WTTC Launches Hotel Sustainability Standards Initiative
Program aims for globally recognized set of environmental criteria >>
by: Harvey Chipkin
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched “Hotel Sustainability Basics,” a globally recognized and coordinated set of criteria for all hotels to implement as a minimum to drive responsible travel and tourism. The initiative was launched at last week’s Global Summit held in Manila and, according to an announcement, will help every hotel address and improve its environmental impact. Developed by the industry for the industry, according to the announcement, the initiative highlights 12 actions that are fundamental to hotel sustainability and will help raise the base level of sustainability across the entire hospitality industry by giving every hotel a starting point on its sustainability journey. The initiative has already gained support from major global groups such as Jin Jiang International (Holdings) Co., Ltd., including its affiliates Jin Jiang Hotels, Louvre Hotels Group and Radisson Hotel Group; Accor; Barceló Hotel Group; Meliá Hotels International; Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), as well as key hotel associations around the world like the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), the Hotel Association of India (HAI) and many more. Collectively this represents more than 50,000 hotels around the world. Julia Simpson, WTTC CEO, said the program was being launched “to ensure no hotel, however small, is left behind in the drive to introduce basic sustainability measures within a minimum level over the next three years.” Sustainability, she said, is nonnegotiable, but not every small hotel has access to the science on how to make a difference. This gives everyone, said Simpson, access to a global standard and enables consumers to travel with confidence.
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