WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Sustainable Travel Leadership Network (STLN) introduced TravelWell, a new sustainability tool, at a recent event co-hosted by Virgin Holidays and Condé Nast Traveler in Montego Bay, Jamaica.TravelWell will help the travel industry to make informed decisions on investments in destination development. The tool will also encourage sustainability at the destination level, helping governments to assess and benchmark their environmental and social practices and policies, while providing specific guidelines for sustainable destination management.Drawing from the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria for Destinations, the self-assessment tool is a survey of 20 key indicators that will allow destinations to evaluate where...

LONDON—More than 15,000 hotels around the world have so far adopted the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) methodology that allows them, for the first time, to calculate and communicate the carbon footprint of hotel stays and meetings in a consistent and transparent way.This huge achievement is the result of months of hard work by the working group of International Tourism Partnership (ITP), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and 23 leading global hospitality companies to roll out the methodology to their properties and to communicate the initiative to a wide range of stakeholders—including industry associations, certification bodies and...

CAMBRIDGE, OHIO—On a day very soon Ohio State Park Lodges will be buying most of the food served in its restaurants from sustainable sources, generating zero hazardous waste and significantly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. At least that is the goal for five Ohio State Park Lodges operated by concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts. “Our sustainability practices permeate every aspect of our operations—rooms, restaurants, gift shops, swimming pools, marinas—you name it, and as new technologies and products become available, we take a fresh look at what we are doing to see if we can improve upon it,” said Greg Woodland, regional...

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—Business leaders recently called on companies and organizations around the world to embrace the next generation of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines—G4.G4 was unveiled before an audience of 1,600 thought leaders and practitioners from around the globe at GRI’s 2013 Global Conference. Experienced reporters welcomed the publication of the Guidelines as a major step forward in the evolution of sustainability reporting.Marina Migliorato, head of CSR at leading Italian power company Enel, said, “To pursue a new sustainable business model, companies need to integrate CSR into their strategy. It is a long journey, but with...

SAN DIEGO—Leading MRO provider HD Supply Facilities Maintenance and Greystar Real Estate Partners announced the launch of a new program to promote sustainability and help the environment by planting thousands of trees.HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, a leading supplier of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products to the multifamily industry teamed with Greystar, the largest operator of apartments in the United States, to design the program to encourage communities to consolidate multiple small orders through a more efficient process of ordering and delivering maintenance supplies.“HD Supply Facilities Maintenance is committed to reducing our impact on the environment and providing our...

LONDON—The first international restaurant rating system that enables diners to choose restaurants that match their sustainability priorities wherever they are in the world was launched recently by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA). Some of the best restaurants in the world have already completed the SRA rating and a number of others have committed to doing so. Narisawa, the two Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo, won the Sustainable Restaurant Award, sponsored by Zacapa, at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants this year, by achieving the highest score among the 50 Best Restaurants to complete the SRA’s new Global Rating survey. Noma, in...

PORTLAND, ORE.—MeetGreen has added a new product to its suite of sustainable event tools. MeetGreen clients can now access Sustainable Event Solutions’ Sustainable Event Management System (SEMS) and Policy Wizard through meetgreen.com specifically by clicking here.SEMS is an online tool to create a complete sustainable event operating system, helping organizers improve their events by moving closer to compliance with standards such as ISO 20121. It is customizable, enabling one to adjust the scope of a system to one’s company, event or series of events. It also identifies key components to include in your system in a step by step...

NATIONAL REPORT—There are very few industries in which competitors have come together and collaborated to address the problem of inconsistent carbon reporting. Despite increasing concerns that carbon reporting is a “tick box” exercise, non-comparable and ultimately informs little about the actual positive change a company is making, collaboration for the sake of a solution often seems a step too far. The global hotel industry is proving that it’s not. The Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI), created by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and International Tourism Partnership (ITP), is the first consistent approach to reporting in the industry....

WHITE SALMON, WASH.—Travel businesses face a multitude of challenges: rising costs, shrinking resources, and increasing pressure to raise the bar on sustainable practices that reduce environmental impacts. Leading-edge businesses are turning responsibility into opportunity. They understand that long-term success requires stewardship of the destinations they serve. They also effectively communicate how their actions can make a difference by engaging customers and increasing brand loyalty. Join Sustainable Travel International’s business development manager, Andrew Grossmann, on Thursday, May 23 at 1 p.m. EST, to learn about carbon emission calculation methodologies that make sense for your business, and to explore how carbon...

NATIONAL REPORT—The bicycle is making a big comeback. More than 500 cities in 49 countries now have advanced bicycle-sharing programs—evidence of the growing interest in carbon-free travel. In the lodging industry, making bicycles available to guests is becoming more common and even standard practice in some companies. Starwood’s Element hotels, for example, are required to have at least two bicycles available for guests as part of the brand’s Bikes-to-Borrow program. All Kimpton hotel properties offer bicycles as well. Properties offering bicycles as an amenity are meeting the needs of an increasingly green-minded and health-conscious traveler community. The cost of...