Fairmont Hotels & Resorts leaders across the Golden State swapped their business suits for toques, aprons, and uniforms earlier this month. Executive level hoteliers from five California Fairmont properties (Fairmont Newport Beach, Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, Fairmont San Jose, Fairmont San Francisco and the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa) left their desks and spent a shift “on the floor.”
Next month hoteliers from around the globe will be flocking to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York with one goal in mind: "Powering [Their] Business for the New Economy" -- the theme for the 2010 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show November 13-16. One way in which hoteliers plan to re-energize their operations through the recovery is by becoming more "Green" in 2011 and beyond. OpenWays, the hospitality industry's first mobile key front-desk bypass solution, gives hoteliers a new platform for sustainability by dematerializing keys and cards and instead sending them over the air to cell phones.
Sustainability isn’t a fashion or trend. It’s not a fad, either. It’s good business, plain and simple—an imperative for hotel operations and development that costs little and generates high premiums and returns. Surprised? Don’t be. As the developers interviewed for this report revealed, upfront costs of LEED-targeted development have gone down significantly during the past decade, complementing the rising eco-consciousness in transient and group segments.
Carlson Hotels, a major business unit of Carlson, and the Carlson Family Foundation collectively donated more than $1 million to AH&LEF’s last two major capital giving campaigns, including the New Century Campaign in 2001, which raised $9 million for specific industry initiatives such as workforce development, school-to-career, and technology research. Additionally, Carlson has been a cornerstone participant in AH&LEF’s annual fundraising events for more than a decade. In 2003, the Carlson family was recognized at AH&LEF’s Dinner Tribute, which raised more than $50,000 in proceeds to benefit the industry.
Hotels eager to satisfy the growing desire of business travelers for eco-friendly lodging are finding that their environmental ambitions have run headlong into the harsh realities of the recession. When the economy was thriving, developers were promoting environmental flourishes like roof gardens, floors of reclaimed wood, and solar panels. When the Orchard Garden Hotel opened in San Francisco in 2006, it featured furniture made from sustainably grown wood.
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) -- the premier resource for business travel professional resources and networking -- today announced the winners of the annual NBTA Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards. The awards honor one Direct member (travel buyer) company and one Allied member (travel supplier) company that have implemented innovative and significant CSR initiatives as a part of their business travel programs. The 2010 NBTA CSR Award winners are:
Hampton Hotels (www.hampton.com), the international brand of nearly 1,800 mid-priced Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, and Hampton by Hilton Hotels, has announced that the Hampton Inn and Suites Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport (www.hamptoninnsrq.com) achieved LEED® Silver certification, as recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is the first Hampton Hotel property to earn this recognition for sustainable building design, construction and operations.
Coming in just two weeks at HITEC 2010, VingCard Elsafe, the global leader in hospitality security, will once again redefine the hospitality security industry when it unveils its next evolution of wireless solutions. The new energy-saving product offers a cost-effective solution to help hoteliers save money, develop “green” initiatives and ensure guest comfort and satisfaction.
In conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is launching an Energy Slasher Challenge. The year-long challenge asks hoteliers to track their quarterly energy and natural gas consumption from April 1, 2009 thru April 1, 2011, and report the totals via www.ahla.com/slasher. Participants can benchmark their progress through GreenQuest, a Web-based service free to AH&LA members; EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager; or your brand or corporate benchmarking program.
U.S. hotel companies are competing to out-green each other nowadays. The proof? In the past two weeks, two major chains have announced ambitious environmental goals. Last Wednesday, Marriott International announced that it had retooled its 31-year-old Bethesda, Md., headquarters to win LEED Gold status — the second-highest environmental rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council — and pledged that within five years, 300 of the chain's 3,300 hotels worldwide would receive LEED certification. At the moment, 40 of the company's hotels are either registered to receive LEED certification or already have it.
Crowning an industry-leading, employee-driven green program, the four-diamond W San Francisco made history this week by earning the first LEED certification of an existing building belonging to a major hotel brand.
Is it more expensive and labourious to go green for meetings and events? Some meeting planners say yes. But green meeting event planning doesn't have to break the bank. Here are innovative companies and their suppliers who shared with Ignite, the premier Canadian meetings magazine, how they found a sweet balance between creating a green meeting and staying lean.
The Loyalton Group announced today that the Association of Starwood Franchisees & Owners – North America (ASFONA) has chosen The Loyalton Group as an Associate Member, and appointed The Loyalton Group’s director of client services, Scott Kurtz, as an Honorary Board Member. Founded in 1996, The Loyalton Group assists commercial and industrial businesses with identifying and securing deregulated energy sources to include daily invoice and utility expense management, budgeting, facility optimization and sustainability consulting.
INNCOM International Inc. is what one might call an ambassador of “eco-luxury” to the worldwide hospitality industry. And now its name is attached to some rather serious recognition – the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, recently awarded to the Yountville, Calif.-based Bardessono Hotel, Restaurant and Spa
Hans Pfister is putting his own shade of green on the hotel and resort landscape across Central America. Pfister will talk about his professional journey next Tuesday, March 9, as the featured speaker in the Conversations with Entrepreneurs series presented by the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at Cornell University. He will present from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. in 198 Statler Hall and will dine with selected students after the event. The following day Pfister will meet with students, staff, and faculty.
For the past six years, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) has conducted a comprehensive survey of Canadian travel trends and intentions for the upcoming year. Unveiled during HAC’s Annual Conference and Trade Show in February, the results of this year’s survey revealed several important insights of great value with respect to a hotel’s sustainable initiatives.
The Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) has posted the proceedings of its inaugural Sustainability Roundtable. The proceedings, which are available at no charge from the CHR website, cover the roundtable's examination of key points regarding the lodging industry's efforts to operate sustainably, including such issues as the definition of sustainability, emerging regulations and laws, engaging guests, and the complexity of carbon neutrality
Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) is known among outdoors enthusiasts as the operator of some of the finest mountain resort areas in the United States, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Keystone in Colorado, and the Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe on the California and Nevada border. But resort-goers should also be aware of Vail’s strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
Before the economic recession began dominating media coverage in late 2008, consumers and businesses were keenly focused on promoting environmental sustainability in consumer products, energy, automobiles, buildings and the hospitality sector. The government responded with targeted financial incentives to promote these initiatives. Since existing buildings contribute almost 80% of the carbon emissions in some cities through their energy use, a major focus of these efforts has been on sustainable construction. While the recession may dampen economic growth, it has not reduced the number of federal, states and local incentives for developers willing to build sustainably.
Onity today announced that Energy Products, LLC, an Authorized Onity Dealer, together with Tekplan Solutions Texas LLC, a Houston-based facility systems contractor, has completed the successful installation of Onity’s SensorStat® Wireless DDC energy management system (EMS) in 500 student residences at the North College campus housing facility at Rice University in Houston, Texas.