Cutting costs, enhancing cash flow and making wise investments while strengthening brands are at the heart of business decisions being made today by hoteliers operating properties both large and small. Old processes, old practices and old thinking are being tested and being challenged.
With CEOs and CFOs pressed to find new ways to cut costs, they need only look to the enormous cost savings potential of refillable dispensers for guestroom baths. With a minimal investment, a single hotel will save thousands of dollars annually. If you have hundreds of hotels, the savings opportunity is too large not to investigate.
Changing the guestroom amenities program from small throw-away plastic bottles to refillable bulk liquid dispensers is the “low hanging fruit” for any hotelier’s green program. Liquid dispenser systems deliver much more than the obvious waste reduction benefit. With individually packaged amenity programs, the largest cost component is packaging, not the liquids your guests use. There are enormous cost savings available when liquids are purchased in bulk, eliminating packaging cost. The payback starts immediately; it’s significant and there is virtually no waste.
No Need to Sacrifice Luxury
Bulk liquids are no longer associated with poor quality. Luxurious, naturally scented liquids formulated with natural ingredients that are totally biodegradable and safe to the environment are available in bulk. With bulk liquids in your dispenser, you pay only for what your guests use…not for what is thrown away or taken away.
Bulk containers save on storage space, waste management and order processing. Most importantly, dispensers save precious housekeeping time. Gone is the messy tub cleanup from small bottle spills, finding lost caps and constant trips to the stocking cart to replace partly-used, discarded amenity bottles. A weekly check of liquid levels and top-up is all that is needed. Saving time is saving money!
What is the true cost of individual packaging waste? Costs include: paying for products that get thrown away when only partially used; the housekeeping cost of daily restocking carts and rooms, and cleaning the bathroom mess; the cost of managing and paying for the waste removal for individual packaging; and the environmental cost of continuing this cycle of waste.
Whether thrown or given away, it is estimated that, worldwide, hotels dispose of more than 10 billion partly-used individually-packaged bars of soap and bottles of liquids every year! On average, each bar of soap and each bottle of liquid becomes waste when only 15 percent used. These are shocking figures! Can you imagine discarding anything else in your hotel when only 15 percent used? A pot of coffee, a bottle of wine, toilet paper, cleaning products? Certainly not!
Surveys Support Guest Acceptance
In survey after survey, guests overwhelmingly love the convenience of the guest bathroom liquid dispensers. Little bottles are often hard to open, difficult to read, and bottles and caps can be messy. Today’s traveler is very savvy and understands the need to reduce waste. International travelers are familiar with the many European hotels that have long embraced the benefits of liquid dispensers in guestroom baths.
Gone are memories of “bag in a box” dispensers. Dispensers today are designed for beauty, safety and reliability. Locking lids ensure security unlike small amenities bottles that are not tamperproof. Whether the dispenser choice is economy or upscale,there are styles, colors and finishes to suit any hotel décor and please any designer. Dispensers are easily installed without tools and without worry of damage. They are easy to install, fill and use. Dispensers lend themselves to easily being customized, labeled or printed, to deliver to your guests that “special message” about your hotel and the liquids inside.
Liz Giles is executive accounts manager with Dispenser Amenities Inc. The company offers a wide variety of dispensers that include a patented pump and valve system that delivers exactly the same amount each time a guest pushes the button. Dispenser Amenities has distribution centers in North America and Europe. Click here, e-mail info@dispenser-amenities.com, or call (800) 639-4756 for more information.
