Repeatedly throughout my time as editor of Green Lodging News I have come across entrepreneurs—hotel owners—who spend more than is typical, even without government or utility help, to build highly efficient hotels. Yes, they recognize the business upside to going green—the lower energy, water, and waste costs—but there is usually something else driving that investment. I always try to ask what that is. When I spoke with Sunny Dronawat this past week about his recently opened solar and soon to be wind powered La Quinta Inn and Suites by Wyndham Louisville East (Kentucky), I asked him why he decided to...

There were three reports to note this past week. The first one: “Ecotourism Market by Traveler Type (Solo and Group), Age Group (Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z), and Sales Channel (Travel Agents and Direct): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021–2027.” The second report: “AHLA’s State of the Hotel Industry 2021”. The third report from the National Restaurant Assn. (NRA): “2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Report.” The reports are packed with news both good and bad but here are some of the highlights (and lowlights unfortunately): The global ecotourism industry generated $181.1 billion in 2019, and is projected to...

I spoke this past week with Kate Wilson, Senior Director of Sustainability at Vail Resorts. Watch for an article based on my conversation with Kate soon on Green Lodging News. One of my favorite things to do at Green Lodging News is chat with those who are leading the efforts at our industry’s largest companies to reduce waste, carbon emissions and water consumption. For those of you not familiar with Vail Resorts, it operates 37 world-class mountain resorts and urban ski areas through its subsidiaries. It also owns and/or manages a collection of hotels under the RockResorts brand, as well...

Beyond topical or air spray cleaning and disinfection in the guestroom, how far have you gone to accommodate your guests during this pandemic? I am curious to know. I have traveled some in recent months and certainly touchable items such as pens, and pads have been removed. I have stayed at a Hilton Home2 Suites in Orlando a couple of times and the TV remote was wrapped to indicate it had been sanitized. The hotel bathroom there still had its soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers. Have you backtracked on dispensers and transitioned back to the wasteful individual plastic containers?...

In the early days of Green Lodging News there was quite a bit of discussion about the need for just one nationwide green lodging certification/rating program—perhaps even one that could be run by the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. Some of the thought was that there were just too many programs to choose from—confusing for the industry and confusing for travelers. Well, here we are many years later and quite a bit of shuffling has taken place among the various programs. There are still quite a few to choose from but one that has truly blossomed and grown is the...

In this, my first column of 2021, which appears in my 750th newsletter since launching Green Lodging News, I would like to wish all of you a much better year than 2020. There is no doubt our industry has a lot of recovering to do this year. In so many ways our industry’s recovery is beyond its control—the pace of vaccinations, the acceptance of vaccinations, what local, state, and federal governments here and around the world says is permissible or not regarding travel, etc. Of course, each individual hotel’s fate is also tied to its location, ability to creatively...

In this, my last column of 2020, I would like to thank Green Lodging News readers, advertisers, guest columnists, public relations representatives, and others for their support during this unprecedented year. This year, to be able to say your business survived, is an accomplishment. My heart goes out to all of you who lost your business or jobs in 2020. My wish for everyone in our industry is for a much healthier and safer 2021. No matter what my website article tracking data says, COVID-19 was of course the story of the year in 2020—how our industry was hurt by...

In next week’s column I will be highlighting the 10 most read Green Lodging News articles of 2020. It will be interesting to see how many had to do with COVID-19. While the article I just posted on Hotel Marcel may not make it because of its posting late in the year, it certainly deserves consideration as one of the most important hotel stories of both this year and 2021. Be sure to read the article. Hotel Marcel is the project of architect Bruce Becker, Founder and Director of Becker + Becker, Westport, Conn. Becker purchased the New Haven, Conn. building...

Green cleaning has certainly been one of the most talked about subjects in the history of this publication, especially in the last year. Oftentimes the cleaning solution involves just water, electricity, ozone and/or minerals. When compared to the cleaning chemicals that have been used for the most part in our industry, these options are safer to use, just as or more effective, better for your bottom line, and better for the environment in many ways—less waste, smaller carbon footprint, etc. Until this year I was only aware of cleaning systems that required larger machines but have since found very...

Just how well is the global hotel industry, especially the U.S. hotel industry, doing in reducing its environmental impact as a whole? Thanks to the folks at Greenview, the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, and companies like Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and others who provide access to their data, we have a pretty good idea—and the news is not too bad. This is the seventh time the parties involved have produced the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking (CHSB) Index and the report shows that carbon emissions per square meter of hotels around the world has decreased by 10 percent since 2015. The report...