SANTA MONICA, CALIF.—Shore Hotel announces a new eco-voluntourism program as part of its Green Concierge service. The eco-voluntourism program, available beginning September 17, brings an added sense of well-being to guests’ vacations. With a variety of volunteer activities to choose from, guests will have the opportunity to better the local community while working with organizations that share the hotel’s strong commitment to the environment and surrounding communities.Volunteer excursions with Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring Santa Monica Bay, offer guests the experience to participate in a self-guided beach cleanup ending with a VIP tour of the...

DENVER—Marriott International, Inc. announced the first TownePlace Suites hotel to open as part of its LEED Volume Program—the TownePlace Suites Denver Airport at Gateway Park in Colorado. TownePlace Suites is Marriott’s second brand to construct a hotel built using its LEED Volume program. The hotel will be the brand’s first property using the LEED Volume prototype.Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the LEED Volume Program eases the process for property developers, such as hotel owners who want to build a LEED-certified hotel. Volume certification provides a streamlined path to LEED certification based on a pre-approved prototype...

NATIONAL REPORT—For too many hoteliers, the past three to four years have been fraught with group cancelations, rate attrition, and cost reduction efforts. Engineering operations have been asked to do their part as well, often drastically reducing repair and maintenance expenses.   After all, with 10-12 cents of every dollar headed toward maintenance and energy, hoteliers often opted to eliminate or defer maintenance activities in a desperate attempt to maintain margins, prevent layoffs, or even just to keep the doors open. After years of trying to do more with less, the economic outlook is not quite as grim, and fiscal indicators...

LONDON—The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is inviting tourism businesses, organizations, and destinations worldwide to apply for its prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. Each year, the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards recognize global leadership in sustainable tourism best practices. Due to its rigorous three-step judging process involving 22 independent expert judges from all around the world, and including an on-site evaluation of all award finalists, the Awards have become one of the highest accolades in the global travel and tourism industry.Applicants should demonstrate how they are actively engaged in a successful program of sustainable tourism practices and management, including...

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—When you have 744 guestrooms in multiple buildings, a spa, restaurants, and three 18-hole golf courses—all on 3,000 acres—maintaining a high level of operational efficiency is always a challenge. At The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., however, the management team has been able to keep up with aging infrastructure thanks to owners who have poured $300 million into the property since 1995. It was in 1995 that renovations began on the historic hotel that was first constructed in 1918.“The main hotel building was built to 1918 energy standards,” says Terry McHale, The Broadmoor’s director of facilities. “It...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) will combine the 30,000-foot view from the industry’s preeminent experts and the grassroots vision of destinations working toward sustainability during its annual meeting from September 25 to 28. The event will be held at various locations in the Washington, D.C. area. The Open Forum, to be held at the Washington Hilton on September 26, is free and open to the public. The meeting’s aim is to provide strategic and practical takeaways for anyone interested in developing sustainable tourism initiatives that protect the world’s natural and cultural resources.The Open Forum will include a...

LATROBE, PA.—Golfing legend Arnold Palmer and hospitality industry icon Bill Marriott yesterday teamed up to celebrate the opening of the SpringHill Suites Pittsburgh Latrobe hotel in Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pa. The 109-room, all-suite, LEED-pursuing (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotel is a joint venture between Palmer Hospitality, L.P., Concord Hospitality Enterprises, one of the nation’s leading hotel developer/owner/operators, and private investor Keith H. McGraw of Sewickley, Pa. Concord Hospitality developed and will operate the hotel.Among the green features are a guestroom energy management system, exhaust heat recovery system, light sensor system that extinguishes guestroom lights 30 minutes...

WARRENTON, VA.—Airlie Conference Center has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for its Pavilion. This significant milestone emphasizes a 50-plus year commitment to environmental initiatives that is central throughout all of Airlie’s operations.LEED certification is an internationally recognized mark of excellence developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It provides independent, third-party verification that a building has been designed and built using strategies in order to achieve high performance in key areas of human and environmental health. Such areas include sustainable site development, water conservation, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental air quality.The...

BOULDER, COLO.—As part of the effort to cut costs in the global recession, many commercial building owners and managers have installed building energy management systems (BEMS) to reduce energy use and operating expenses. While these new systems can provide significant efficiency gains, their sophistication can be beyond the capabilities and resource levels of a building’s operating or maintenance staff. Consequently, smart building managed services are growing in demand and popularity as a means of solving these and other building energy management market issues. According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, worldwide spending...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM—Rezidor, a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, has launched a group-wide energy-saving initiative called Think Planet that targets an energy consumption reduction of 25 percent by the year 2016 in all Rezidor hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The group is currently present in 70 countries where 330+ hotels of the brands Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson and Hotel Missoni are operated, and 100 additional properties are under development.“Think Planet reinforces Rezidor’s position as one of the industry leaders in terms of sustainability,” said Inge Huijbrechts, director Responsible Business at Rezidor. “Many of...