PORTLAND, ORE.—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announces the launch of the GMIC Green Meetings Discussion Forum. The discussion board for green meeting professionals can be found at: www.greenmeetings.info/forum/. The GMIC is providing these moderated forums as a means for meeting professionals to network with each other to share information and expertise in support of a greener meeting industry. Meeting professionals are invited and encouraged to seek help and provide assistance to each other through these forums. To view the forums, click on the “Register” link in the top toolbar, left-hand side and fill in your information....

With green certification programs still being fairly new and most consumers not understanding what they mean, it can become increasingly difficult to know how to market a green hotel. Choosing to just focus on certification can leave leisure travelers and meeting planners alike confused by the myriad of green-certified symbols. It’s a much better idea to choose to focus on your hotel’s green offerings, mission and values—what sets it apart. It’s easy to assume that the eco-conscious travelers will naturally find your green hotel and choose it because it is green, but that is not always the case. It reminds...

CALIFORNIA—Guests of the Fairmont San Jose, Fairmont San Francisco, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica and the Fairmont Newport Beach can breathe easier thanks to the region’s comprehensive “Clean Air” initiative. Hybrid-driving overnight hotel guests now get free parking at all California Fairmont properties. “As one of many green programs our brand has embraced, we are pleased to offer our like-minded ‘green guests’ complimentary hybrid vehicle parking at all the California Fairmont hotels and resorts,” says Francisco Gomez, regional vice president of operations and general manager of the Fairmont San Francisco. “As leading environmental...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.— As part of a promotion between Doubletree Hotels and the World Wildlife Fund, the hotel brand has developed an online travel promotion that benefits the protection and survival of threatened and endangered animals. For every reservation made on www.doubletree.com at any of more than 180 hotels and resorts between the dates of November 15 and December 15, 2006, Doubletree will donate $1.00 to the World Wildlife Fund to help protect threatened and endangered animals and support the organization’s conservation efforts around the globe. “At Doubletree, our communities and the world we live in are...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference will take place February 6-8 at the Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center—Lloyd Center, Portland, Ore. The event is being organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council, which is based in Portland. The event is geared toward meeting planners who have been implementing green practices or those interested in starting such programs. The conference will include exhibits, educational sessions and networking opportunities. Industry leaders will be on hand to share their insights on industry issues and environmentally responsible approaches to processes such as registration, site location, marketing, and exhibiting. The...

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco’s Orchard and new Orchard Garden Hotel are offering holiday revelers a way to make the world a little greener this holiday season with their “Plant A Tree” package. The package includes a one-night stay in either of the boutique hotels and the choice of taking home a boxed Colorado Spruce tree seedling or joining the hotels’ partnership with Friends of the Urban Forest to plant a tree. The recently opened Orchard Garden Hotel is California’s only hotel to be ecologically sustainable from the inside-out and is registered to become the state’s first hotel to earn...

The U.S. lodging industry, represented by multiple national and state level lodging certification programs, should look to its neighbor to the north—Canada—to learn how one single certification program could work. Run by the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) with the assistance of a consultant, Canada’s Green Key Eco-Rating program has more than 400 rated hotels and motels with an additional 400-plus in the pipeline. According to Tony Pollard, HAC’s president, a total of 2,000 hotels could be Green Key rated by the end of next year. Why is Canada’s program blossoming so quickly? There are several important reasons....

AMERICAN CANYON, CALIF.—The Gaia Napa Valley, a hotel incorporating environmentally friendly building design and technology, has opened here. The 133-room hotel, set on four acres, was designed to appeal to ecotourists. The hotel is pursuing gold LEED certification. The hotel will use solar power, water-saving techniques and certified wood, harvested with the long-term health of forests in mind. A mural by world-renowned artist Yuan Lee reflects on the spirit, beauty and resources of nature in the Napa Valley and surrounding areas. The hotel’s half-acre lagoon has its own ecosystem and is surrounded by a lush garden with...

TORONTO—Days Inns-Canada announced its participation in the HAC Green Key Eco-Rating Program administered by the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC). Days Inns-Canada is the first midscale hotel chain to participate in the program as a brandwide initiative. Through the HAC Green Key Eco-Rating Program, Days Inns’ 87 locations across Canada are committed to maximizing efficiency by enhancing energy performance while also reducing operating costs. The brand expects that most of its properties will receive their Green Key rating by the end of 2006. “As active supporters of the HAC Green Key Eco-Rating Program, Days Inns-Canada is dedicated...

When your property is approached by a meeting planner requiring green practices, will you be ready? If you are not recycling, don’t have a towel/linen reuse program, or have not implemented other environmentally friendly measures, there is a good chance you will forfeit the opportunity to win the new business. Increasingly, meeting planners are presenting hotels with checklists that explain their minimum requirements. When you receive such a list, what documentation will you have to present in return? If the planner asks for a tour of your facility, what kind of story will you have ready to tell...