Hotel guests, both travellers and business travellers, are increasingly aware of the ecological impact of their travel. New expectations are emerging as a result of this environmental awareness. Indeed, bookings are more oriented towards establishments that are more concerned about their environmental impact.
According to a study by Booking in 2019, 73% of travellers want to stay in hotels with eco-responsible values. In the same year, Accor inaugurates the first hotel in its new collection "Greeting. Greet is a hotel chain developed around eco-responsible and climate-friendly concepts.
Today, implementing eco-responsible and sustainable actions is becoming essential for hoteliers.
Technology is increasingly leading the way and incorporating this ecological dimension into their offering to enable hotels to offer more thoughtful and sustainable products and services.
The trend towards sustainable tourism has grown significantly in recent years. More and more travellers want to travel in an environmentally friendly way.
What are the main trends in sustainable tourism?
Bring your region to life by surfing new trends
Adopt slow tourism
With Slow Tourism you can provide unique local experiences for your customers. Get back to basics by working with local actors and highlighting local crafts and culture.
Participating in the local economy
For your catering, choose the regional and seasonal foodspreferably organic. If you have the space, you can make a vegetable garden. This is a great way to provide a better product and save money. Take the time to find products in your local market. This will show that you care about preserving local jobs and the quality of the products you cook for your customers.
You can also recommend restaurants and event listings near you to your customers. Don't hesitate to propose partnerships with local actors. This will allow you to offer your customers interesting deals while boosting the local economy. You will also gain visibility because partner companies will promote your establishment.
Encouraging responsible travel
Committed to a more responsible and greener tourism, you can offer cycling or walking routes to discover the city in a different way. In your establishment, you can also offer bike rental, or simply establish a partnership with a bike shop in your town.
Reduce your environmental impact
Opt for responsible catering
Reducing waste also contributes to being an eco-responsible hotel. This waste includes mainly food waste. To address this problem :
- Choose smaller plates to limit overeating.
- Recommend table service rather than buffet.
- Give leftovers a second life by selling them at Too Good To Go at attractive prices.
- Make your customers aware of responsible consumption and offer them the opportunity to fill their plates instead of filling them all at once.
You can also reduce waste by choosing bulk food to avoid over-packaging products.
Cavallino Hospitality has developed a range of environmentally friendly products to help hotels implement this type of solution.
Finally, stop using single-use plastic products! It's time to look for alternatives by choosing materials such as bamboo or wood. As for towels, avoid them too in favour of cloth towels. Moreover, they are reusable (less expensive in the long run!) and give your company a more premium look. PoplinsThe brand specialises in the combination of the most beautiful textile materials and offers timeless and contemporary collections of table linen.
Reduce your water consumption
Water is one of the main costs of your business. Several solutions such as eco-flow showerheads can reduce water consumption in hotels. That's why it's important to fit your showers and taps with flow regulators to make significant water savings.
Reducing water consumption reduces the impact on the environment and significantly reduces costs.
Raising awareness of sorting
To raise guests' awareness of waste management and encourage recycling. For example, you can install waste separation bins in the public areas of your hotel and, if necessary, in the rooms.
Rethink your equipment
Rethinking your room equipment
Being an environmentally friendly hotel also means thinking responsibly about the facilities in our rooms. First of all, forget plastic containers for hygiene products. If possible, local solid soaps and shampoos are recommended. If you also have a toothbrush or hairbrush, choose one made of bamboo or other eco-friendly materials. Cavallino Hospitality offers a wide range of eco-responsible products for hoteliers.
For your household linen, choose bamboo fibre linen. In addition to the ecological properties of bamboo, it lasts longer and saves you money. Comptoir du Bambou a specialist in bamboo fibre linens, accompanies many hotels around the world and gives its guests the opportunity to communicate using in-room communication.
Choose low-energy lighting with LED bulbs because of the high energy consumption. You can reduce your electricity bills while reducing your environmental impact.
Are you used to changing your linen (sheets, towels) every day? Offer this service when needed rather than systematically. This considerably reduces environmental and financial costs.
Considering how to buy and choose furniture designed with responsible materials, shorts are recommended. An eco-responsible approach must also take into account the choice of care products. Opt for natural and ecological products instead, as they are highly polluting.
Rethink equipment in common rooms
Energy consumption accounts for a large part of the cost of a facility. However, by taking a few simple steps, you can save money on your electricity bill in the long run while reducing your carbon footprint. With these tips you can :
Use motion sensor lighting in less frequented areas. For example, the bedroom corridor.
Install solar panels to heat the hotel.
Consider adding greenery to common areas to add warmth to your interior. This subconsciously helps to give a greener image.
Guarantee your eco-responsible approach
Labels
Tourism labels are a way of reassuring travellers that a hotel is committed to responsible use. In this way, we can ensure that measures are actually implemented to avoid any form of greenwashing. Under these labels :
- Green key acts for a responsible tourism and highlights the hoteliers who implement a reasoned and responsible approach and actions.
- Tourism Quality to promote quality tourism demonstrating the quality of tourism services.
- Accueil Vélo, a label intended for travellers by bicycle who can find facilities adapted to cycle tourism. A European eco-label that shows that the hotel is committed to a responsible policy. It ensures that the facility has limited energy and water consumption, produces less waste and uses fewer renewable resources and pollutants.
- A European eco-label which shows that the hotel is committed to a responsible policy. This ensures that the facility has limited energy and water consumption, produces less waste and uses fewer renewable resources and pollutants..
Sustainable Development Charter
To become an eco-responsible company, you must also obtain the Sustainable Development Charter. It can be certified by a certification body such as EarthCheck.
Go digital
Rely on dematerialised communication
New technologies are a real pillar of today's hospitality industry.
Prioritising digital communication reduces paper and ink consumption and limits the impact on the environment.
Moreover, it represents an added value over time. Digital communication is more scalable. A selection of digital room directories and restaurant menus make it easy to make regular changes as new dishes are added or the hotel offers new deals. This means you don't have to reprint every time you make a change, which really saves you money!
