I attended HD Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas this past week. It was a busy time for the hospitality design community with approximately 600 exhibitors, more than 100 of which were new to the show. As reported in my news blog last week, there were many speakers and conference sessions, with wellness in design a hot topic. As I walked the trade show floor, I picked up some interesting vendor news and heard some fascinating product development stories. It would be impossible to share all of what I heard but here are some highlights: Agio Hospitality...

The press release I received on April 20 immediately caught my eye. A certain resort announced its first Chief Water Officer (CWO)—a title I have never come across in my many years of publishing Green Lodging News. I was quite intrigued as visions of aerators, low-flow showerheads and toilets, leak detector monitors and other water-saving products and technologies danced through my head. Not a full-time position at the resort—a much larger property or company with multiple properties could only financially justify a full-time position—it was designed to advance responsible water stewardship and sustainable hospitality practices, the press release said, adding, “The...

If you do business in the European Union, you need to pay attention to the EU Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo). As concerns about greenwashing grow, EmpCo is introducing stricter rules for how companies communicate sustainability claims and use environmental labels. EmpCo targets B2C communication and strengthens consumer protection. The directive is designed to give consumers clearer, more reliable information about the environmental and social impacts of the products they buy. At the same time, it creates a more level playing field for brands making credible sustainability commitments. The directive covers all consumer-facing commercial practices, meaning it applies not only to packaging but...

Happy Earth Day! (April 22). Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, marking the birth of the modern environmental movement. Proposed by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to raise awareness about environmental threats, the inaugural event saw 20 million Americans participate in rallies, teach-ins, and demonstrations across the country. The massive, nationwide turnout led directly to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of landmark environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. While initially a U.S. event, it went global in 1990, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries. Earth Day is a...

I had an opportunity to chat with Amy Hulbert, Vice President, Boutique and Upscale Brands, BWH Hotels, this past week about her company’s work to get BWH Hotels green certified. It is not an easy task. The hotel company has 4,000 properties in more than 100 countries. There are currently 578 hotels certified by Green Key Global throughout North America and 915 certified outside of North America—most by Green Key International. Green Key International is a worldwide non-profit program, while Green Key Global is a North American-focused organization owned by AHLA and the Hotel Association of Canada. Green Key certification is required...

As Earth Day (April 22—what are you planning?) approaches each year, it is common to hear from folks wanting to highlight the best practices of the properties they represent. Here then is a sample of just some of the properties I recently learned about through the help of Delfina Guemes, Founder of DGBR Studio, and Katherine Han, Founder, Katherine Han PR. Feel free to adopt these practices at your properties or share some of your own with me at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com. A Stay That Gives Back to the Landscape: At the center is Bloom Back Bonaire, an initiative at Delfins Beach Resort developed...

A highly recommended read this week is The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s “Hospitality Rising: Global Challenges, Local Solutions” report. The report discusses the latest trends shaping the foodservice sector and celebrates a wide variety of sustainability initiatives from hospitality operations of all shapes and sizes around the world—restaurants, hotels and much more. For those of you not familiar with The Sustainable Restaurant Assn. (The SRA), its aim is to better define what sustainability means for a restaurant. Its Food Made Good Standard sets out what “good” looks like in hospitality, providing chefs and restaurateurs with the tools to improve what their business is doing, share...

As I am writing this column, spring will arrive. For Nevada residents, 55,000 of whom work for MGM Resorts International, the new season follows the warmest winter on record, according to Michael Gulich, Vice President of Sustainability at MGM Resorts. Las Vegas, which gets nearly 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead and only four to five inches of rain annually, incentivizes residents to conserve. One example is a Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) cash for grass program that pays homeowners from $5 to $7 per square foot to remove turfgrass and replace it with desert-friendly landscaping—native plants and/or...

A big tip of the hat to Summit Hotel Properties, the Austin, Texas-based REIT, for landing in the No. 1 spot in the Hotels, Dining & Leisure category on Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Charitable Companies. Newsweek just announced its list this past week. Following Summit in the Hotels, Dining & Leisure category: Caesars Entertainment, No. 57; Vail Resorts, No. 98; Travel + Leisure, No. 105; Las Vegas Sands, No. 115; Marriott International, No. 136; Hilton, No. 155; Boyd, No. 171; MGM Resorts International, No. 193; Choice Hotels, No. 256; and Soho House & Co, No. 258. Newsweek compiled its...

World Water Day is coming up on March 22. According to the Planet Water Foundation, 2.2 billion people on our planet live without access to safe water. How are you helping to make clean water more accessible to those in need? As reported on Green Lodging News, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions is celebrating World Water Day the entire month of March. Since its partnership with charity: water began in September 2023, Kalahari Resorts and its guests have helped raise $12,289,883 to support sustainable clean water solutions across Africa. As of Q4 2025, those contributions have funded 1,476 water projects including...