Canadian hotels have the right idea: Green is the way to go

With the Vancouver Olympic festivities now at an end, Canada seems to be on everyone’s mind – making this a perfect time for the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) to release the findings of a 6-year survey of the Canadian travel industry.

The Travel Intentions Survey, unveiled during HAC’s Annual Conference and Trade Show last month, details travel trends and intentions for the upcoming year – listing several important insights of great value with respect to a hotel’s sustainable initiatives from a pool of 1,004 leisure travelers and 520 business travelers.

Overall, the survey’s results indicate that the importance of environmental initiatives among both business and leisure travelers in Canada continues to rise, even in times of economic uncertainty.

“The environment is at the top of the list of issues that are important to Canadians today,” said Tony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada. “Our survey goes on to show that travelers are willing to pay a premium to support the environment when staying in our lodging facilities; it’s great to see that Canadians will support more of these efforts.”

The survey identified important trends with respect to the “environment” which hoteliers should note, including increasing awareness of environmental issues among hotel guests, and an increased importance related to both green certified hotels and hotels promoting eco-friendly practices to their guests.

According to the survey’s findings, 42% of business travelers and 44% of leisure travelers say that a hotel’s “Importance of Environmental Initiatives” is a priority, which increased year over year by 6 percent and 7 percent respectively, even with the recent economic downturn.

Leading the way were travelers from Quebec, with 54% of business travelers and 51% of leisure travelers indicating environmental issues being important to them.

When asked if certain “environmental” amenities were important to them when selecting (booking) an accommodation, 34% of business travelers considered hotels with an environmental rating certification as being important when booking, 21% considered hotels offering the ability for them to purchase carbon offsets to “offset” their hotel stay important and 34& considered hotels offering “green products” important.

Also, another question was formulated around whether those surveyed were aware if their company/organization had in place a green accommodation policy as part of their travel directives, which should be used whenever possible. This was a very important trend, as the percentage of respondents who indicated “yes” doubled year over year, from 5% to 11%.

As more companies move towards green accommodation programs, this is an important trend for hoteliers to not only be aware of but also utilize to their best advantage in order to gain and retain business.

On the leisure side, results were comparable – 22% placed importance on an environmental rating, 30% on availability of green products, and 15% considering a carbon offset program important.

Most striking were the numbers from Quebec and Atlantic Canada, where just under 50% of those surveyed considered a hotel participating in an environmental rating program as important to their booking selection process.

Carbon offsets still high on the list

Although carbon offsets have received some negative press over the last few months, the survey found that 52% of business travelers and 41% of leisure travelers were willing to participate in a “carbon offset” program, which would involve the voluntary contribution of between $1 and $5 per guest per night.

Interestingly, a full 11% of business and 7% of leisure respondents said they would pay $5 per night towards “offsetting” their stay.

For more info, visit HAC online.