andrew N. Todd, president and CEO of...