This exciting initiative from ECOHOTEL is under construction.
More details coming soon!
Does your hotel, resort or facility offer meeting and/or conference space? Have you noticed a trend in the requests you receive from groups, asking about your ‘green’ or ’sustainable’ initiatives? All signs are pointing in the direction of a widespread increase in this trend.
What exactly is a “Green Conference?”
A green meeting or event incorporates environmental considerations to minimize its negative impact on the environment. Green meetings can have a tremendous impact on our environment. Most hotels purchase more products in one week than 100 families typically purchase in a year.
There are almost a limitless number of ways to green a meeting – and many of these offer opportunities to save money and increase efficiency. Event planners look at numerous aspects of your hotel’s efforts toward sustainability, including such areas as:
Food and Beverage: do you maximize the use of reusable, rather than disposable glassware, flatware, tablecloths, etc?
Registration and Exhibitions: do you use electronic communication over paper as often as possible? Do you encourage exhibitors to do the same?
Location: do you offer shuttle service or mass transit? Are areas of interest and entertainment nearby in order to decrease vehicle emissions?
Do you have an energy and water use conservation program currently in place?
There are many reasons that this green trend is growing exponentially across the globe. Consumers and businesses are becoming much more aware of their carbon footprint and as more companies feel the pressure to create sustainability goals, they increasingly are asking their employees to stay in green-certified hotels. Companies that are closely scrutinized by the public sector (government agencies, for example) do not want to present a mixed message to the public – stating they want to help the planet, but ignoring a hotel’s approach to sustainability when planning for a company meeting.
However when a product or building (such as a hotel) extols its virtues of being green, but does so in a misleading or exaggerated way, it is described as “greenwashing”. That can be a difficult label to shed, as guests and/or groups may feel as though they’ve been misled, or worse. Many green standards are in their infancy and thus still ill-defined. . There is no need to try to fool meeting and event planners, as many of them are looking for some effort toward sustainability, and will be happy with the progress you’ve made so far and the goals you have set. Much like social media, it is important to be transparent.
And remember that prospective clients won’t know what your hotel is doing to limit its impact on the environment if you don’t tell them. Advertise your green initiatives on your website and in sales kits, proposals, your in-room directory and social media activities. You'll be surprised who may be reading about your initiatives....and what it may lead to.
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