RALEIGH, N.C.—Welcome Holdings, a Cary, N.C.-based real estate and hospitality development and operation group, announces the launch of Revisn—Raleigh. Opening in September 2018 at 615 North Boylan Street in downtown Raleigh, Revisn combines the comforts of luxury apartment living with the services and amenities of a high-end hotel for extended stay guests. Comprised of one and two-bedroom residences with flexible reservation options of 30 days or more, Revisn is tailored to long-term corporate, education and government travel. “Temporary residence options nationwide, but particularly in the Triangle, have been a hodgepodge of long-lease apartments, hotels more suited for short-term stays, and...

CROSSVILLE, TENN.—Crossville Inc. has announced its newest tile collection, Retro Active 2.0, is a recipient of the prestigious Living Product Challenge Petal Certifications in three categories: place, water, and beauty. The Living Product Challenge is a recognition program of the International Living Future Institute. Crossville is the first tile company to be certified by the Living Product Challenge. The Living Product Challenge is organized in seven performance areas, known as Petals, with each area consisting of detailed requirements. Retro Active 2.0 was recognized in the following: Place Petal—2/2 for meeting requirements that included responsible place and habitat impacts; Water Petal—1/1...

NEW YORK—The Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) recently issued its Sustainability Awards in Partnership with NYIT College Hospitality Studies. The following won 2018 awards: Environmental Protection Award—Hotel with Under 250 Rooms, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge; Sustainability Strategy Award—Hotel with Under 250 Rooms, Hyatt Union Square; Environmental Protection Award—Hotel with Over 250 Rooms; InterContinental New York Times Square; Sustainability Strategy Award—Hotel with Over 250 Rooms, The Westin New York at Times Square; and Sustainable Innovation and Leadership Award, InterContinental New York Barclay. The HANYC Sustainability Awards annually recognize and honor member hotels that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the promotion...

LONDON—Marking the end of Responsible Business Week, Green Hotelier magazine has announced this year’s winners of the Green Hotelier Awards. The annual Awards by Green Hotelier magazine changed format this year to align with the International Tourism Partnership’s Goals for 2030. ITP’s Goals invite the hotel industry to align their corporate social responsibility efforts with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also called the Global Goals. Applications were invited from hotels of any size anywhere in the world, and were judged on their initiatives to reduce energy and water consumption, their waste output, their roles as responsible businesses to...

LAHAINA, HAWAII—Following on the heels of Earth Day, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa announced a new program, allowing guests to participate in thoughtfully-designed ocean adventures with paddle boarders, boat captains, canoe racers, and others who want to share their respect for the water and passion for the environment with travelers, while giving back to the local community. These watermen and women will also lead guests to learn about the national marine sanctuary fronting Ka’anapali Beach and the importance of “malama aina” (“protecting the land”) through the beach clean-up activity as the sun rises above the majestic Mauna Kahalawai...

MAUI, HAWAII—Continuing efforts to help preserve Hawaii’s marine ecosystem and its special location at Pu‘u Keka‘a (Black Rock), Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa has partnered with Raw Elements USA, a certified-natural, mineral-based, reef-safe sunscreen company, to offer reef-safe sunscreen dispensers throughout the resort. Pu‘u Keka‘a, fronting the resort, is one of the top destinations on Maui to see tropical marine life and vibrant coral reefs. Implementing reef-safe sunscreen dispensers, complimentary for resort guests, is one of the many sustainability initiatives the resort has introduced at a property level to educate guests on ocean conservation and encourage environmentally-conscious choices. In August 2017,...

NATIONAL REPORT—What should public companies do with at least some of their tax savings? The pressure grows for greater investment, not just in employee bonuses, but in human capital. In early February, the highly respected Barrons financial weekly published its first “100 Most Sustainable Companies” report showing that organizations that focus on their human capital significantly outperform the stock market in share price performance. This comes on the heels of the release, by its sister financial publication, of the “Wall Street Journal Top 250” in December, compiled by the Drucker Institute based on ratings of customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development,...

LAS VEGAS—Leaders from the top resort companies in Las Vegas recently convened for the 2018 Global Meetings Industry Day to share current investments and future advancements that will help Las Vegas remain the number one trade show destination in the country. At the event, Wynn Las Vegas’ Director of Energy Procurement, Erik Hansen, outlined the company’s approach to sustainable energy and eco-friendly meetings and conventions practices after announcing Wynn’s new 280,000 square foot meetings space expansion. “Our meetings and conventions clients are increasingly concerned about their impact on the environment, prioritizing clean energy use, responsibly supplying and using data, and...

SAN FRANCISCO—Airbnb launched the Office of Healthy Tourism, an initiative to drive local, authentic and sustainable tourism in countries and cities across the globe. Along with the launch of the Office, Airbnb is also releasing data that shows the benefits of healthy tourism for hosts, guests and cities around the world, as well as announcing the creation of its new Tourism Advisory Board, which will be made up of travel industry leaders from around the world. Since the company was founded 10 years ago, travelers have discovered new destinations and neighborhoods off the typical tourist path, bringing the economic benefits of...

FAIRFAX, VA.—INTUS Windows has become the first One for One giving company in the building industry with the launch of One Window, One Tree. For every window or door purchased, they plant a tree to further offset the structure’s carbon footprint. By 2030 INTUS anticipates they’ll be planting 2 million trees in the United States every single year. This is about the size of 5,000 football fields or one third of Manhattan. Their new carbon reduction goal is to offset carbon emissions enough to recover the absorption rate of 5 billion trees by 2036. This will be accomplished through their energy-efficient windows and...