This coming weekend begins my busy travel season and one of the most important times of the year for trade show activity. I will be attending the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show in Orlando (September 15 to 16). There is a long list of green suppliers among the more than 400 vendors who will be attending. Available will be items ranging from paper, silicon and stainless-steel straws to electric vehicles to Tree Free paper products. Be sure to watch for coverage of this show on GLN. Also coming up in Orlando is the third annual Sustainable Hospitality Summit on...

ORLANDO—The U.S. Green Building Council Sustainable Hospitality Host Committee will hold its third annual Sustainable Hospitality Summit on September 20 at the LEED Gold Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando. USGBC Florida will host the event that will convene industry experts focused on the sustainable footprint of the hospitality industry: resilient design strategies, reducing carbon emissions and waste, curating wellness experiences, crafting healthy communities and prioritizing human capital. The Title Sponsor is EXP. A total of 125 executive-level hospitality professionals are expected. The full-day leadership summit will showcase innovation in sustainable hospitality, operations, resilient design and corporate social responsibility. The summit...

ATLANTA—The Green Spa Network (GSN) announced its recent board appointments to the Board of Directors. Those elected are talented individuals who bring depth and experience in practicing sustainability and bringing international reach to the spa industry. GSN welcomes Teresa Flyger, Director, Global Brand Wellness at Hilton Worldwide and Sallie Fraenkel, Founder and President of Mind Body Spirit Network. As a development project manager within the spa and fitness industry for the past 20 years, Flyger developed award-winning projects with multi-cultural teams around the globe. Having recently joined the Hilton team, Teresa’s focus is on creating unique wellness spaces and guest experiences....

CAPE CORAL, FLA.—WooBamboo, a leader in environmentally-friendly bamboo toothbrushes and other natural oral care products, has been named the Official and Exclusive Eco Oral Care Brand for the 2019 Forbes Travel Guide. Forbes Travel Guide, formerly known as Mobil, was founded in 1958 and created the nation’s original star rating system for the luxury hospitality industry. With incognito experts who travel to hotels, restaurants, and spas across the country, Forbes Travel Guide works hard to give consumers the power to make better decisions about the products they buy and services they use. Each year, Forbes Travel Guide provides a list...

BANGKOK—Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has been voted the world’s No. 1 Hotel Brand for the third year in a row by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine, the largest and most influential travel magazine in the United States. A meaningful brand is at the heart of any thriving business. It is what people connect to more than any product. According to Six Senses CEO Neil Jacobs, there is no promotion or offer in the world that can influence brand love as much as employees. “This is a joyful opportunity to recognize our hosts, who live our values and...

LONDON—Dubbed by the media as the “Phoenix of Dominica,” Jungle Bay resort has finally reopened, four years after closing down. The popular five-star development had previously operated for 10 years before Storm Erika destroyed it in 2015. It has now relocated to the western coast of the small island of Dominica, in the Mourne Acouma village in Soufriere and has already welcomed its first guests. The island has made a remarkable recovery after Hurricane Maria made landfall in 2017 and has since gone on to “build back better” largely using money coming from foreign investors also seeking second citizenship. Jungle...

ATLANTA—Pure Wellness, a pioneer and leader in hotel guestroom wellness solutions, announces the expansion of their portfolio with the installation of 15 Pure Rooms at three properties in Atlanta, one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. Now, wellness-minded travelers visiting the Fairfield Inn and Suites Atlanta Kennesaw, or Marriott International’s Springhill Suites Atlanta Kennesaw and Springhill Suites Atlanta Buford/Mall of Georgia can experience Pure Rooms. “Both the Fairfield and Marriott International brands are known and designed to deliver an inviting and effortless experience for guests,” said Haley Payne, Chief Wellness Experience Officer for Pure Wellness. “The wellness trend is...

DARMSTADT, GERMANY—Green Pearls recently welcomed Hotel Rinner in Soprabolzano, South Tirol, as the newest Green Pearl. At the family run hotel everything revolves around the fascinating world of the bees, from honey tastings to the worldwide unique Api wellness. Here, the sustainable handling of resources plays a special role as the bees find their optimum living conditions only in intact nature. For more than three generations family Rinner has devoted themselves to beekeeping. Host Paul Rinner has been a beekeeper since he was a young boy. In 1966, family Rinner realized their dream with the construction their own beekeeping operation with accompanying workrooms. It was only later...

It is certainly not a ground swell, but it is further evidence of the increased interest in wellness throughout our industry: the announcement that the five-suite Inn at Moonlight Beach has become the first lodging establishment in the world to obtain Well Certification. It was awarded the certification by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) in collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). For those of you not familiar with IWBI, it is a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and well-being in buildings and communities across the world through its WELL Building Standard. WELL Certification...

ENCINITAS, CALIF.—The Inn at Moonlight Beach announced that it has been awarded WELL Certification at the Platinum level by the International WELL Building Institute’s (IWBI) collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). Going a step further than LEED certification, the prestigious distinction was awarded through IWBI’s WELL Building Standard (WELL), which is the premier building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and wellness through the buildings where we live, work and play. The Inn, an intimate 4,000 square foot boutique hotel on a third of an acre lot, is nestled in a residential neighborhood in historical downtown Encinitas, a short...