Sustainability the future for hotels - a talk by Ecompter

Last week (30-31st October) i visited the independent hotel show held at Kensington Olympia exhibition centre for 2 days.  Amongst a variety of topics discussed by panels of leading hoteliers was a topic based on the issue of sustainability within hotels in the UK, led by Ecompter.  Ecompter are a sustainability service that work specifically for hotels to provide information and communication of sustainable practices, and  provides facts and figures for environmental management of an operation and platforms for the communication of this vital information to the guests.

It was an extremely informative discussion that reiterated a number of key points i had previously been made aware of, such as the goal from the IPCC (International panel on climate change) to reduce CO2 levels by 80% by 2080.  The key point that accompanied this was that this is not to improve the current CO2 environmental situation but simply to reduce it to limit the severity of a worsening situation.  The travel and tourism industry according to the UN WTO (UN World Tourism Organisation) is responsible for 5% of global CO2 and the accommodation industry a further 20% of this, i.e. 1% of the global co2, STANDING AT 340M tonnes which is equal to the CO2 of Spain. 

The speech was beneficial in outlining the common pitfalls of managers within the industry for failing to succeed with sustainable practices.  In addition the benefits of sustainable practices were clearly evidenced; the development of business revenue, the reduction of costs and the improvement to employer image.   According to TripAdvisor surveys, 71% of travellers reported that they would chose hotels based on sustainability over the next year, this is up 6% from 65% in 2012.  If this figure doesn't make hospitality businesses take note then i don't know what will.  It is obvious that in the future, sustainability will be an expectation and in order to attract guests there needs to be a demonstration of commitment to sustainability before it is too late, both for the environment and for the business' existence.  

It also became evident that it is all well and good being sustainable according to regulations, but 91% of global consumers believe that companies should go beyond minimum standards set by law, and continue to expand their sustainability practices.  The engagement of guests will be vital to ensuring a business is displaying sustainability practices.  The guests represent 30% of the carbon footprint of a hospitality business and if they can be notified and involved in the demonstration of sustainable practices, throughout their customer journey, then there will be a greater impact for everyone involved, with education of customers, evolution of loyalty to the business, an increase in business revenue and most importantly greater benefits for the wider environment.

It is clear the time to take note, and embrace sustainability is now.  Ecompter offer the best way of achieving this through assistance in guest communication and sustainable practices, with analysis of their cost and revenue implications and a constant innovation of concepts to ensure that businesses will go above and beyond standards, ensuring guest satisfaction, business profitability and ultimately a better environment.