SAINT CHARLES, MO.—Pineapple Hospitality, a provider of green products, marketing programs and consulting services to the hospitality industry—in conjunction with the Hotel Investment Conference, Hotel Developers Conference and The 2nd Annual Green Hospitality Conference—has proclaimed March 9-15 as Green Lodging Education Week. (a.k.a. Green Week).
“Green Week is our opportunity to lead and educate the hospitality industry on the most important issue we will face in our lifetime,” says Ray Burger, president of Pineapple Hospitality. “Our goal is for hotels, hotel management companies and hotel brands to use the week as a springboard, as their opportunity to announce and implement their own environmental programs. So really, this is more than a declaration. It is a challenge.”
All facets of the hospitality industry are invited to take part in Green Week.
The confluence of conferences, located across the country, provides hotel owners, managers and franchisors three separate venues to learn more about green programs, products and solutions, green development and the concept of environmental sustainability. With the idea that education leads to action, a series of new green policy announcements would send a clear message to the industry that going green is a smart, natural, required step in the path to success, and to consumers that the industry is united in its efforts to preserve the planet.
“Anyone in this industry who embraces green will find that it is rewarding on social, environmental and economic levels,” Burger says. “Not only will you be doing your part to help save the planet, but green programs can lead to enhanced perceptions of your hotels and brands, increased guest satisfaction, improved staff retention and healthier, more sustainable profits for your company.
“We hope Green Week will continue to grow, and that this is only the first annual commemoration of this important week-long observance,” Burger adds.
Dan Esty, author of Green to Gold and a speaker at the Green Hospitality and Hotel Developers Conferences—two of the three lodging conferences being held during Green Week—says the timing for such environmental education and related hospitality initiatives is perfect.
“The case for going green has never been more compelling,” Esty says. “I look forward to sharing the lessons from Green to Gold with the green hospitality industry.”
Hotel Investment Conference
The Hotel Investment Conference, presented by Hunter Realty, will run March 9 to 11 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel. Among the more than 100 speakers, breakout sessions, roundtables and keynotes will be a key session, “The Green Conundrum,” held on Monday, March 10. The question this session will discuss is, “Sure, green is ‘in.’ But do your guests really care? And how can going green save some green?”
Moderated by Glen Haussman, editor-in-chief of Hotel Interactive, with a panel of Burger, Anthony J. DiGuiseppe, president of DiGuiseppe Architecture, and Peter Goren, program director of Florida Green Lodging, this is sure to be one of the most talked about sessions of the conference.
In addition, the more than 800 attendees at the conference may glean some green from Dennis Quaintance, president and CEO of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels in Greensboro, N.C., who will be part of the President’s Panel, held Tuesday, March 11. Quaintance’s Proximity Hotel, a 147-room property located in Greensboro, is on its way toward becoming the first hotel in the United State to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification.
Visit www.hotelinvestmentconference.com for more information.
Hotel Developers Conference
The UNLV-JMBM Hotel Developers Conference 2008—running March 11 to 13 at the Green Valley Ranch, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas—is a comprehensive, practical two-day program devoted to the most critical issues in green hotel development, conversion and operation.
With the sponsorship of the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the USGBC Nevada Chapter, this conference will address the real cost, short and long term, of going green. It will also answer these questions: What sustainable approaches, products and services actually work in hotels? Who is going green now, and how are they doing it? What do consumers really want? What are the new emerging keys in valuing and financing green hotels? What are the sticks and carrots—regulations and incentives/premiums—in green development? Who has the experience to lead you into a green future with the smoothest transition?
“We’re incredibly excited about the lineup of resources, speakers and celebrities who will join us for this event,” says Jim Butler, chairman, Global Hospitality Group for Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP, the conference sponsor. “MGM Mirage will have senior executives and team members talking about why it decided to go green with the largest hotel development in the world, and to green all of its other properties. Our speakers from MGM and all of the other experienced veterans will talk about the compelling business case for building and operating green hotels. It’s really going to relate to this audience of pragmatic, bottom line people.”
Butler says this conference will not waste time debating the science of global warming or “touchy feely” issues. Like Green Week, the conference will focus on action: what people are doing, why they’re doing it, how they are doing it, the challenges they encounter and how can the industry can work together to overcome them and turn today’s perceived green obstacles into tomorrow’s opportunities.
Visit www.jmbm.com/index.cfm?event=news.events for more information.
Green Hospitality Conference
Following up on its success last year, the 2nd Annual Green Hospitality Conference is being held March 12 to 14 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. The conference will focus on green lodging opportunities, from energy management to earth-friendly cleaning products, as well as the challenges facing hotel owners and operators seeking to become more involved in the growing industry movement toward sustainability. The conference features interactive panel sessions on topics such as green hospitality, design and construction, and green power, as well as roundtable discussions on energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality and waste reduction and recycling.
Visit www.greenhospitality.net for more information.
