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.
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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
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