Do consumer demands and ‘greenwashing’ affect hotels’ sustainability efforts?

A new roundtable study at Cornell University is trying to find the mythical “green bullet” when it comes to green hotels, as well as define what “green travel” really means, once and for all.

Produced by Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) and chaired by Associate Professor David Sherwyn, Cornell’s Sustainability Roundtable found that hoteliers looking to create a more eco-friendly property find themselves in a situation where environmental standards are very inconsistent while consumer opinion is still unclear.

With no definitive “green” measure, hotels are sometimes reluctant to implement sustainable systems – systems that may take a long while before any return-on-investment is seen. 

A muddy shade of green

The industry is still trying to figure out exactly what “green” means. While the idea that the hotel industry needs to improve the environmental performance of its operations was entirely unanimous, most hotels are having trouble identifying and implementing such methods.

“Sustainability has emerged rapidly as an industry concern,” said Sherwyn. “Ten years ago, if we said we were going to have a discussion about sustainability, and if we told them that we were going to have a roundtable with twenty-five participants from top-level global companies, they would have told us we were insane. I credit three of our graduates, Eric Ricaurte, Walker Lunn, and Crist Inman, that we are now in a position to hold an annual sustainability roundtable.”

While some hotels may try harder than others, or perhaps just market themselves so, the final test really comes down to consumer opinion.

The consumer catalyst

With rampant “greenwashing” in just about every consumer-targeted industry, consumers have a tremendous say in what makes or breaks a green initiative.

Historically, when a hotel property does something for the “greener good,” they advertise it in such a way to attract the eco-conscious traveler. However, too much marketing can easily be construed as exaggeration and lead to the infamous greenwashed title.

To confront this issue (or perhaps avoid it altogether), many hotel operators have focused their green practices on improving their bottom line (energy conservation, better waste management and reuse, etc.).

Developing a “green bullet”

Cornell’s Sustainability Roundtable suggests that the hotel industry develop a clear and concise measure for sustainability. While this may require competitive entities to pair-up and combine ideas and interests, the benefit would be that a new, global standard would finally be addressed; effectively developing and sharing sustainability models that move the industry forward.

“We have all heard that ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,”’ said Eric Ricaurte of EnviRelation, LLC. “But managing all the measurements of sustainability is now just as daunting a task for the sustainability officer.”

So then, is it really possible for the hotel industry as a large, single entity to define exact standards for green travel? Or, will the consumer continue to lead the way?