Okay, I’ve said it’s been coming – and now is here . . .
“Be Green – Be Seen!”
Travel directories, tradeshows, conventions, booking sites, and even COP15 Copenhagen- C&IT’s Green Week are giving eco friendly hotels preferred placement in their online and offline publications . Consumer demand for eco initiatives is continuing to rise and those properties that have put in-place meaningful environmental considerations are benefiting from increased bookings and consumer awareness.
At the Green Week Conference in Copenhagen managing director Lotte Wagner knew that hotels were not likely to lose business by not having green certification, since it predicted hotel occupancy to be high for the duration of the event anyway and said “We had to think of a way to incentivise them to become more ‘green’”. Hotels that had green accreditation, such as the GreenKey, Green Globe Certificate or Nordic Swan Label, were placed higher on the online reservation page for the conference.
“The greener the hotel, the more visibility they were given,” said Wagner.
According to C&IT GREEN WEEK: The number of hotels in Copenhagen with green certification has grown from 9% to 53% over the past 18 months in the run-up to COP15.
To take advantage of improved visibility hotel operators should actively persue greening up their properties and earning ratings with international certification programs such as iStayGreen.org. Not only are eco initiatives good for our environment . . . but they’re good for business too!
