FEBRUARY 2012 |
www.opp.org.uk
BUSINESS
Gordon Miller is the Co- founder and Sustainability & Communications Director of membership organisation Sustain Worldwide (
www.sustainworldwide. com). He is a licensed BREEAM International Assessor and consults to housebuilders and developers on sustainability and environmental management systems. Gordon writes for national newspapers including the Financial Times and The Guardian.
and manage their future resource requirements - as well as the consumer demand for a greener, more ethical and sustainable hotel and residential living experience. Volume hotel brands have begun to take stock and implement sustainability strategies. For example, Starwood brand Element incorporates LEED into its new build hotels.
IHG has implemented “Green Engage”, an online sustainability system that monitors energy, water and waste consumption. And more than 1,000 hotels are participating in this initiative, which is returning a 15% to 25% saving in annual energy costs for newly built hotels.
Also, global hotel giant Accor (4,200 hotels worldwide) has announced the launch of Earth Guest Research, a platform for sharing knowledge on social and environmental issues relating to the hotel industry.
The platform aims to contribute to progress in the tourism industry by making sustainable development surveys and methodologies available to all industry operators, as well as to the general public. The fi rst publication made available to the wider industry is Accor’s global survey of hotel guests’ expectations regarding sustainable development. Sample groups comprised nearly 7,000 respondents who had spent at least one night in a hotel in the previous 12 months, including a cross-section of hotel types (chain, independent) and segments (budget, economy, midscale, upscale and luxury). The study’s key fi ndings are: • Nearly eight out of ten respondents claimed to know and understand the concept of sustainable development, which is seen as a day-to-day reality regardless of cultural and socio-
economic differences, the purpose of the stay and the type of hotel selected. • A typical profi le has emerged: young, male business guests who use economy hotels seem to be the most concerned about sustainable development. • A global consensus on water,
energy and waste. One slight difference: Brazilian guests are particularly concerned about local development and Chinese guests about health and well-being. • One in three guests believes that sustainable development is fi rst and foremost the responsibility of individual citizens. NGOs and international organisations rank last on the responsibility scale.
“Guests said they would select a responsible hotel even it was slightly more expensive”
• A constraint turned into a desirable experience. Seven out of ten guests said they would select a responsible hotel even if it was less well-situated and slightly more expensive. • Guests say that they are increasingly considering social and environmental responsibility criteria when selecting a hotel, even if it means
staying in a less practical location or paying slightly more. • Lastly, sustainable development is no longer seen as a sacrifi ce or equated with a lower-quality offering; 66% of respondents do not expect comfort to suffer in a hotel engaged in a sustainable development process. Sophie Flak, Accor’s executive vice president, Organisation and Sustainable Development, said: “As a leading hotel operator, it’s our job to deploy innovative solutions that minimize the impact of each stay no matter how responsibly our guests behave, while offering them the opportunity to play an active role if they wish.” “We believe that sustainable development will drive continuous improvement across the board by creating offers and practices that are effi cient, safe and environmentally friendly. Our goal is [to] reinvent hotels ... sustainably.” The study – and Accor’s conviction
– might be music to Sid Bhatia’s ears. An Associate at multi-award winning architects Reardon Smith, Bhatia commented in his presentation at the recent Sleep Event, London, that most luxury hotels fail miserably in a sustainablility context. According to Bhatia, “services are the main drivers of sustainability e.g. mechanical engineering and plumbing. From an
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architectural perspective designer ego’ is the biggest issue and, in the main, hotel operators pay lip service to sustainability.” However, ‘the time’s they are a
changin’ it appears. Katrina Craig of the Hotels Solutions Partnership
“One way to achieve profi t is to rent more rooms at higher prices, another is to reduce overheads”
said: “Hotels want profi t: one way to achieve that is to rent more rooms at a higher yield, another is to reduce overheads such as energy and resource costs. Often, the latter is the more manageable and easier one to take control of although it requires an upfront investment both in systems and personnel; management really has to ‘buy in’ to the philosophy.” “But once done it not only reduces
costs it has additional CSR and marketing benefi ts. All the major hotels are on to it; those who don’t will be left behind.”
And, if you would like to see the
Accor’s international guest tracking study on hotel guests’ expectation regarding sustainable development, it is accessible at:
http://tinyurl.com/7cwwg4h
Cleaner living | Accor’s survey revealed that guests now think about environmental responsibilty when selecting their hotel
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