LONDON—Many of the world’s biggest travel and tourism companies have improved their carbon efficiency by 20 percent in the last 10 years and are on course to cut CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2035, according to a major new report. “Travel & Tourism 2015; Connecting Global Climate Action”, published by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), outlines the preparedness of the sector for climate change alleviation measures and demonstrates the progress that has been made by the world’s leading airlines, airports, hotels, cruise lines, car rental companies and technology companies in the last decade. The report concludes...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Association (NRA) annually explores the top menu trends for the coming year. For this year’s What’s Hot culinary forecast, the NRA surveyed nearly 1,600 professional chefs—members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF)—to find which foods, beverages and culinary themes will be hot on restaurant menus in 2016.Top 20 food trends for 2016 include: 1. Locally sourced meats and seafood; 2. Chef-driven fast-casual concepts; 3. Locally grown produce; 4. Hyper-local sourcing; 5. Natural ingredients/minimally processed food; 6. Environmental sustainability; 7. Healthful kids’ meals; 8. New cuts of meat; 9. Sustainable seafood; 10. House-made/artisan ice cream; 11....

NAPLES, FLORIDA—The air outside may be a balmy 95 degrees but the temperature inside The Grow House (a.k.a. CropBox) at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples is an ideal 65 to 72 degrees—perfect for growing lettuce and other micro-greens. Since July, Executive Chef George Fistrovich has been growing the equivalent of an acre of vegetables in a repurposed shipping container that sits in the parking lot of the hotel. Measuring 40 feet by 8 feet in size, the container is equipped with everything one needs to grow crops—lights, planting racks, HVAC system, all of the necessary hydroponic components, and a system of...

CANTON, MASS.—America has always been considered one of the most generous nations, but now there’s even more evidence in a new study called “Good Travels: The Philanthropic Profile of the American Traveler,” released by Tourism Cares. The new data shows that more than half of the Americans surveyed have given of their money, time or goods while on a recent vacation. Not only was some kind of giving surprisingly prevalent, the care and support for the communities where the travelers visited was especially important for millennials, families and affluent households.Tourism Cares, the charitable arm of the tourism industry, recently...

STAMFORD, CONN.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. released its 2014 Global Reporting Index (GRI G4), outlining the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, community involvement, opportunities for associate development, and best practices in corporate governance. The Index follows previous publication of a full Global Citizenship report in 2014 and a periodic update earlier this year.“At Starwood, the work we do to be good global corporate citizens touches every aspect of our business and publishing the Global Reporting Index helps us communicate the important work we do throughout the world to carry out that promise,” said Ken Siegel,...

ITHACA, N.Y.—Throughout the world, human traffickers use hotels and other hospitality locations to kidnap and exploit their victims, many of whom are children. A new report from the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration calls on the industry to fight back against trafficking of children. In the report, “Adopting the Code: Human Trafficking and the Hospitality Industry,” Michele Sarkisian outlines the dimensions of the problem and gives specific strategies for ending this practice. Sarkisian is president of P3 Advisors, and a CHR research fellow. The report is available from CHR at no...

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton Worldwide announced an upgrade to LightStay, its in-house corporate responsibility measurement platform, across the company’s more than 4,440 properties globally. With new features and enhancements, this next generation of LightStay now serves as the comprehensive, one-solution platform for all environmental, operational and social impact reporting for Hilton’s global portfolio of hotels.    The year-long upgrade was based on in-depth analysis of hotel data across Hilton’s global portfolio from the last five years. With thousands of metrics, Hilton improved LightStay to help hotels better manage energy and water usage as well as drive improvement across hundreds of indicators over...

OAKLAND, CALIF.—The Clorox Co. announced it has become a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate responsibility (CR) initiative. Signatories pledge to support and promote 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption.“Corporate responsibility has been a cornerstone of our company since our founding in 1913, and we look forward to working with other like-minded companies and organizations to support the UN’s 10 principles,” said Clorox CEO Benno Dorer. “Through our CR Strategy and 2020 goals, we will continue to make sustainability core to how we do business.”Clorox was...

LAS VEGAS—For the ninth year, Black Enterprise (BE) magazine has named MGM Resorts International one of the “Best Companies for Diversity” in the United States based on its diversity and inclusion practices. MGM Resorts is the only company in the integrated resort industry, and the only company based in Nevada, to be named to the magazine’s list.The 40 companies featured in the publication’s special report demonstrate a commitment to diversity in one or more of four key areas, including: Board of Directors mix, employee diversity, senior management mix and supplier diversity. Of those 40 companies, MGM Resorts was among...

LONDON—The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and Greenview have launched the free Hotel Footprinting Tool which allows anyone easy access to the carbon and energy footprint of hotels worldwide. The Hotel Footprinting Tool uses data from the annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Study.It’s now far easier for hotels to compare their own carbon footprint to industry averages in their locality. Businesses seeking to map the footprint of their own hotel stays and meetings can now access more accurate figures for hotels in the area and market segment, rather than using broad industry averages or having to contact individual hotels for...