Sustainable tourism in the mid-market hotel sector
While many aspects of the hospitality sector are relatively straightforward to record and interpret (occupancy, room rates, RevPAR, etc.), sustainability has remained intrinsically difficult to quantify.
A good starting point for hospitality professionals would be to adopt a tool to assist sustainability progress, and measurement thereof. For example, sustainable tourism certification programmes offer a guiding framework for sustainability progress and quantification of sustainability progress.
Most sustainable tourism certification programmes offer scaled fee structures as per business size, as well as guidance resources to assist the processes required to attain certification.
Budget and mid-market hotels interested in achieving the greatest improvement at the lowest cost should focus their efforts to realise this objective through a favourable, low cost starting point, focusing efforts on “environmental” or “planet” considerations of the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit). Focusing on reducing resource use (energy, water and waste) can generate cost savings relatively quickly. Adopting best practices, such as the installation of LED bulbs, low flow fixtures and recycling and composting can generate significant cost savings in resource use, or ‘eco-savings’.
Businesses can even measure their resource use, reductions thereof, cost of installation of fixtures and practices and cost savings to determine their return on investment while monitoring sustainability progress. Various resources are available online free of charge that can assist this, for example, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s GSTC Criteria, which serve as global baseline standards for sustainable tourism development.
Ultimately, most guests still select hotels based on location, amenities, price, and reputation. At present, academic studies provide nominal evidence that tourists make purchasing decisions based on sustainability alone.
However, this situation is changing. The industry is taking measures to allow consumers to conveniently make purchasing decisions based upon providers’ sustainability practices.
For example TripAdvisor provides consumers the option to filter “green” accommodation providers as part of their search criteria to facilitate the selection of “green” accommodations.
Hoteliers with a strong strategy will acknowledge that consumer preference is in constant flux; global awareness and changing ideologies surrounding sustainability are becoming more mainstream, which has favourable implications for impacting consumer booking decisions.
Five Top Tips for succeeding with sustainability
1. Adopt a tool for measuring progress. Hospitality professionals would benefit from adopting a tool to assist sustainability progress and measurement. Sustainable tourism certification will offer a guiding framework for sustainability progress and quantification.
2. Focus efforts on a low cost starting point. Hotels should focus their efforts on a favourable, low cost starting point, focusing efforts on environmental considerations by reducing resource use (energy, water and waste) generating cost savings quickly.
3. Determine return on investment. Businesses can measure their resource use, reductions thereof and cost savings to determine their return on investment and sustainability progress. Various resources are available online free of charge that can assist with this process.
4. Provide consumers with convenience. The industry is taking measures to allow consumers to conveniently make purchasing decisions based upon tourism providers’ sustainability practices. Ensure your “green” initiatives are listed with OTAs.
5. Seek green certification. Those accommodation providers that elect to engage in programmes and meet “green” criteria will be awarded recognition for their green initiatives.Mainstream consumer booking decisions are increasingly guided by such criteria.
About the Author
Laura Lesar, Sustainable Tourism Consultant
Laura Lesar is an accredited sustainable tourism professional and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Tourism, Sport, and Hotel Management at Griffith University, Australia. She specialises in the design and optimisation of sustainability tools for tourism businesses and she fuses her professional and academic experiences to generate customised, strategic sustainability solutions rooted in scientifically sound research approaches.
Contact: Sustainability.Innovations@gmail.com