CWT Meetings & Events, the global meeting and events division of CWT, just released “The Future of Sustainable Events.” Within it are nuggets of information worth sharing to the entire meetings and events community. Be sure to take a look at the report. First, CWT Meetings & Events concludes that sustainability will continue to be an ever more important business consideration for the $840 billion meetings and events industry in 2020. “The sustainability of the meetings and events industry, in fact of the entire travel industry, is at the forefront of companies’ and planners’ minds in 2020,” said Derek Sharp, Senior...

In case you missed it, Prince Harry last month led the launch of a new sustainable travel initiative called Travalyst. According to its website, Travalyst is founded by Booking.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and Visa, with the ambition to change the impact of travel, for good. No specific agenda has been announced but the site states the following: “We believe in the power and importance of travel and that we also have a shared responsibility to our planet and to each other. That’s why we’re coming together as a catalyst for change. We want to be the driving force that paves...

Living here in Florida, I am blessed to be able to see dolphins almost every time I go to the beach. They are beautiful animals and it is always great to see them swim freely. I have yet to see a whale swim in the wild but if I did, I would feel the same about their beauty and freedom. Unless held for rehabilitation, there is a lot wrong about holding cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) captive. Two days ago, TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel platform, updated its animal welfare policy and announced it and its Viator brand will no...

This past week I was invited to moderate a panel discussion at an inaugural Climate Week event at New York City’s Javits Convention Center. The overall event was very well attended. The title of the session I moderated: “Responsible Hospitality for a Sustainable Stay.” The travel and tourism track was organized by NYC & Company, the destination marketing organization for New York City. Climate Week NYC was the largest climate week in the world. Concurrent with the sessions focused on various aspects of travel and tourism were sessions on green roofs, sustainable aviation and more. Did your city hold a similar...

This past week was a big news week with five announcements to note. First, Hilton announced the passing of Barron Hilton, a legend in our industry who led the Hilton company from 1966 to 1996. During his leadership, he transformed the company and generated an average annual rate of return to shareholders of 15 percent with dividends. More importantly, with his business acumen, he helped grow his father’s 1979 bequest of $160 million in Hilton stock into an endowment of more than $2.9 billion to support the philanthropic work of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. In 2007, Hilton announced that,...

The late summer honey harvest season has been a good one for the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire, Ill. Executive Chef Pierre Daval told me this past week the resort’s 600,000 bees have produced 500 pounds of honey so far. “We are about halfway through the season,” he says. This is the eighth year the bees have produced honey. What do you do with so much of the sticky stuff? The kitchen and sales teams got together and came up with a honey-themed celebration called Viva La Honey. “We all love it,” Daval says. “We have honey everywhere.” In honor...

This coming weekend begins my busy travel season and one of the most important times of the year for trade show activity. I will be attending the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show in Orlando (September 15 to 16). There is a long list of green suppliers among the more than 400 vendors who will be attending. Available will be items ranging from paper, silicon and stainless-steel straws to electric vehicles to Tree Free paper products. Be sure to watch for coverage of this show on GLN. Also coming up in Orlando is the third annual Sustainable Hospitality Summit on...

If you placed 700 million amenity bottles end to end, assuming 3 inches for each bottle, they would stretch for 33,143 miles. That is far more than once around the equator (24,901 miles) and about 1/7th the distance from the Earth to the moon. Why am I mentioning 700 million? This past week, Marriott International announced that it is expanding an initiative to replace tiny, single-use toiletry bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel in guestroom showers with larger, pump-topped bottles. To date, the company has already rolled out larger bottles at about 1,000 properties in North America, and now expects most...

I learned this past week that about 18 to 20 percent of a building’s energy footprint is from windows and that part of their job is to help manage infrared rays, UV rays and visible light. Many of you may have known that already. Did you know that most of the sun’s heat comes in the form of visible light? That is why closing curtains and shades when guestrooms are vacant can certainly help some with heating and AC. Blocking UV light can help reduce the fading of carpeting, furniture and artwork. Walk the floor of HITEC and you...

Mixed in the news this past week about mass shootings, demonstrations in Hong Kong, a congressional trip or non-trip to Israel, etc. was some very important news about our climate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that last month, July, was the hottest month on record for the planet. NOAA has been keeping records for the last 140 years. The year-to-date temperature for 2019 tied with 2017 as the second warmest January-July on record. During July, Arctic sea ice loss occurred at an average rate of 40,800 square miles per day, surpassing the 1981-2010 average of 33,500...