Stakeholders are asking hotels and hotel companies more questions:

What is the carbon footprint of my hotels stay? Does my meeting venue measure its energy, water, and waste so that I may use the data in my own non-financial performance measurement?

The emergence of such questions, combined with the global trends of sustainable development and corporate responsibility, point toward a broader need for addressing non-financial performance data collectively and uniformly within the hotel industry.

This workshop is based on the Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research study : Developing a Sustainability Measurement Framework for Hotels: Toward an Industry-wide Reporting Structure.

Some of the key findings and discussion that will be presented:

• Why stakeholders are beginning to demand more uniform systems of analysis and what hotels should do to respond.
• Why a framework was needed, and what is currently being done industry-wide to collectively address these issues
• Understanding what types of information are gathered and how they may be communicated to stakeholders
• Why a catch-all footprint value won’t work, and why the industry needs more collaborative agreement on performance metrics.
• Understanding sustainability metrics as they related to available rooms, rooms sold, and occupied rooms when communicated externally
• What certification schemes are important and how to navigate this landscape.

Taking a historical context for sustainability measurement within the industry and globally, this report presents a conceptual framework for developing sustainability performance indicators to address present stakeholder requests, as well as others that may arise.

 
The framework developed and tested in this report is designed to provide an avenue for industry collaboration and discussion toward a uniform set of metrics that are highly practical in application.  InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, and Wyndham Worldwide, participated in the study and assisted with data collection.

Upon taking this seminar, participants will:

Understand the trends and current industry initiatives in commonly measuring and communicating sustainability to stakeholders.  Furthermore, they will be provided with resources for further information and understand the trends behind the initiatives.  

Participants will also understand the background on a property-level approach to sustainability based on measurement and reporting by adapting the widely accepted GRI framework. They will be able to develop a sustainability strategy, platform, and system of implementation and monitoring that will improve efficiencies on operational expenses, increase their recognition for green practices, and competitiveness for corporate and group clients soliciting this information. 

Insights will also be provided on:

1. Using certification requirements without having to go through certification
2. A model for triple bottom line sustainability in a hotel (i.e. Willard example)
3. Application of sustainability information in the RFP process
4. Global trends in hotel sustainability