ASHEVILLE, N.C.—In 2006 when honey bee colonies started disappearing, later dubbed “Colony Collapse Disorder,” beekeepers and non-beekeepers alike became very concerned. After all, one in every three bites of food we eat is courtesy of insect pollination. Equally important, 85 percent of flowering plants and trees rely on pollinators for the survival of their species. While less is known about native bees and other pollinators, we do know that entire species are disappearing at alarming rates as they battle most of the same enemies as honey bees—loss of habitat essential for food and shelter, inappropriate pesticide use, diseases, and...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has released the 2016 Lodging Survey—the definitive industry review examining the top trends in the hotel industry. Conducted by industry data provider STR and funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the survey provides a comprehensive understanding of sustainability steps hotels are taking, amenities, guest services and more. With just over 8,000 responses, the overall completion rate for the 2016 survey was 15 percent—a drop of three percentage points from 2014. Surveys were emailed to 22,423 hotels through STR using a third party service from www.surveymonkey.com. Surveys were faxed...

NEW ORLEANS—LG Electronics USA marked Energy Star Day by providing energy efficient appliances to needy families in New Orleans as part of a special volunteerism project spearheaded by Sears Holdings and Rebuilding Together, the 40-year-old national nonprofit providing safe and healthy housing. Volunteers, including LG and Sears employees, performed transformative home repairs, provided energy efficiency updates and installed the much-needed new Energy Star certified LG appliances in three homes in the Hollygrove-Dixon neighborhood. The Rebuilding Together project coincided with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star Partner Meeting in New Orleans. LG was chosen as the exclusive provider of kitchen and...

BRUSSELS—Radisson Blu announced its new partnership with the Soap for Hope program, which recycles used hotel soaps to create fresh bars for distribution in local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. The Soap for Hope program works in partnership with Sealed Air, a leader in food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection. Soap for Hope was pioneered by Sealed Air to save lives by giving free soap to communities with limited access to soap, to create local entrepreneurs and to help hotels reduce waste through recycling. Capitalizing on the success of projects in Georgia and in...

BETHESDA, MD.—From the panhandle of sunny Florida on the east coast of the United States, to Berlin, Germany, five properties of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company house honeybees as extensions of their Community Footprints programs and continued commitment to environmental sustainability efforts. The first hotel of The Ritz-Carlton portfolio to act on the growing environmental concern over the honeybee shortage was The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte in North Carolina. The LEED certified luxury hotel welcomed beehives on their rooftop in early 2010. The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte now produces 60 to 100 pounds of honey each season, and in turn has used the honey...

AMSTERDAM—GRI launched the world’s first global standards for sustainability reporting, giving companies a common language for disclosing non-financial information. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards will enable companies around the world to be more transparent about their impacts on the economy, the environment and society. They will also help organizations make better decisions and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The GRI Standards are the latest evolution of GRI’s reporting disclosures, which have been developed through more than 15 years of a robust multi-stakeholder process. The Standards are based on the GRI G4 Guidelines, the world’s most widely...

KIGALI, RWANDA—Marriott International officially opened the doors of its first Marriott Hotel in Rwanda. “Rwanda is going through an economic transformation and we are proud to be a part of it,” said Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson, who attended the Kigali Marriott’s opening ceremony with political dignitaries and executives including Alex Kyriakidis, Marriott’s President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa region. “Coupled with that transformation is a mutual promise for opportunity—both for Marriott as a hospitality company and for the associates and partners who will help us succeed in this market.” Highlighting the importance of hospitality’s role...

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton announced that all 750 properties across its All Suites brands will recycle discarded soap and amenity bottles and donate them to reduce hygiene-related illnesses for communities in need. Marking the first time in the industry this is required as a brand standard, it is a major expansion of what is already the industry’s largest soap recycling program that will now include 1,370 hotels participating across Hilton’s portfolio. Hilton’s All Suites brands include Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton. They comprise nearly 15 percent of Hilton’s portfolio and 29 percent of its pipeline, and...

HONG KONG—Burba Hotel Network (BHN), Horwath HTL, and Stiles Capital Events, co-hosts and organizers of the annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP), have announced the winners for the HICAP 2016 Sustainable Hotel Awards. The 27th annual HICAP will be held October 19 to 21, 2016 at the InterContinental Hong Kong. In the category of Sustainable Project Design, the winner is The Temple House in Chengdu, China. The Temple House is the result of the potent combination when a creative architectural firm and an enlightened client combine sensitivity, social responsibility and an understanding of place making in the urban context,...

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,...