Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact that travel has on the environment and its role in the climate crisis. With tourism accounting for 8% of the world’s carbon emissions and the hotel sector alone responsible for one-eighth of that volume, more travelers are choosing to book hotels with solid eco-credentials.
According to the latest Sustainability Travel Report from Booking.com, 76% of consumers want to travel more sustainably in the coming year (up 15% from 2021), while 65% say they would feel better about booking accommodation if they knew it had a sustainable certification or label (compared with 57% in 2022).
For hotel brands, enshrining sustainability as a key element of their environmental, social and governance policies isn’t just the right move for the planet, it also makes good business sense. Nearly 45% of today’s travelers would be willing to pay more for travel options with a sustainable certification. And a growing percentage are willing to pay significantly more per night — up to 75% more in some cases — to a hotel that can demonstrate genuine green policies.
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But increased revenue from meeting consumer demand for eco-friendly accommodations and capitalizing on the higher rates these customers are willing to pay is just one way hotels can boost margins by implementing more sustainable practices. Reducing water usage, utilizing renewable energy sources such as solar, and retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient all help hotels save in the long run, particularly when considering the incentives available to go this route.
Hotels already know this, and many already have green plans in place. Yet there remain challenges to achieving a seamless sustainability “ecosystem” (no pun intended), one in which hotels can easily record the results of their environmental initiatives, align that data with recognized certification criteria and communicate those metrics to travelers.
The challenge with sustainability data management
One of those challenges is the proliferation of green certifications and a lack of standardization between them. It’s virtually impossible for hotels and travelers to track and manage the variety of certifications available with their current solutions and technologies.
While each green lodging certification has its own purpose – LEED for sustainable construction and aspects of the physical plant, Green Key for sustainable operating practices, etc. - they also tend to share many commonalities. But hotels typically have to report on each sustainability metric to each certifying body individually, not to mention having to align those metrics to industry frameworks, regulations and non-certification applications — all of which results in repetitive, time-consuming double-accounting.
This is compounded by the fact that this reporting process usually hinges on manual intervention, which has proven to be inefficient, cumbersome, expensive and inaccurate. Other aspects of hotel management, like yield management, already benefit from technological approaches; why shouldn’t sustainability data management?
A technology platform that more efficiently maps sustainability efforts to certification criteria, frameworks and standards and enables those standards to be automatically communicated is the missing piece of the puzzle preventing hospitality from becoming a greener industry. Software can help hotel staff collect and analyze sustainability data via a single platform and instantly sort that data according to different scopes of requirements. And if that software also allows hotels to automatically upload their sustainability data to third-party booking platforms, hotels can leverage their sustainability data to drive revenue and boost occupancy.
Wearing the sustainability badge with pride
A common traveler gripe is that it’s difficult to find eco-friendly accommodations and trust brands' sustainability claims. Nearly 60% of travelers surveyed in Booking.com’s Sustainability Travel Report said they wanted to be able to filter their options for properties with sustainable certification. An even higher percentage (69%) wanted to learn more about why specific options are considered sustainable.
But most sustainability data is communicated to customers through manual processes: emailing spreadsheets to individual booking platforms once a quarter or once a year. This is an inherently inefficient process crying out for automation and direct, always-on connection. For instance, a hotel that tracks its weekly water consumption can affirm that its usage complies with trusted certifications (all of which are traceable) and share that information with the end user automatically, enabling the consumer to make a more informed decision based on their values.
Hotels (and other travel brands and businesses across industries) are taking sustainability seriously, but they also need serious approaches to manage sustainability data. Ensuring that efforts are aligned with key green certification criteria is the first step. Communicating that data to both the certifying bodies and consumers in an automated, efficient way is the next one.
These technology-aided processes will not only help hotels meet their internal sustainability goals but also allow them the build trust with travelers who are eager to spend their money with brands that demonstrate a respect for the planet and that do their part to safeguard it for future generations.