The
World Travel & Tourism Council
(WTTC) launched a set
of 12 criteria it recommends hotels implement to drive responsible and
sustainable tourism practices.
Called Hotel Sustainability Basics, WTTC said it is an industry-backed
initiative to enable accommodation providers worldwide, regardless of their
size, “to begin their sustainability journey.”
The criteria include measuring and reducing energy, water,
waste and carbon emissions; replacing items such as plastic water bottles and
mini toiletry bottles; using green cleaning products; offering vegetarian food
options; and benefiting the local community.
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The program includes a verification system if the hotels
meet eight of the 12 criteria in the first year and demonstrate their
commitment to working toward all 12 of the criteria by year three. In
partnership with Green Key and SGS, an online verification system will allow
hotels to provide evidence and ensure they are following the program.
“The initiative is a response to the sector's need for a
baseline for hotels and other tourist lodgings to introduce the exacting
sustainability standards,” says Julia Simpson, WTTC CEO.
“Our research shows that most business owners are aware of
their responsibility to the environment but need a step-by-step guide that is
scientifically verifiable.”
WTTC says that the Basics program emerged as a result of “clear
demand from a group of influential global hotel brands.” Six international
hotel brands, collectively representing tens of thousands of properties, have
joined as inaugural partners: Accor, Jin Jiang International, Louvre Hotels
Group, Meliá Hotels International, Meininger and Radisson Hotel Group.
Radisson Hotel Group, for example, has committed to
implement Hotel Sustainability Basics in all its 1,100 hotels by 2025.
“It will encourage all accommodation providers to begin
their sustainability journeys and meet the fundamental standards required of
our sector,” WTTC says in a statement. “It serves as a stepping stone to more
complex sustainability schemes and to achieve greater sustainability across the
industry.”
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This
article first appeared in Travel Weekly
.