Essay on "Eco-Friendly Hotel Industry Trends Climate Change"

Essay 4 pages (1445 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Eco-Friendly Hotel Industry Trends

Climate change is no longer a theory to be debated on talk radio and cable TV -- it is a fact of life. Many venues in the hotel industry are using whatever tools and technologies they can to reduce their use of energy, water, and otherwise present a green experience for the traveler. The brightest and most visionary of hotels are making adjustments and being very alert to the need to reduce their carbon footprints. And they are not just doing it to attract eco-minded guests and make a positive impression; they are turning to green concepts and technologies because it is the right thing to do to help reduce the greenhouse gases that are a main source of the problem.

Hotels are Going Green

"When you consider how often… sheets on the bed are changed and laundered, how many bars of fragranced soap are used only once… and how much electricity is used in a typical hotel, the impact on the environment is staggering… Is there really any need to have fresh sheets every day? You don't change the sheets on your bed at home every morning, so why should you do it when you're in the hotel?" (Albright, 2008)

Roland Conrady and Martin Buck have published a book called Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011, and in the book the authors' first point to the facts of global climate change. If there are executives in the hotel and hospitality business that are not yet on board as to the reality of climate change, this book is a good starting point. For example, essayist Andreas Walmsley points to the sea levels -- rising an average of 1.8 mm each year from 1961 to 2003 -- and the melting of the Arctic sea ice -- which has shrunk by 2.7% per decade since 1978 (Walmsley, 2011, p. 77-78).

The tourism industry makes a contribution to climate change, the authors explain; in fact the tourism industry contributes about 5% to the annual global warming statistics (Walmsley, 78).

Meanwhile, the tourism industry is going to be -- and already is in some places --negatively affected by climate change as coastal regions will continue to experience erosion and mountains will have less snowfall for skiers and other outdoors enthusiasts. Hence it behooves all hotels everywhere to cut back on their use of electricity, as one important contribution to the over greenhouse gas problem. That is because much of the world's electricity is produce through the burning of fossil fuels, one of the main contributors to climate change.

The authors are quick to point out (p. 80) that hotels, while "improving a businesses' environmental performance" are not necessarily doing it as a "purely selfless act." The IHG hotel corporation introduced its "Green Engage" campaign in 2009, and that move was designed to help the chain become more energy efficient. In fact, the authors mention that if all 4,000 of IHG's hotels adopt the changes that management has laid out for its properties, there could be a savings to IHG of $200 million. And so while making a positive impression on consumers that may wish to stay at the hotels, there is also a huge savings in being environmentally efficient.

Walmsley (p. 81) points out that hotels can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by: a) reducing or eliminating energy use; b) improving the efficiency of their energy use; c) increase the use of renewable energy; and d) by "sequestering carbon." Heating and cooling hotels and hotel rooms uses an extraordinary amount of energy. Especially in tropical climates, going without air conditioning -- or in cold climates, going without heat -- is not practical, the authors assert. But in many cases hotels turn the air conditioning down (lowering the temperature) so cold that guests wind up having to change the thermostats in their rooms.

This is clearly a terrible waste, and likewise it is wasteful to keep an empty room cold all day while waiting for guests to arrive. And so there are little things hotels can do to reduce carbon footprints and lower their energy costs. it's called going "green" but in fact it is practical and cost saving -- plus it is a marketing approach the attracts environmentally minded visitors.

The idea of giving hotel guests the option -- those staying… READ MORE

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