NATIONAL REPORT—Hotel managers are not the only party at the negotiating table struggling to control costs and operate within the limits of austere budgets. Meeting planners have also been given the challenge of setting up effective events at the least possible cost. In an effort to work within the framework of slashed government, corporate, and association meeting budgets, planners have continued to cut banquet menus and off-site events as they have in the past. However, now they have begun to flex their negotiating leverage and ask for aggressive room rate concessions from hoteliers. In response, it appears that hotel...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Doubletree Hotels and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization, have teamed up to motivate students to help fight hunger this holiday season through a unique relationship that will collect food for local food banks in the United States and raise funds for WFP’s hunger relief operations abroad. The “Community Drive to Fight World Hunger” campaign is part of Doubletree’s award-winning Teaching Kids to CARE community outreach program, which raises awareness about key social and environmental issues through educational activities and fosters a sense of activism, empowerment and reward among students. Food...

CONCORD, N.H.—Visitors to New Hampshire who want to stay in a “green” property can now search and book a room via the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development’s website. According to officials, New Hampshire is the first state in New England to have a live, interactive “green” booking system enabling visitors to search and make an immediate reservation at a green lodging property in New Hampshire. “Traveling green just got a whole lot easier in New Hampshire,” said Alice DeSouza, director of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development. “Now when a visitor makes the choice...

LAS VEGAS—Affirming its commitment to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter has earned its fifth and sixth LEED Gold ratings from the U.S. Green Building Council with the certification of Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas and Veer Towers. The accomplishment completes the certification process for all CityCenter components opening this December, and marks the highest LEED achievement by any hotel, retail district or residential development in Las Vegas. The 18-million-square-foot metropolis is one of the world’s largest sustainable communities. “From its inception to design, development and construction, we had one single goal in mind...

DENVER—The 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference has opened registration with a new theme, keynote speaker Annie Leonard, a wide-ranging program, and the ambitious goal of drawing 500 participants to Denver from February 9 to 11, 2010. The conference theme, “Scaling it Up,” underscores the growing importance of sustainability in meetings and events, as well as surging interest in the Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) premier annual event (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference). “This conference is the opportunity for meeting organizers and hosts to address the sustainability issues that are redefining the industry,” said GMIC president Amy Spatrisano, CMP. “GMIC...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—High in the Colorado Rockies a life-saving necessity is making its way to the island nation of Haiti and abroad. By partnering with Orlando, Fla.-based Clean the World, Inc., RockResorts is collecting barely-used soap and shampoo from its collection of eight hotels and enabling the charity to provide the much-needed supplies to needy people in homeless shelters and impoverished countries around the world. Recently Clean the World delivered a shipment of 45,000 bars of soap to Cap Haitien, Haiti. Another 100,000 bars just arrived in Haiti, the poorest country of the western hemisphere, to be distributed in the...

LONDON—This year has seen the worst recession since the 1930s, with global GDP contracting by an estimated 1.3 percent. While there are tentative signs that the economic cycle is now turning, driven by unprecedented policy stimuli, reviving credit markets and recovering asset prices, recovery is expected to be gradual—and a second dip into recession early next year cannot yet be ruled out. “As a result, the travel and tourism economy GDP is now forecast to decline by 5.5 percent in 2009,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), announcing WTTC’s latest forecasts at...

TAMPA, FLA.—The Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore is completing a multimillion-dollar renovation project for which it has devoted significant resources to improving environmental efficiencies across the board. As part of its eco-initiative, hotel management has launched the “Make a Green Choice” (MAGC) program. Through this project, the Sheraton aims to improve housekeeping sustainability and productivity. Participating guests can decline housekeeping service for a day, and in exchange for helping the Sheraton conserve natural resources, they receive a $5 gift card for use at the hotel restaurant or 500 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Points. “The new management team, Davidson Hotel Company,...

LAS VEGAS—The Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US) has honored CityCenter as the best commercial project of 2009 in the fifth annual Designing & Building with FSC Awards. The awards recognize entities that are committed to using sustainably harvested wood and creating a marketplace that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. CityCenter’s dedication to the use of FSC-certified wood products is unprecedented in scale and resulted in a significant market transformation. “We are honored to be recognized as this year’s top commercial project,” said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president of MGM MIRAGE’s Energy and Environmental...

COLUMBUS, OHIO—Red Roof will give $5 cash back to every guest making a minimum $1 donation to Feeding America during the week of Thanksgiving, Sunday November 22 through Sunday, November 29. Donations must be made at the property and guests will receive the rebate upon checkout; the $5 back is per stay, not per night. According to Red Roof, it is their way of giving back and showing their thanks by teaming up with Feeding America and country music artist and Red Roof brand ambassador, Phil Vassar, to help put food on America’s tables over the holidays. Country Music star...