GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN—Green holidays website Greentraveller.co.uk and the West Sweden Tourist Board have published a Guide to Green Holidays in Gothenburg & West Sweden to show how travelers can make the most of the region in a way that has a low impact on the environment and a positive impact on biodiversity conservation and on the local economy. The guide features green hotels and B&Bs, the best places to find local food and a range of outdoor activities—from sea kayaking in the Fjällbacka and Koster Archipelago to a day hunting for fresh lobster on the Skagerrak strait. Included in the guide...

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts continues its commitment to sustainability by introducing a series of new concepts across all its European hotels. Throughout 2012, the upscale international hotel company of Swiss heritage will serve more than six million cups of its new Mövenpick Fairtrade Coffee and reduce annual plastic waste in all its European hotels by more than four tons by using 100,000 wooden key cards and 550,000 biodegradable pens.“There are many ways to be more sustainable,” said Ola Ivarsson, the company’s COO for Europe. “At Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts we are constantly adding new initiatives such as actively...

NATIONAL REPORT—The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs. Now, sustainable development is entering a new phase, characterized by greater alignment within and between the public and private sectors. The road to sustainability has been plagued with roadblocks, including an unprecedented global financial crisis and attempts by entrenched business and political interests to deny climate science. Perhaps the greatest obstacle has been the lack of consistent and comparable standards for defining and measuring sustainability. Although these issues have yet to...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is now accepting speaking proposals for the 97th annual International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS), taking place November 10 to 13, 2012, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Industry and trend experts are encouraged to submit seminar topics that address timely and relevant issues to meet the professional development needs of some 25,000 trade attendees. The deadline to submit proposals is February 29, 2012. Proposals focused on trends, within the areas of lodging ownership and management, consumer travel trends, sustainability and related issues, are preferred. Additional topics...

QUITO, ECUADOR—There is a new destination for experiencing natural beauty, biodiversity and eco-adventure in the Ecuadorian Andes: the Mashpi Rainforest Biodiversity Reserve. Located two-and-a-half hours west of historic Quito, this 3,000-acre reserve protects a small slice of the Tumbez-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity “hotspot,” and will be home to a new retreat called Mashpi Lodge, new on the heels of its sister property Casa Gangotena that opened in Quito Old Town in October. This lodge has been designed as a springboard for exploring the biodiverse world of its reserve. A private getaway only accessible to its guests and located on a high plateau,...

FRANKFURT, GERMANY—A campaign to reduce overall waste output from the IMEX in Frankfurt trade show, whether recyclable or not, has seen waste levels drop significantly over the past three years. The total amount of waste generated went down from 167 tons in 2009 to 121 tons in 2011, a reduction of 28 percent. As part of its commitment to improved environmental management and protection, IMEX organizers have worked closely with the management team at Messe Frankfurt to implement a series of waste reduction measures over the years. Year on year IMEX has also set itself waste reduction targets in...

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.—Gauthier’s Saranac Lake Inn in Saranac Lake, N.Y. is the recipient of the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association’s (NYSH&TA) 2012 Good Earthkeeping award. The inn will be recognized at the Association’s 2012 Stars of the Industry Gala & Awards Banquet at the Hotel Albany, an affiliate of Hilton (formerly the Crowne Plaza Albany) on Monday, March 5. The Stars of the Industry awards program honors employees of the hotels, motels and tourism-related businesses throughout the state who best represent the quality service and spirit of the hospitality and tourism industry. “Every year, the state’s hospitality industry nominates...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—This past October was a landmark month for the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC). It was then that the nonprofit turned five years old. SFC is a nonprofit coalition of materials suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and designers committed to promoting sustainable practices in the home furnishings industry. While focused on home furnishings, different elements of SFC cross over into hospitality—e.g., suppliers, designers, and the criteria by which furnishings are deemed sustainable.“Many of our manufacturer, supplier and designer members also work in commercial,” says Susan Inglis, executive director and founding member of SFC. “All of our members are companies that...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—LEED-certified existing buildings are outpacing their newly built counterparts, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). As of last month, square footage of LEED-certified existing buildings surpassed LEED-certified new construction by 15 million square feet on a cumulative basis. “The U.S. is home to more than 60 billion square feet of existing commercial buildings, and we know that most of those buildings are energy guzzlers and water sieves,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “Greening these buildings takes hands-on work, creating precious jobs especially for construction workers. Making these existing buildings energy and water efficient...

NEW YORK—ECPAT-USA recently announced that Wyndham Worldwide has become the latest major hospitality company to take a stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code).The Code, an industry driven responsible tourism initiative in collaboration with ECPAT International, funded by UNICEF and supported by The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), specifically focuses on the protection of children from sexual exploitation in the travel and tourism industries. While The Code has been signed by more than 1,000 travel industry members worldwide, Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, is only...