In what looks to be a slow slide into a deep recession, hotels are the latest (although not unexpected) addition to a growing group of ailing industries. What will be interesting then, will be how these hotels react - especially a hotel like the Marriott Hotels chain, which announced a huge environmental and sustainability initiative early last year, before all of the proverbial shiznit hit the fan. Will they react as other industries have in the past - pulling investments related to "non-core" things like the environment? or will they see the environment as a key pillar in their business operations and push forward even more aggressively on the issue to seek out those eco-efficiencies and cost savings that are there to be had? Let's hope they take the latter route.... they can learn from a corporation like Scandic Hotels in Scandinavia, which has managed to take sustainability to a whole new level, and turned it into a great source of brand loyalty and profits at the same time.
InterContinental Hotels gloomy on year ahead - International Herald Tribune
InterContinental Hotels gloomy on year ahead - International Herald Tribune
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Wayne: This will be interesting to follow. Have you heard anything about Starwood's Element line of hotels, which was supposed to be a new brand built around sustainability (including mandating LEED certification for all hotels)?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.starwoodhotels.com/element/experience/green_vision.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS155710+21-Apr-2008+BW20080421
A couple other questions:
1. What does a "green hotel" mean to you? Hotels have a myriad of ways that they could incorporate green business practices more into what they do - what do you think of?
2. I imagine the hotels that actually get sustainability at its core (vs. just marketing fluff) will realize that incorporating environmental sustainability into their operations may actually SAVE them money and help them weather the economic downturn. What do you think? Maybe there's a consulting business out there for this. =)
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThere actually are a number of consulting firms out there that do this - and it's definitely a growing business. You bring up a really good point about what a "green" hotel is... American hotels are actually really behind in a lot of ways when it comes to this - most of them feel they are being pretty green when they get something like LEED certification. This is just at a property level however, and usually only tackles construction and basic operating elements of the building. It does NOT cover how the business itself operates or the consumption of goods at the property through the life of the hotel. I feel like for many of the big hotel chains, LEED is something they are going after because it has good brand recognition and is, relatively, easier to pursue (especially for new buildings of which Element is.) This of course, is not where the major impacts are. I think Marriott (which has talked a lot of about sustainability, has ONE LEED certified property, out of 3105 (at last count.)
A good hotel chain to look at that has incorporated sustainability into their core business (and done well with it) is Scandic as I mentioned.
More on this stuff later.
Thanks Wayne and Anthony. I thought the posting was a really good one and Scandic does seem like it has done a thorough job by engaging its employees into the decision-making process in th e planning phase.
ReplyDeleteCost-saving initiative in the energy sector or eco-friendly products are picking up momentum in Asia, but you will be surprised how slow it is in Japan.
Do you know what consulting company is experienced in building these programs?
Many thanks and great job on this site!
T