Hotel nights are booked by events for crew, talent and sometimes attendees such as delegates at conferences. Additionally some business travel requires hotel night bookings throughout the year.
Hotel accommodation choice will contribute to the overall sustainability performance of the company.
Event producers don’t have control over how hotels choose to run their establishment, but they can analyze all potential hotels in the area and decide which are the most sustainable options given the meeting or business location. Considerations include:
- Proximity to the meeting location/s
- Hotels built with sustainable design
- Hotels operated sustainably
- Hotels with independent sustainability performance certification
Consider this:
- Choose hotels which have independent sustainability certification – Earthcheck or NABERS.
- Choose hotels which if have no independent certification, have policies and procedures in place to enhance their sustainability performance.
- Choose hotels which are close to the meeting location to reduce transport impacts.
When selecting sustainable hotel choices there is research that needs to be done to assure the best option available for the event.
This research is simple and easy. Follow these steps:
Location:
First assess which hotels are closest to the festival or concert venue.
The closer the hotel the quicker the commute is for artist and crew and the smaller the greenhouse gas emissions will be related to transport to and fro.
Now it is time to contact the hotels themselves to find out what green efforts are really being made by them. Things to ask the hotel:
- Do they have any information regarding any sustainability initiatives in place?
- Does the hotel have a sustainability policy in place?
- Does the hotel building have any green building certifications?
- Does the hotel have any green or sustainability hotel certifications?
Green Building/Hotel Certifications
Many hotels, especially newly designed or remodeled ones have Green Build Australia certification.
Look for hotels that have operational certifications such as EarthCheck, GreenGlobe, NABERS, GreenStar.