Hospitality Studies - Hotels Going Green
CONTENT
Introduction
It is being a trend that environmental sustainability become a major setting for today’s business, hospitality industry is no exception. In this report, it will briefly describe the possible reasons for hotels to think and act green, the actions they take, also demonstrate some advantages and disadvantages of doing so.
Why Go Green
One of the reasons for hotels are going green is because travelers are demanding greener travel choices and they want green hotel. As it shows in a survey done by Conde Nast Traveler, which is one of the industry’s most respected organization, 87% of responders said it is important that a hotel is environmentally friendly and almost 75% said they are influenced by a hotel’s environmental policies when deciding on a hotel (Slye, 2009). From another point of view, hotels are going green also because of the competition. Since most of the competitors are taking action to going green, for example, Hilton Hotels Corporation is making strides in meeting its sustainability goals set in 2008 for earned green lodging certification and installed carpets that are made from more than 70% of recycled content at their new hotel concept (Environmental Leader, 2009), so in order to gaining a competitive advantage, hotels are differentiating themselves as an environmental sustainable company.
What To Do
It is reported that U.S. hotels spend over $7.5 billion on energy and generate 1.9 billions pounds of waste each year, and utilities make up 30% of the average US hotel’s operating costs-a huge percentage with a major impact on the bottom line and the environment (Johnson, 2013). Hotels are open 7 days a week 24 hours a day therefore the lights are on for almost all day at least in some places of the hotels. And because hotels have no control over the guests, if they want, they can leave a light on for all night. So it is important for hotels to reducing energy usage. To do so, install LED lighting in hotel
Introduction
It is being a trend that environmental sustainability become a major setting for today’s business, hospitality industry is no exception. In this report, it will briefly describe the possible reasons for hotels to think and act green, the actions they take, also demonstrate some advantages and disadvantages of doing so.
Why Go Green
One of the reasons for hotels are going green is because travelers are demanding greener travel choices and they want green hotel. As it shows in a survey done by Conde Nast Traveler, which is one of the industry’s most respected organization, 87% of responders said it is important that a hotel is environmentally friendly and almost 75% said they are influenced by a hotel’s environmental policies when deciding on a hotel (Slye, 2009). From another point of view, hotels are going green also because of the competition. Since most of the competitors are taking action to going green, for example, Hilton Hotels Corporation is making strides in meeting its sustainability goals set in 2008 for earned green lodging certification and installed carpets that are made from more than 70% of recycled content at their new hotel concept (Environmental Leader, 2009), so in order to gaining a competitive advantage, hotels are differentiating themselves as an environmental sustainable company.
What To Do
It is reported that U.S. hotels spend over $7.5 billion on energy and generate 1.9 billions pounds of waste each year, and utilities make up 30% of the average US hotel’s operating costs-a huge percentage with a major impact on the bottom line and the environment (Johnson, 2013). Hotels are open 7 days a week 24 hours a day therefore the lights are on for almost all day at least in some places of the hotels. And because hotels have no control over the guests, if they want, they can leave a light on for all night. So it is important for hotels to reducing energy usage. To do so, install LED lighting in hotel
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