NEEDHAM, MASS.—TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, today announced its commitment to launch a set of industry-leading actions, including changes to its policy on selling tickets to animal attractions, and the launch of a new education portal to help inform travelers about the standards of care for wild, captive, and endangered species in tourism and their interactions with tourists, and their impact on wildlife conservation. TripAdvisor and its Viator brand will discontinue selling tickets for specific tourism experiences where travelers come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, petting tigers,...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—MCI, a key driver of innovation in global meetings, events, association and congress industries has launched its 2015 Sustainability Report: Harnessing the Power of Community. The seventh sustainability report to date, Harnessing the Power of Community reports on MCI’s annual progress according to the U.N. Global Compact principles and follows the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 Framework to improve the structure, completeness and comparability of its reports. “Looking to 2016—and beyond—it is clear that corporations have a responsibility to deliver the most responsible products, and we play a key role in changing behaviors and enabling more sustainable commerce,” said Sebastien...

PARSIPPANY, N.J.—Wyndham Worldwide commemorated five years of sustainability leadership with a milestone tree planting ceremony through its partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest environmental nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. In an outdoor ceremony including Wyndham Worldwide executives and partners from the Arbor Day Foundation, the company celebrated the fulfillment of its goal to plant one million trees and reinforced the commitment to reducing its environmental footprint by 25 percent by the year 2025. “At Wyndham Worldwide, we work every day to minimize the environmental impact of doing business,” said Faith Taylor, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social...

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.—Enveloped within the Santa Rosa Mountain range with striking panoramic views of the greater Palm Springs, The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage boasts some of the best night sky viewing in the continental United States. To take advantage of the desert’s canopy of stars, The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage hosts complimentary stargazing sessions every Saturday evening with the luxury resort’s recreation ambassador. “The desert’s pitch black skies provide the perfect landscape for discovering new constellations and planets,” said Kelly Steward, General Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage. “I love seeing the awe and enchantment on our guests’ faces as they uncover new findings...

DALLAS—Freeman, a leading global provider of brand experiences, announced it has received the prestigious ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System certification, the first in its industry to do so on a global scale. The certification is an international standard designed to help organizations involved in the events and hospitality industries integrate sustainability into management practices and processes.“Environmental and social responsibility has always been at the heart of Freeman and guides our business,” said Jeff Chase, Vice President of Sustainability for Freeman, who oversees the company’s sustainability initiatives and led the certification effort.“This certification—an industry first—reflects the philosophy of our...

FRANKFURT, GERMANY—The Steigenberger Hotel Group is expanding its Green Meetings project to cover the whole of Europe. Thirteen pilot hotels have been involved thus far, but now all conference services will switch to the sustainable Green Meetings model with immediate effect. This will enable hotel guests throughout the continent to stage meetings which are carbon neutral and therefore particularly environmentally friendly.The ecological use of resources does not merely take place behind the scenes. Organic snacks produced by regional farmers, sustainable fair trade beverage specialties, specially prepared drinking water in multi-use bottles and conference materials made from recycled raw materials...

BALTIMORE—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) Sustainable Meetings Conference will be held September 15 to 16 in Baltimore at The Hilton Baltimore. Hosted annually by GMIC, the event brings together professionals from all corners of the meetings and events industry—planners, suppliers, service providers, and destination representatives—around a single mission: transforming an industry by integrating sustainability into the entire lifecycle of event planning and execution.The event is an opportunity to gain new tools, share best practices and transferable lessons, network with peers and leaders in the industry, and get inspired to continue your efforts alongside like-minded professionals in the community.The...

NATIONAL REPORT—Two months ago, Delos announced the expansion of its Stay Well hotel room program into six Marriott hotels in the United States. According to Paul Scialla, Founder and CEO of Delos, the Marriott properties are the first hotel additions to the Stay Well program since October 2012. It was then that Delos landed the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as a client. (Delos has since launched a Stay Well Meetings program.) Stay Well rooms feature a number of upgrades to enhance the health and quality of a room environment—water purification, vitamin C infused shower, mattress...

LOS ANGELES—Today the travel industry welcomes Kind Traveler, the first “Give + Get” hotel booking platform that transforms travelers into a financial force that benefits communities, the environment, and animals. Travelers “give” to a local or global charity; as reward for their donation, they “get” an exclusive rate to book directly with the world’s best hotels and unique properties. All of the donations raised on the Kind Traveler platform are given to charity. This new travel site has tremendous potential for positive global impact, considering the financial power of the seven-trillion dollar travel industry. Last year alone more than...

NATIONAL REPORT—A majority of travelers in the United States spend more money per trip, travel more frequently and stay longer when destinations offer sustainable practices, according to a report released by Sustainable Travel International and Mandala Research.The 2016 Role of Sustainability in Travel & Tourism report revealed compelling results, most notably that 60 percent of U.S. travelers (105.3 million) have taken a “sustainable” trip in the last three years and that these travelers are extremely valuable to the tourism industry. These travelers spend more (on average $600 per trip), stay longer (seven days compared to four days) and bring...