In case you missed it, earlier this month, the Biden-Harris Administration released the National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, a roadmap to move the country forward safely and continue to fight COVID-19 as Americans get back to their more normal routines. Of course, a big part of getting back to normal is improving air quality in whatever dwelling we happen to be in—hotels included. As part of its Preparedness Plan, on March 17, the Administration launched the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge. It calls on all building owners and operators to assess their indoor air quality and make ventilation and air filtration...

As mask mandates disappear across the United States, the spring/summer events season is heating up. The first event can happen anywhere you are: Earth Hour on March 26 at 8:30 p.m. local time. In the past hotels have gotten creative by dimming and turning off non-essential lighting, having candlelight dinners, children’s activities, donation opportunities, coming up with special drinks, and more. This year, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts of the Greater Bay will mark Earth Hour. The Fairmont San Francisco, for example, will switch off façade, signage, and non-essential lighting, as well as dim the lights in public areas, restaurants,...

A little more than a month ago, officials of Castell Project, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the careers of women professionals in the hospitality industry, released the 2022 Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership report. You can read about the report here on Green Lodging News. In summary, the report was somewhat positive regarding the progress of women in leadership roles, but women still have a long way to go to catch up with men in our industry. This past week, officials of Castell Project released the “Black Representation in Hospitality Leadership 2022” report. The report was definitely not...

If I happened to be in Moscow in the coming days, I could get a room at a very nice hotel for $62 a night (about 6,240 rubles). Not a bad rate but me and most of the world do not want to have anything to do with Russia since they invaded Ukraine. I am no expert in politics and don’t want to make this a political column, but politics and the lodging industry are very closely intertwined and what Russia has done will impact many owners, developers, managers, employees, suppliers, and others in our global industry. Our industry is...

This past week The Walt Disney Co. released its 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. It is longer than most at 83 pages but an interesting read with a kickoff letter from Bob Chapek, CEO. No surprise, Disney took a storytelling approach to its report and there are three focus areas: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Environmental Sustainability; and Community. In the area of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, seven of the company’s 11 Directors represent racial/ethnic or gender diversity, including the Chairman and all four of the committee chairs. This year the company also directed more than 50 percent of its annual...

Three stories caught my attention this past week. First, as reported in Reuters and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sea levels around the United States are expected to increase up to a foot over the next 30 years due to climate change—as much as they have risen in the last century. Sea levels will tend to be higher along the Atlantic and Gulf shores, because of greater land subsidence there, than along the Pacific coasts. The NOAA study, designed as a planning tool to mitigate and adapt to rising sea levels predicted, has a high degree...

Since Covid-19 hit us all, I have been hearing from a lot of makers of air filtration/purification equipment. Sometimes the technology is unique to that supplier. Other times it is pretty much the same as others on the market. One thing is for sure: indoor air quality (IAQ) and air filtration/purification will remain hot topics for a long time to come. I heard from one maker of air quality systems in the past few weeks and the company had an interesting story to share. Wynd, led by Ray Wu, CEO, conducted a study of the air quality of 28 hotels...

This past week was an important one as far as official statements and reports are concerned. First, U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow delivered an assessment and vision for the U.S. travel industry at the association’s annual State of the Travel Industry address. Dow, who will be stepping down as president and CEO of U.S. Travel in July, mentioned sustainability as one of the five key areas of focus that will drive the association and the broader travel industry in the months and years ahead. Said Dow in his speech, “There are so many viable solutions that will make our industry...

It is likely the most visited page on the Green Lodging News website: the Hotel & Management Company Green Pages. Since being added to the site a little more than five years ago, it has racked up 22,183 page views. The page simply includes a list of all the hotel and management companies that have a page, or pages, on their website dedicated to the steps they are taking to reduce energy and water consumption, reduce waste, improve their local communities, etc. If a company’s overall sustainability program has a specific name, I have listed it. For example, the...

It was about 14 years ago that I wrote about the energy surcharges that some hotels were charging. Due to their unpopularity, they disappeared quite quickly. In a January 10 story on The Points Guy, it was reported that some Marriott hotels have begun tacking on a nightly “sustainability fee”. The Points Guy picked up the story from One Mile at a Time which reported about one hotel adding on a nightly $4.99 sustainability fee. “This fee isn’t referenced when rates are initially displayed, but rather it’s just added at the end of the booking process, as part of...