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...

BOSTON—Formed a year ago as an outgrowth of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC), Boston Green Tourism (BGT) is working to position America’s Walking City as the place to go to find green hotels and meeting facilities. The organization already has 76 active members including hoteliers, restaurateurs, vendors, and convention center and government officials. “It is a three-year project,” says Dan Ruben, executive director of BGT, who as executive director of CERC led efforts to green America’s two political conventions in 2004. The goals of BGT are four-fold: • Establish Greater Boston as a preeminent...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Wednesday, September 27 marks the global celebration of World Tourism Day. Sanctioned by the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization and recognized for the first time by the Travel Industry Association (TIA), this annual event fosters awareness among the international community of the importance of travel and tourism and how this important industry touches us all. Under the umbrella theme “Tourism Enriches,” World Tourism Day provides a platform for countries and communities worldwide to acknowledge the power of travel on all levels: social, cultural, political and economic. This year’s simple, straightforward theme speaks specifically to tourism’s contributions to...

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y.—NYLO, a new lifestyle hotel brand, is the first hotel of its kind to commit to providing PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms as part of its overall brand strategy. The company recently announced it partnership with Pure Solutions. “We’re proud to work with this market leader in improving indoor air quality for the comfort of our guests,” says John Russell, c.e.o. of NYLO. NYLO is planning to break ground next month on its first property in Plano, Texas. Shortly after, properties will be popping up in other suburban and secondary markets, such as Warwick, Rhode Island....