[BobG]

The latest research from Booking .com makes for compelling reading if you are interested in sustainability in our industry. Sustainability both for the environment and the future success of YOUR business.

In summary

• 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future.
• Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not providing recycling facilities.
• While 3 out of 4 accommodation providers say they have implemented at least some kind of sustainability practices at their property, only one-third actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests.
• To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, Booking.com is now showing third-party sustainability certifications and details on a range of 30+ impactful practices in place at hundreds of thousands of properties around the world.

There are a lot more stats in the report which is well worth a read. This PDF gives the numbers in a quick read format

My Takeaways

• Looking back over previous Booking surveys you can easily see the trend of these numbers - they go up each year.
• Do you want to disappoint/deter 50% of your guests by not taking steps to be more eco-friendly?
• If you are taking steps why are you not communicating this? Take a look at the post on Tourism Declares to see how you can boldly flag up your intentions to all potential guests
• I talked about Booking .com's intentions to badge hosts who were greener here. The third-party certifications labelling is a game changer. Check out one scheme that I recommended here
• Booking .com are a huge player, expect to see other OTAs to up their game on sustainability, why wouldn't they!

 

[JPrugh]

Some random thoughts:

Booking.com’s paper on sustainability is helpful as far as it goes, but I for one would appreciate more clarity. As an example, LED lighting is just “well, duh!” I use these bulbs because it uses less electricity and the maintenance staff has better things to do besides change out incandescent bulbs.

Recycling is virtuous and what we all must strive to accomplish. Just be absolutely sure that every VRO and VRM has a solid understanding of what can and can’t be recycled locally. And be aware that things change. I’m not talking about greasy pizza boxes and styrofoam (they can’t generally be recycled). Some locations don’t have a glass recycle company so there’s no use in doing that. (If you have a lot of styrofoam to get rid of, think about flammable acetone that reduced styrofoam to a gooey mess that takes up far less room - this solution isn’t ideal.)

If your VRM has a cleaning staff, try to use your favorite cleaning material that mimimizes impact on the environment. But should VRMs go further? Should the cleaning staff drive their personal cars? Or a golf cart? Or be provided with an EV? Will the EVs work in mountainous terrain and in snow? Hint: batteries drain power much more quickly on a cold environment. Should the staff (and management and maintenance) be provided with bamboo clothing or possibly repurposed clothing from Goodwill - this might keep some clothing from the landfill.

Should VRMs coerce their owners to maintain their utilities optimally? Or even replace gas water heaters with electric onethat feature a heat pump? Or convert their wood burning fireplaces to gas or go further and install a faux-flame electric fireplace?

Most of my properties are historic (120+ years old) that have been restored and rehabbed to modern standards including sustainability. But this work is never touted as a sustainable way to address climate change. I’ll continue to beat this drum until it’s considered a standard sustainability practice.

Providing bamboo toilet paper is certainly a great place to start, but in my opinion, it’s just nibbling around the edges of finding ways to address climate change.

So embrace recommendations by Booking.com but search relentlessly for more aggressive ways to be sustainable too.

 

[BobG]

JPrugh as always you make some excellent points and there isn't much to disagree with there.

I guess as I talk to hosts and VR professional about this topic it soon becomes clear which are the people who want to really make a difference (even if they don't know where to start or need to start small) and those who are essentially greenwashing and see it as just another marketing tool.

I always encourage everyone to do what they can, picking the easy low hanging fruit first as I have mentioned so many times before. Once you start you will learn, get positive feedback and hopefully more business and then you will be even more motivated to take more significant steps.

You are right to be asking for more Jim and many people can and should go further and faster but getting started is sometimes the hardest part.

 

[JPrugh]

Thanks BobG for your kind words. Sorry to be an engi-nerd, but I like more precise definitions for words such as "sustainability" if I can. And the cleaning staff/EV rant was a little much, even for me.

Speaking of EV, I purchased an electric mower at the beginning of this summer. Bought it on sale!!! I like it because 1) it's lighter weight, quieter and it works well and 2) I don't have to mess with ICE (internal combustion engine) as I never really maintained a gas-powered mower properly.

To that end, I found the attached spreadsheet from "Saving Green" on YouTube. I'd be curious if any owners and managers mow their customers' lawns or contract it out. If they provide this service themselves, they may be curious whether electric mowers are "worth it."

This spreadsheet is not the best one I found, just the first one I found that made some sense. I like that it includes the financial side such as the costs of acquiring and maintaining each type of mower: push (no direct drive option), power (with direct drive option), riding mower and electric. And I like that it equates the emissions of NOx (nitrous oxides) in vehicle-miles driven and CO2 (carbon dioxide) in pounds.

Keep in find that any inputs into the green parts of the spreadsheet should be relatively correct, especially the size of the lawn. And don't fixate on the actual numbers under "total operating costs." Just compare the numbers relative to each other. In the attached example, the operating costs of an electric mower is 20% less than a power mower. But the cost of an electric mower is more. That's why the "breakeven" box is shown. (And if the "time needed" goes negative, that means that financially there is no breakeven.)

Not sure what the cost of purchasing carbon offsets might be - ___ $/ton?? Treehugger offers some options for the best carbon offset programs.

 

[BobG]

Interesting and very welcome to see the latest and highly significant development in eco-badging of accommodation.

Google have announced a ramping up of their Google travel listings by badging hotels that have accredited environmental standards. I expect VRs will follow soon. Google have also joined the Travalyst coalition.

As I said here, the shift is accelerating as the industry wakes up to the potential of the market and the shifting expectations of consumers to travel and stay green.

My question to you is are you ready to capitalise on this market? and if not why not?

I posted here the 10 things that you can do to get started.

There are organisations ready to help you as they have for Matt.

 

[BobG]

Building on my post above about Google travel listings now we have an interesting development on flights.

Check out Google Flights planner. You can see the carbon emission per passenger per flight. Helps you and your guests build more environmental sustainability into your travel.

Technology can help us combat the climate emergency. Are you seeing a trend in travel? I would argue that it is all going in one direction and it isn't go to go back to how it was before.