BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International is making it easier for guests to volunteer and support the local community while traveling for business or vacation. Beginning August 3, guests who book the “Spirit To Serve New Orleans” voluntourism package can partner with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity or Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans, through the end of the year, to help rebuild homes hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and provide food to families impacted by the Gulf oil spill. “August 29 marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill has created a new challenge; but the...

BANGKOK, THAILAND—Soneva Fushi announced a unique collaboration with Fabien Cousteau, to help highlight the plight of marine conservation concerns in the Maldives. Fabien Cousteau, the 43-year-old grandson of the legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, will be staying at Six Senses’ flagship resort Soneva Fushi in October 2010 to help improve awareness of mankind’s overuse of marine resources and how we can treat our oceans more sustainably. Fabien will also be offering Soneva Fushi guests the exclusive opportunity to dive and dine with him and hear about his fascinating childhood growing up as a Cousteau. “The overfishing of oceanic and reef species...

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.—Bardessono restaurant, hotel and spa in Yountville, Calif., the only LEED certified luxury hotel in the world, was named one of the best new hotels by Travel & Leisure’s It List. Says Travel & Leisure, “This 62-room newcomer is upping the ante on green design...it delivers a breath of fresh air amid Yountville’s faux French and Tuscan styles.” The hand of the artist and the soul of the activist are evident in the Bardessono aesthetic. All buildings are sculpted from salvaged wood found within a 100-mile radius of the hotel. Redwood wine barrels have been repurposed to create ceilings;...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Eco-chic boutique Element Hotels, which is the first major hotel brand to mandate that all its properties pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, has achieved LEED Volume Pre-certification from USGBC for its prototype design which will automatically qualify new build hotels to pursue LEED designation. With the Volume Pre-certification approval, Element Hotels makes it more simple, faster, and less costly for developers and partners to pursue LEED certification of new properties, according to Paul Sacco, senior vice president of development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. “Building from a prototype...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named the 50 green power partners using the most renewable electricity. The Green Power Partnership’s top purchasers use more than 12 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electricity use of more than 1 million average American homes. Green Power helps to prevent emissions from conventional power sources that are linked to harmful air pollution and climate change. The top 10 on the list are Intel Corp., Kohl’s Department Stores, Whole Foods Market, City of Houston, Dell Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Cisco...

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.—Wen-I Chang, founder and president of Atman Hospitality Group, Inc., has published a book that profiles 23 green hotels—both pre-LEED pioneer green hotels and the LEED certified hotels that followed. The creator of the book, called "World's LEED Hotels: Innovation, Renovation & Development," is Ling Ling Chang, project manager with Atman Hospitality Group. Twenty of the hotels profiled in the hard cover book are in the United States, one is in the U.S. Virgin Islands, one is in Sri Lanka, and the other is in Chile. Hotels profiled include: Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, Calif.; Maho Bay Camps,...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF.—Guest awareness of property-initiated “green” programs has increased slightly in 2010, with 68 percent of guests stating that they are aware of their hotel’s conservation efforts, compared with 66 percent in 2009. Among these guests, 73 percent say they participated in their hotel’s conservation programs. The vast majority of hotel guests—87 percent—indicate they prefer a smoke-free environment. These are some of the findings in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study. As the hotel industry begins to recover from the economic downturn, overall satisfaction among hotel guests has improved considerably from 2009,...

ITHACA, N.Y.—Restaurateurs need to inform customers of their sustainable restaurant practices both to strengthen menu prices and encourage patronage. Based on a study of 393 residents of Taiwan, research findings published in the August 2010 issue of Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CQ) indicate that a substantial percentage of respondents would be willing to pay more for menu items that are produced using sustainable restaurant practices. The article, “The Dynamics of Green Restaurant Patronage,” by Hsin-Hui “Sunny” Hu, H.G. Parsa, and John Self, is available in a free download as the featured article in the August CQ issue. The researchers found a...

LOS ANGELES—The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA), a newly formed association dedicated to uniting the world’s boutique and lifestyle properties and the suppliers that sustain them, announced plans for developing a universal standard and criteria for defining boutique and lifestyle lodgings. Initiated by BLLA’s founder and hospitality industry veteran Frances Kiradjian, and in coordination with its Board of Advisors, hospitality industry leaders, and worldwide boutique property owners and suppliers, the new classification will create a differentiation for this fragmented sector within the hospitality industry. “Having a special classification specifically for this sector will allow boutique hotels to compete on...

LITTLE ROCK, ARK.—The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism has launched www.greentravelarkansas.com. The new website contains sections featuring Arkansas green lodging, dining, and attractions including a list of LEED certified buildings. Targeted toward the individual traveler, a section offering ideas to help the tourist find wellness options such as yoga studios and running trails is also included. The Department has even added a tool to help travelers keep a little green in their wallets. Special promotions offering green discounts and packages are available by clicking on the Arkansas Green Deals and Packages tab. “We added this to our website offerings...