A recent study by Carlson Hotels found that 76% of travelers said that a hotel's degree of environmental friendliness influenced their decision of where to stay. More importantly it found that some guests are willing to pay a premium to those with a high CSR involvement.
· 20% would spend between 1-5% more, 29% would spend between 6-10% more, and 24% would spend 10% more.
Some great examples of Hotels that have a commitment to the environment and to social responsibility is, Kimpton Hotels & Resorts' with their long-running Kimpton CARES initiatives. KimptonCARES program builds awareness and raises funds for three non-profit organizations through a series of annual events: Dress for Success, The Trust For Public Land, and the Red Ribbon Campaign.
Hotel reservations, in budget accommodation.
I've just returned to Canada from a road trip through the west coast of the USA. Myself and husband both were SO shocked at the waste produced by hotels in the States. It was styrofoam cups and plates, with plastic silverware, and individual packaging for everything. It was so awful. My comment is more a question, why….is it for insurance purposes or just to cut costs. To me having ceramic china, mugs, glass cups and so on seem like more a long term investments rather the quick fix. Why not invest in a dish washer, rather than loads of garbage. It was sad to see this, and to imagine how many hotels use these wasteful products.
thank you for your post comments. Yes it is shocking with regard to the high amount of sytrofoam and plastic itrems being used. Unfortunately this all ends up in landfill where is sits for hundreds of years. Is is a sad fact that only 5% of US plastics are recyled.
Regarding your question, it has to all do with cost cutting. Plastic items and foam cups are easy to toss out into the rubbish, guests dont steal them, and they save money as the hotels housekeepers dont have to wash them, they only toss them out for it to become a problem for the generations that follow us.
There is a growing trend for hotels to go green and have more environmentally friendly options avalable. Although small in numbers it is growing each year.
thank you for your comments, lets hope more guests complain about this terrible habit for a lot of hotels, the more noise we make the more pressure we can put onto the hotel owners and general managers to make positive environmental changes.