To help clarify what every hotel should be doing at a minimum to reduce its impact on the planet, the World Travel & Tourism Council this past week launched its Hotel Sustainability Basics. The announcement was made at the WTTC Global Summit in Manila, The Philippines. It was an important step because many hotels are still not doing enough to save energy, water, reduce waste, etc.
“Developed by the industry for the industry, it highlights 12 actions which are fundamental to hotel sustainability and will help raise the base level of sustainability across the entire hospitality industry by providing every hotel a starting point on their sustainability journey,” the WTTC announcement said.
Of the 12 criteria, hotels need to comply with eight initially, while the others can be committed to and put in place within three years.
Support for Criteria is Building
The initiative has already gained support from major hotel groups and associations—Radisson Hotel Group, Accor, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, etc. Collectively the commitments of support represent more than 50,000 hotels around the world.
You can click here to find the 12 actions, but I will list them for you. Hoteliers must prioritize two of these four: measure & reduce energy use, measure & reduce water use, identify & reduce waste, measure & reduce carbon emissions. These three are required: linen reuse program, green cleaning products, vegetarian options. One of these three are required: no plastic straws or stirrers, no plastic water bottles, and bulk amenity dispensers. These two are required: community benefit, reduce inequalities.
Hotels meeting the initial (or more) requirements can then participate in the Green Lodging Trends Report (GLTR). It is the leading global benchmarking study on sustainability best practices in hotels. By participating in the study, hotels will be able to share their alignment to the 12 actions and to sustainability best practices more broadly. Each hotel that successfully completes the GLTR study can expect to receive a benchmarking report for their hotel.
Finally, those wishing for validation can go through an official verification process (launch in Q4 2022).
Go Beyond the Basics
Of course, you do not have to stop with the 12 actions. Says WTTC: “However, this is just the beginning of their journey, and WTTC urges the sector to seek constant improvements beyond the 12 basic criteria so that every hotel, whether an individual business or part of a larger group, moves on to more advanced frameworks and greater sustainability.”
Adds WTTC: “While many companies are taking great strides and leading the way, others are only now taking their first steps. By offering an understanding of the simplest steps hotels can take to become more sustainable, the Hotel Sustainability Basics will help to raise the base level of sustainability across the entire hospitality industry.”
Are the basics strong enough? They are a good start, but I would have required more. I would have at least required three of the first four actions to start with, not two. And, regarding plastics reduction, I would have required at least two of the three initiatives.
I like that WTTC is pushing to elevate the industry to a minimum standards level. It would be great to see more of the industry’s biggest companies on board—even if their own standards are stronger than what WTTC is requiring.
At the end of the day, the more properties there are thinking about and committing to sustainability, the better the outcome for our industry and our planet.
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