Tag: Hospitality

New Research Identifies How Green-Certified Hotels Can Boost Bookings

Posted on by Mac Clevenger

A new study finds there are two key methods hotels can use to successfully convert their green certification credentials into more bookings. 

While travelers consistently report a preference for green accommodations (a 2022 global traveler survey found 72% of respondents intend to stay in a green accommodation at least once during the year), there is often a disconnect between what people say and what they do. Researchers revealed how to narrow this so-called “intention-behavior gap” for sustainability minded travelers.

People are more likely to book nights at green-certified hotels when the properties advertise their rates alongside rates for comparable hotels, according to the study. Providing information on how green certification reduces energy and water use also increased bookings.

Researchers found that taking these steps counteracts two of the main barriers to converting eco-certifications into sales: the misconception that green hotels are more expensive, and confusion about what eco-certification means and whether it’s a marketing ploy.

“Our research demonstrates that it is possible to convert customers’ intentions to “become green” into actual sales,” said Christina Chi, professor of hospitality business management at Washington State University’s Carson College of Business and the study’s lead author. 

Green Seal-certified hotels are well positioned to capitalize on this research by communicating the features of their certification. Certified properties are verified to meet leadership standards for recycling, energy use, water use, HVAC maintenance, and sustainable purchasing, among other criteria. A snapshot of the many sustainability attributes of Green Seal-certified hotels is here.

In addition, Green Seal-certified properties are now highlighted for eco-conscious travelers on hotel booking sites like Booking.com and Google Travel, making it easy for travelers to compare prices between comparable certified and un-certified properties.

Green Seal-certified hotels earn their credentials. With interest in wellness tourism and eco-conscious travel at record highs, communicating to travelers what those credentials mean can bring well-deserved financial benefits. 

Google’s New Feature Highlights Green Seal-Certified Hotels

Posted on by Taryn Tuss

Google’s latest feature makes it easier for travelers to find sustainable lodging options. This new feature tags environmentally preferable hotels that have achieved ecolabel certification from Green Seal or select other credible third-party certification organizations as “Eco-Certified” in Google Travel hotel search results. Hotels included in the Google hotel booking program will feature a leaf-shaped badge next to their listing and detail their specific sustainability measures in the “About” tab of Google’s hotel listings.

Google’s new environmentally preferable hotel designation makes it easier for travelers to choose safer, healthier, and certified green hotels. To be added to the tool, hotels must update their Google My Business account with their sustainability practices and maintain an ecolabel certification from a participating third-party organization.

Now more than ever, guests are looking for proven-green properties. In 2019, 70% of global travelers said they were more likely to book a green accommodation, and 62% preferred one with an ecolabel. Today, spurred by what a recent report calls the “pandemic effect,” consumers are continuing to turn toward sustainable travel, with 83% agreeing that sustainable travel is vital and 61% citing the pandemic as a reason they want to travel more sustainably moving forward.

Green Seal’s Environmental Leadership Standard for Hotels is a thorough, multi-attribute guide for hotel operations that addresses many of the areas sustainably minded travelers care about. The standard targets significant impacts, including healthier indoor air; pollution prevention; waste minimization; green purchasing policies, and energy and water efficiency. Hotels certified to Green Seal’s standard automatically qualify for inclusion in Google’s “Eco-Certified” tool, demonstrating to prospective guests that they provide the healthiest, greenest spaces.

SAVOR…Chicago Earns First Convention Center Certification

Posted on by Green Seal

by Doug Bradley, SAVOR…Vice President of Culinary

Managing food service waste in a convention center is an immense challenge. Chicago’s McCormick Place, the largest convention center in the Americas, draws almost 3 million visitors each year. SAVOR… Chicago takes the responsibility and opportunity to manage our business sustainably very seriously, a commitment that led us to be the first convention center in the world to receive Green Seal certification for sustainable restaurant and food services. Sustainability is embedded in everything we do. One of our most exciting challenges is to seek out new innovations that enable us to drive continual improvements. Every year, more than 30% of our country’s food supply — 133 billion pounds – is sent to landfills, where it emits potent methane gas into the atmosphere instead of feeding millions of people. As the official food service provider of McCormick Place, SAVOR…Chicago has more than doubled our waste diversion rates since 2011. While much of this increased diversion comes through food donations within our community and visitor education, we’re also undertaking new approaches like the Grind2Energy food-waste-recycling system.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_KqhREQauhs

Making its McCormick Place debut this week at the 2019 National Restaurant Association Show, our Grind2Energy system will allow us to divert nearly 100% of pre-consumer organic waste. Grind2Energy’s technology combines a specialized grinder that processes food trim and scraps into slurry that will be stored onsite, in a safely sealed 8,000 gallon tank. As needed, the slurry is transported to a local anaerobic digestion facility, where microbes will break down the material to extract methane for energy production and to produce a nutrient-rich fertilizer. Minimizing waste is a challenge we fight daily through steps large and small; adding this tool that both eliminates waste and creates usable energy is a win for all of us. Also at the National Restaurant Association Show, SAVOR…Chicago is pleased to launch a new Green Seal promotion to the show’s more than 40,000 attendees and food industry leaders through digital menu messaging promoting Green Seal certification. We have found that education is one of the most powerful tools available to help spread the message that we can do so much more with less.  

Doug Bradley is Vice President of Culinary at SAVOR. He leads SAVOR’s talented team of 80+ chefs around the country and also manages SAVOR…Chicago. Classically trained as a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Doug has 20+ years of industry experience in high profile organizations.