LOS ANGELES—MindClick SGM and Expedia.com announced the results of a study of 5,000 consumers conducted in early January 2012 that measures awareness, expectations and the impact of hotel sustainability efforts. The study revealed that consumers applaud such efforts, but need to better understand the tangible impact to their travel lives.Over the past decade, hotels have implemented and promoted sustainability programs including energy efficiency, water conservation and recycling, and green building through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program. With operational sustainability awareness levels at 80 percent among consumers surveyed, the industry has succeeded in telling at least part...

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—Event organizers can now report on sustainability issues like impacts on communities, natural environments, and local and global economies, thanks to new guidance just published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) helped developed the guidance as part of a multi-stakeholder Working Group and Advisory Group.The events sector is diverse: its activities range from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals—all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the sustainability performance of the...

ITHACA, N.Y.—With energy representing the single fastest-growing operating cost in the hospitality industry—some 3 to 6 percent of total facility costs—hotel operators can no longer ignore the need to implement strategic energy-efficient management systems. Guests, corporate clients, employees, and investors have demonstrated increasing interest in understanding a business’s approach to key environmental, social, and governance topics that widen the scope of performance. The Cornell School of Hotel Administration is addressing these needs with a new Certification in Hotel Properties Management and Sustainability. This certification focuses on sustainability in hospitality management by interweaving the key topics such as financial management...

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO.—Its tracking mechanism may not be the most sophisticated in the industry—it consists of a master spreadsheet file—but there may be no better company in the world at tracking its environmental impact than Xanterra Parks & Resorts. For almost 11 years now Xanterra has been tracking everything from its carbon emissions to the percentage of solid waste diverted. Xanterra calls its tracking system “Ecometrix.” It falls under the company’s larger “Ecologix” program. Introduced in the company’s most recent sustainability report is yet another term—“Ecometabolism”—which is defined as “a measure of resource usage normalized by annual dollars of...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has relocated its global headquarters from White Plains, N.Y. to Stamford, bringing more than 800 jobs to Connecticut. Located in the Harbor Point development on Stamford’s historic waterfront, Starwood’s new 290,000-square-foot global headquarters comprises a two-tower office complex and is minutes from downtown Stamford. The new global headquarters will be LEED certified, which aligns with Harbor Point’s own LEED certification.“Not only does this move to Stamford make great business sense, but it also provides the opportunity to design office space that is illustrative of Starwood’s leadership in global hospitality, design and brand-building,...

NATIONAL REPORT—Our economy is slowly but surely heeding the signal that carbon is the new watchword. During the past few years, a steady stream of so-called “biobased” products have been making their way to retail shelves—compostable dinnerware made from corn, plant-based laundry detergents, and bamboo flooring among them. Coke and Pepsi are now competing to be first to market with a soft drink bottle derived entirely from sugarcane or other plant materials. The emerging biobased economy even has its own label—USDA Certified Biobased. It’s part of a federal BioPreferred program designed to help grow green jobs, stimulate the rural economy,...

HONG KONG—Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts announced its Sustainable Seafood Policy which includes the commitment to cease serving shark fin in all of its operated restaurants as well as accepting new orders for shark fin products in banqueting with immediate effect. At the same time, Shangri-La announced that it will phase out Bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass in all its operated restaurants within the year. In December 2010 the company initiated the process with the removal of shark fin products from its restaurant menus. The new policy is a continuation of Shangri-La’s journey towards sustainability.The company launched its first...

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...