With this increase in awareness comes an equal and accurate response by the restaurant industry: beginning in 2010, 40% of fullservice restaurants and 31% of quickservice restaurants througout the country are planning to devote more resources to green initiatives.

In line with this newfound commitment to “green,” the Association has a initialized a new “pilot” program, Greener Restaurants™ – a  nationwide effort to promote, support and recognize restaurants’ environmental sustainability efforts.

The pilot has already signed up a small number of participating establishments prior to industry-wide participation in the next few months, during which it plans to demonstrate to restauranteurs not only how to save money while “going green” but also share their successes with guests.

“We listened to what our members have told us they wanted: a flexible, effective and affordable program to help them do the right thing for the planet and for their business, and worked closely with them to develop the program,” said Dawn Sweeney, National Restaurant Association President and CEO. “As we perfect the final program details in the pilot stage, we are working with our state restaurant association partners to introduce it industry-wide.”

Goal oriented

Greener Restaurants was established  to help facilitate restaurant operators to save money and manage costs while incorporating sustainability practices throughout the restaurant. In addition, the program will help restaurants market their efforts to “go greener” to guests both onsite and online. It was developed with the input of restaurant operators and partners of the National Restaurant Association Conserve initiative – the Turner Foundation, Kendall College, Food Service Technology Center and EPA ENERGY STAR.

The program comprises a checklist of action items from which participants select areas of focus and build a profile on an interactive Web site  – www.GreenerRestaurants.com.

The checklist contains both smaller steps, such as using low-energy light bulbs, and larger moves, including equipment and remodeling. The checklist will be accompanied by resources and instructional videos to help the operator implement each practice and report progress.

The online profiles will become part of a consumer-oriented web site with a nationwide search engine that will be part of the public launch of the program later this year. Participating restaurants will also receive a door decal and other marketing materials to highlight their commitment to sustainable practices to customers.

The Greener Restaurants program is an extension of the National Restaurant Association’s Conserve: Solutions for Sustainability initiative, which encourages and assists restaurant operators to increase their environmental efforts while preserving – and many times boosting – their bottom line.

The Conserve Web site, Conserve.Restaurant.org, provides tips, tools and resources to help restaurants reduce their environmental footprint and increase business.

Information on Greener Restaurants will be available in the Conserve Solutions Center at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (May 22-25 in Chicago). New this year, the Conserve Solutions Center will showcase exhibits highlighting a range of sustainability-focused products and services. It will also feature a series of presentations and panel discussions that will explain how to put ideas into practice.

In a 2009 survey by the National Restaurant Association, environmentally friendly equipment and sustainable practices topped chefs’ lists of hot trends and top cost-savers.

“Consumers today know what they want: delicious food at affordable prices that’s good for them and for the planet,” said Ed Sirhal, president of Restaurant Associates. “This is a tall order, but it’s one we can meet.”

Helping to “meet” this demand is a new and free set of Green Dining Best Practices; guidelines that focus on aspects of the foodservice and restaurant industry with the biggest environmental impacts, including food purchasing (addressing specific products like meat, produce and seafood), facility operation (improvements in the use of energy, waste, and water), packaging, transportation of food, and the use of toxic cleaning chemicals.

Compiled by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Restaurant Associates (RA), the best practices provide clear, objective, science-based advice for dining managers and chefs to make smart choices in their kitchens to improve environmental performance across the board.

After an initial test-run by two RA clients – Random House and Hearst Corporation – early results show a savings of over $85,000 each year at the two sites, cut 275 tons of carbon pollution and reduce landfill waste by 60 tons annually, among other environmental benefits.

“Using these best practices as a guide, we unearthed opportunities for cost and environmental savings that were right there for the taking. We encourage companies throughout the foodservices industry to do the same,” added Sirhal.

Rolling out the green carpet for dinner

Restaurant Associates has committed to rolling out the green dining best practices in all 110 of their facilities nationwide, and has engaged the Green Restaurant Association to audit and certify those efforts by 2011. The company has also committed to increasing the amount of sustainable seafood on its menus, offering clients “bottleless” water dispensers as an alternative to bottled water, reducing the carbon footprint of the meats and proteins they serve 20 percent by July 2010 and also reducing energy use in their facilities.

“Dining out – whether it’s a workday lunch or a Saturday night out – has become an American institution,” said Gwen Ruta, vice president of Corporate Partnerships at EDF. “Chefs and food service managers have so many opportunities to help their clients stay healthy and lighten their load on the planet. As foodservice companies recognize how easily they can cut costs and environmental impacts, we expect these best practices to spread throughout the industry.”

The Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization representing over 500,000 members, works with leading corporations to create environmental innovations that lead to sector-wide change. Its first corporate partnership ever was with McDonalds to reduce packaging waste in the 1990s.

EDF has also worked with Compass Group to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture and to improve fish farming practices. EDF accepts no funding from these or any other corporate partners.

To maintain its independence and credibility, EDF accepts no money from corporate partners; generous individuals and foundations fund its work.

The statewide partnership between the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association (VHTA) offers “green” certification to tourism businesses that commit to waste-reducing activities such as recycling, optional linen service, water and energy conservation, green cleaning, purchasing eco-friendly products and other steps that help reduce harmful environmental impacts.

“We support Governor Kaine and our state tourism office’s efforts to keep Virginia Green,” said CACVB Executive Director, Kurt Burkhart.

“Tourism partners will be surprised by how easy the process to become certified really is,” said Bill Hamilton, owner of Hamilton’s at First and Main, “[Partners] took our suggestions to heart, filled out the Virginia Green application and received notice of Virginia Green certified in less than ten days! We hope other partners will follow suit.”

Launched as a pilot in 2006, The Virginia Green program currently has over 500 Virginia Green certified tourism partners statewide. Virginia Green participants ’self-certify’ that they are meeting the program’s requirements and it encourages active consumer feedback to ensure that Virginia Green facilities live up to their commitments and become even ‘greener’ over time.

Virginia is only one of ten states that have a green lodging certification program, and the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau is one of eight destination marketing organizations in Virginia that is designated, Virginia Green.

“We encourage our many local establishments to participate in the Virginia Green initiative, become important partners in our effort to be a green city, and be recognized for their leadership,” said Kristel Riddervold, Environmental Administrator for the City of Charlottesville.

A history of bringing green to the community

In July 2006, then-mayor and now City of Charlottesville Councilor, David Brown, joined with hundreds of other mayors throughout the United States to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

On Tuesday, June 16th, Governor Kaine and locally elected officials announced Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s participation in SmartGrid, a program initiated by Dominion Power to promote energy conservation and environmental responsibility by providing digital meters to users. Charlottesville is only second to Boulder, Colorado to launch such an initiative.

The U.S. Green Building Council, in 2008, presented Charlottesville with the first LEED Gold municipal designation in Virginia for the Downtown Transit Station, which is located at 610 E. Main Street, Charlottesville, Virginia. The Visitors Bureau has both its administrative offices and visitor center in this building. The CACVB will soon begin work to overhaul its current website, and businesses that are identified as Virginia Green will get special positioning on the bureau’s home page.

Green Goes First!

Tourism is one of Virginia’s most powerful industries, generating $19 billion in revenue, supporting 210,000 jobs and providing $1.2 billion in state and local taxes for Virginia communities. In 2007, tourism businesses in the Greater Charlottesville region supported nearly 5,000 jobs and produced $435 million of direct economic impact.

The new campaign, of which a website will “go live” in Fall 2009,  will provide the CACVB with a great opportunity to showcase online, what is expected to be, a growing list of business establishments that have signed on to Virginia Green.

“It’s all about getting the word out by articulating the features and benefits,” Burkhart said.

“We expect to see more public attention and business going to those destinations that meet these environmentally sensitive requirements,” added Burkhart. “Destinations like the Greater Charlottesville region are well positioned to take full advantage of going Green. Our office will do whatever we can to assist local businesses that want to get hard-wired for this next wave of economic prosperity.”

“As the consuming public becomes more discerning as to where they will ultimately make the spend on such things as lodging, restaurants, attractions and more, going Green fits perfectly with our community’s landscape.”

For more informatrion, visit http://www.virginiagreentravel.org.

Located in Rancho Palos Verdes, just 20 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport, the 120-acre property introduces a whole new generation to a part of Los Angeles that feels worlds away from the dynamic city, and to a beautiful and tranquil setting which is largely unknown.

“Visitors that round the last scenic coastal bend before Terranea are met with a breathtaking sight: an oceanfront Resort surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean with Catalina Island looming across the channel,” said Charlie Peck, president and chief operation officer for Destination. “This location has to be one of Southern California’s most striking vistas and we are honored to add this inspired Resort along the Pacific to our collection of properties.”

Building green luxury

Last year, as well as just a few months back, Destination had already begun the marketing push for the newest addition to their line of resorts. Now, with its doors finally open, the 360-room hotel and luxury villas can show-off their environmental commitment; the resort wass developed with strict eco-sensitivity across all aspects of its building and operations.

During the building process, 45 stately trees on the site that date back over 50 years were carefully boxed prior to construction, then replanted. Also, 14 acres of natural Coastal Sage Scrub habitat was planted by Terranea, re-creating the natural California coastal terrain.

Progressive water quality systems were installed throughout the property to treat and clean rain water runoff and help protect the ocean, including strategically planted areas that serve as “organic filters.”

“Visitors will learn through our example that developments can provide access to irreplaceable land while safeguarding their beauty and nurturing the flora and fauna – all for the benefit of generations to come,” said Terri A. Haack, executive vice president and managing director of Terranea. “It is part of our vision that people will come away from Terranea compelled to become caretakers with us of the land and the ocean that make Southern California one of the world’s most desirable locales.”

Being no stranger to eco-lodging incentives, Destination Hotels & Resorts consistently works to protect and preserve the unique communities in which the company operates through its Destination Earth program; an environmental sustainability program in 2008.

The company is consistently rated one of the top 10 independent hospitality management companies in the United States with more than 30 luxury and upscale hotels, resorts and conference centers. To protect and preserve the unique communities in which the company operates, Destination launched Destination Earth, an environmental sustainability program.

The property also features The Links at Terranea, a challenging 9-hole par 3 golf course, and The Spa at Terranea with 25 treatment rooms, three ocean view pools and a collection of eight distinctive restaurants, bars and lounges.

Guests will recognize the views from many vantage points as the property has been the location of dozens of Hollywood films and television shows over the years. The Resort’s expansive outdoor lawns, terraces, gardens, gazebos and event space are all designed to showcase the Pacific Ocean locale.

“Terranea is secluded and private, providing an oceanfront escape that feels far removed from hectic city life, yet is close for millions. Guests and owners will feel like they’ve been transported to a tranquil place that embodies the classic California lifestyle. The Terranea staff offers gracious, humble service – providing the kind of attentive service one associates with retreating to a safe, familiar, nurturing environment,” said Terri A. Haack, executive vice president and managing director of the new Resort.

Other amenities include a children’s center with interactive programs and several miles of scenic bluff-top trails that connect miles of off-property coastal trails.

For more information visit http://www.terranea.com.

At launch, the travel guide will cover 19 cities in Australia and New Zealand, with expansion planned to other countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand soon thereafter.

Offering reviews for thousands of points of interest (POIs) throughout Australia and New Zealand – both of which ranked among the top five travel destinations according to Lonely Planet’s 2008 Travellers’ Pulse Survey – the content enables navigation applications to provide recommendations about where to stay, eat or spend leisure time.

Consumers increasingly rely on and seek more information from their navigation systems and mobile devices. In fact, according to the Travellers’ Pulse Survey, 82% of respondents said that they always or sometimes take a mobile with them on their travels and 24% indicated they use mobile phones to obtain practical travel information. NAVTEQ’s unique ability to seamlessly combine a navigable map along with travel guide content helps meet this growing demand.

Over one hundred million times each day, people around the world turn to the NAVTEQ(R) map. They’re the maps travelers everywhere rely on to help them find stores, restaurants, fuel stations and more. Whether it’s for in-vehicle navigation or pedestrian-oriented applications, Lonely Planet for NAVTEQ will help save end-users valuable time while providing relevant information from a trusted brand.

As with all NAVTEQ’s rich POI content, Lonely Planet for NAVTEQ lends itself to quick and flexible integration into location-aware applications. First, Lonely Planet content is precisely matched to the NAVTEQ map, enabling consumers to navigate to their desired destinations. NAVTEQ also leverages integration-friendly formats and innovative location referencing which will speed integration into customer applications. Plus, NAVTEQ’s ongoing relationship with Lonely Planet also allows updates to Lonely Planet’s content to be accurately reflected in the product.

“At Lonely Planet we have a long history of providing information about sights, restaurants, shops and other locations all over the world,” said Jeff Trounce, global manager of client solutions for Lonely Planet. “Whether you are travelling or you’re a local, it’s important to get this detail in the right place at the right time, and this collaboration with NAVTEQ allows us to do this on a mass scale.”

“The Lonely Planet content is a welcome addition to our travel and leisure guide portfolio,” said Aaron Dannenbring, vice president Asia Pacific map and content products. “As a premier travel guide brand, Lonely Planet content will augment our customers’ pedestrian and vehicle navigation solutions on a variety of platforms.”

Not so “Lonely” anymore

Fresh from an epic journey across Europe, Asia and Australia in 1972, Tony and Maureen Wheeler sat at their kitchen table stapling together notes. The first Lonely Planet guidebook, Across Asia on the Cheap, was born. Inspired by the guide’s success, the Wheelers began publishing books to Southeast Asia, India and beyond. Over the years, Lonely Planet extended its coverage to every country and into the virtual world via lonelyplanet.com and the Thorn Tree message board.

In October 2007, BBC Worldwide acquired a 75% share in the company, pledging to uphold Lonely Planet’s commitment to independent travel, trustworthy advice and editorial independence. Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, London and Oakland, with around 500 staff members and 300 authors.

For more, visit www.lonelyplanet.com.

The app is designed to enhance the experience of travel by combining rich content and live mapping with location-based search capabilities.

TourSpot can be used to take a walking tour of a city without having to carry a paper guide or map. While walking around users can update their status on Facebook or upload a photo. Features in TourSpot include location-based search of points of interest, restaurants, hotels, and nightlife. TourSpot also features a city event feed that is updated on a weekly basis. In New York City we feature a location-based mobile coupon feed.

TourSpot’s travel content is written by travel writers. Whenever possible, TourSpot provides links to relevant Wikipedia articles that provide its users even more information about points of interest.

TourSpot’s key innovative features provide visitors and residents living in major cities with an enhanced city guide experience. People can search for restaurants, hotels, shops, and nightlife based on their location. TourSpot also provides a live event feed to provide users with the latest information about events in the city they are visiting.

Facebook integration provides the ability for people to update their Facebook status while learning about points of interest or when at their favorite restaurant or store. For example, while visiting a store found using TourSpot a person can add a Facebook status entry to tell their friends about it. The same can be done for bars, restaurants, and hotels. In addition to status updates, people can also upload photos and add captions about them. The photos are transmitted to Facebook and stored in an album automatically created by TourSpot.

Mobile coupon integration is available in the TourSpot New York City app. TourSpot provides an easy interface to browse for coupons from restaurants, bars, spas, and shops – all based on a person’s location.

TourSpot combines relevant travel information about points of interest, access to social networking features, and mobile coupons to make the travel experience more informative and enjoyable.

TourSpot will launch a BlackBerry application in Q2 2009.

TourSpot is currently available for New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas, Boston, St. Louis, Austin, Houston, Nantucket, San Diego, Denver, Atlanta, Montreal, Dallas, and Newport.

For more information, visit www.tourspot.mobi.

The 62-room luxury hotel, spa with a 92-seat restaurant and bar are situated on an old family farmstead in the tiny town of Yountville, famously home to such three-star restaurants as The French Laundry. The property blends itself into the surrounding community through a series of extended community walking paths.

Before the hotel even opened, contractors Cello Maudru distinguished the property by recycling 93 percent of all construction waste. Now in its second month Bardessono fills approximately half of its electricity need from a 200-kilowatt photovoltaic solar system discreetly mounted and concealed atop the hotel’s flat roofs. To heat and cool guest rooms as well as the property’s water supply, a system of seventy-two 300-foot geothermal wells were drilled the hotel vineyard and integrated with a specially developed ground source heat pump system.

Structurally as well as aesthetically, the Bardessono makes prodigious use of “up-cycled” materials including recycled steel, green glass tiles as well as fly ash concrete. (Fly ash, a glass-like powder recovered from gases created by coal-fired electric power generation, is a recyclable material often used as a replacement for Portland cement). Salvaged wood from locally-sourced Monterey Cypress, Walnut, Redwood, Eucalyptus and California Bay Laurel trees has been used for everything from siding and ceiling beams to furniture and bathroom flooring. Locally quarried Tuffa stone, salvaged and re-cut from the Bardessono family’s original home, adorns the hotel’s entry way as well as its reception and dining areas.

Sherburne’s creation, which opened this winter, proves that deep green living is a fresh pleasure. His rooftop swimming pool lends rare views of the Stags Leap Palisades and Mayacamas Mountains while offering private poolside cabanas and a pizza oven. Guest rooms benefit from generous amounts of natural light as well as private courtyards. All rooms are equipped for in-room spa services and some feature both indoor and outdoor showers. A few have outdoor heated Sonoma Stone tubs. Bed linens, towels and robes are made from locally sourced organic cotton, all of which is green certified.

A one-time University of Oregon student activist-turned urban policy planner, Sherburne began his career not in private development but public housing. Before that, he lived on his family’s Oregon dairy farm. It is this combined experience that Sherburne carried with him into the development business more than 20 years ago with the creation of Decatur Northwest in the San Juan Islands. It is his touchstone for creating developments that balance business interests with that of the public and nature large.

Visit bardessono.com for more information.

Accor Hotels have supported Earth Hour since its inception in 2007. Throughout the country, Accor hotels will again turn lights off or significantly reduce lighting throughout.

Guests staying at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons and Ibis hotels during Earth Hour will be treated to a candlelight experience in restaurants and bars and encouraged to support the Earth Hour effort.

Accor Hotels are committed to sustainable business practices and the Earth Hour initiative complements other environmental initiatives undertaken across the hotel network. These include:

Green Globe Certification
Novotel are the first hotel brand to undertake Green Globe certification in the Pacific region with six hotels in Australia and two in New Zealand successfully achieving certification, and the remaining 19 hotels due to complete certification by June 2009. This will make Novotel the first hotel group in the region to be fully certified by Green Globe, the only international Benchmarking and Certification program based on Agenda 21 principles providing a framework for environmental and social performance improvement through independent third party verification.

Mercure Meetings Carbon Neutral Conferencing program
Since launching in February 2008, the Mercure Meetings Carbon Neutral conferencing program has successfully offset 1,700 tonnes of CO2 across over 5,000 meetings nationally, attracting the endorsement of respected government and private sector organisations. Under the Mercure Meeting program, Mercure hotels will fully fund offsets for carbon emissions produced during the conference. This cost covers the greenhouse gases produced during the meeting and the offset is used to fund green-efficient energy sources at no extra cost to the conference group.

Ibis Hotel ISO 14001 certification
In 2004, Ibis became the world’s first hotel chain to have secured the ISO 14001 environmental certification. This environmental certification – the most recognised worldwide – validates corporate management policies regarding waste reduction and water and energy consumption. Already one third of Ibis hotels have been certified ISO 14001. The Ibis brand has set its own target of having 75% of its hotels certified by 2010.

Plant for the Planet
Many hotels have towel re-use programs in place, but often these programs are not as successful because of a lack of promotion to guests, a lack of training for housekeeping staff or cynicism about how savings will be used by the hotel. To counter these issues and encourage greater participation, Accor has introduced a formula to determine how much savings can be made through towel re-use and pledged to donate funds to United Nation’s reforestation program. The program aims to plant 3 million trees by 2012 in seven of the world’s forest regions.

Accor pioneered the operation of energy efficient hotels with the opening of the Novotel and Ibis Olympic Park hotels on the eve of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The two hotels were the first hotels in Australia to achieve ISO 14001 Environmental Certification (the highest level of environmental certification available). This Environmental Certification is now extended to include the newly opened Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park, one of the most environmentally-friendly urban hotels to have been built in Australia, targeting a 40% reduction in energy consumption and a 50% target for water conservation compared to similar city five-star hotels.

Accor is used to operating in environmentally sensitive locations with sustainable business practices adopted in hotels such as Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, Novotel Lake Crackenback Resort, Novotel Forest Resort Creswick, Grand Mercure Apartments The Vintage Hunter Valley and All Seasons Eco Resort Phillip Island. City based properties have also incorporated recycling, water saving and energy reduction techniques throughout their operation.

The Spring webisode kicks off the seasonal series and features local farms and products, restaurants that use organic and local produce, wine tasting and local vineyards, the Culinary Institute of America, and maple events just in time for Maple Weekends on March 21-22 and March 28-29, 2009. Maple producers showcase their products and maple-themed events with pancake breakfasts, sugar bush rides, candy, festivals and everything maple one can imagine.

Made possible with a grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and produced by the Emmy Award winning Factory Films, Inc., Escapemaker.com ’s host Marissa Copeland and foodie extraordinaire, travels the state with a Spring menu in hand — seeking out the best in local ingredients and getaway ideas.

Follow Marissa Copeland as she samples culinary delights from The Greater Niagara Region to Lewis County in the Adirondacks to Madison County in the Central Leatherstocking Region. From there, she continues south to Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley and then finally on to The Town of Southampton on Long Island.

“Agriculture and Tourism are New York State’s top industries, so it’s only natural they would go hand in hand,” comments Caylin Sanders, EscapeMaker.com’s CEO and President. “We want to inspire people to plan day trips and getaways but also to educate our users that Agri-Tourism is not just about the food and local ingredients, but also all the activities that connect you with nature and the land — fishing, renewable energy wind farms, educational farm tours, parks and nature preserves — the opportunities are endless!”

Over the course of 2009 EscapeMaker.com will distribute 3 more webisodes, each focused on a seasonal menu for summer, fall and winter. In addition EscapeMaker’s Agri-tourism section will include lodging resources, attractions and farm listings, agri-tourism getaway themed packages, a pick your own fruit calendar, event calendar and recipes!

“Apple picking in the summer, pumpkin picking in the fall, wine tasting in the winter– these are things most people will expect” says Sanders, “but our ‘Tastes of new york State’ Webisodes uncover some surprising Agritourism getaway ideas that give touring New York a whole new spin!

For more information on the Webisode series, visit Escapemaker.com and the special Agritourism section at http://www.escapemaker.com/agritourism.

Currently under construction, Hotel Indigo San Diego-Gaslamp Quarter is located at 950 Island Ave., just one block from Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and less than a mile from the San Diego Convention Center. The 12-story, 210-room property, including five suites, will feature a rooftop terrace with a reflection pool, fire pits, soft seating and an excellent view of the San Diego skyline and baseball games at Petco Park. The property will be managed by IHG’s Americas operations division, The Hotel Management Group.

Hotel Indigo San Diego will serve as a west coast flagship for IHG and will mark the brand’s second property in California, along with the Hotel Indigo Ontario Rancho Cucamonga. There are currently 22 Hotel Indigo properties open in North America and the U.K. with more than 60 hotels under development, either in the pipeline or in final negotiation.

“The introduction of Hotel Indigo to San Diego – one of the largest cities in the U.S. – and the Gaslamp Quarter is a testament to the brand’s strategy to grow in key, upscale markets by providing an intimate and unique guest experience,” said Janis Cannon, vice president, global brand management, Hotel Indigo. “We are confident that Hotel Indigo San Diego will capture the vibrant atmosphere of the Gaslamp Quarter and complement the existing galleries, boutiques, and restaurants.”

Through the brand’s Interpret Indigo design platform, Hotel Indigo San Diego’s interior and exterior design will reflect the culture, character and geography of the surrounding area. A local San Diego artist – Lisa Schirmer – will install a modular wall mural using square and quarter-circle glass panels on the exterior of the building to mimic the indigo waves and ripples of the Pacific Ocean. Also, locally-inspired photographic murals of California poppies and surf boards in hues of warm yellow and pacific blue will fill the lobby and bar.

In keeping with the brand’s commitment to the environment, Hotel Indigo San Diego is striving to achieve LEED certification. In addition to responsible site management, the adoption of green building practices and soil rehabilitation, the hotel will feature a ‘green roof’ with native species of grasses and shrubbery that will reduce heating and cooling and better manage stormwater runoff.

“Leveraging our management experience from Hotel Indigo properties such as Atlanta and Chicago, we are excited about the opportunity to apply the insight we’ve gained over the past years to the San Diego property,” said David Greydanus, senior vice president, North America Operations, IHG. “We look forward to showcasing the Gaslamp Quarter and providing a truly unique lodging experience to our guests.”

The Hotel Indigo San Diego will feature signature design elements including cozy, airy and inviting guestrooms with oversized beds, plush bedding with throw pillows, hardwood-style flooring with area rugs, signature murals, and spa-inspired showers, a ‘Phi’tness Studio with cardio equipment and free weights, and Phi, an on-site casual gourmet restaurant. Through Hotel Indigo’s Seasonal Renewal program, thoughtful changes will be made throughout the hotel to ensure even the most frequent guest has a distinctive and engaging experience with each and every stay. In public spaces, the scent, music, artwork, murals and directional signage will change to reflect the season, while guestrooms will periodically be refreshed with new murals, area rugs and furniture slip covers.

Last week, IHG officially opened the doors of Hotel Indigo London Paddington – the first Hotel Indigo outside North America – and announced a deal to open three more properties in the city. Contributing to its global footprint, IHG will open Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund in Shanghai, China in time for the Shanghai Expo in 2010. In North America, future Hotel Indigo properties are scheduled to open in New York City, New Orleans, St. Louis, Toronto and Charlotte, N.C.

The Energy Efficiency Excellence for the Tourism Industry project aims to research and develop future energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for hotels in the 27 member countries of the European Union. According to the UNWTO, the international hotel sector is one of the tourism industry’s largest drivers of employment and economic revenue and also is among the most energy-intensive sectors.

Worldwide carbon dioxide emissions from the accommodation sector were estimated at 274 million tons in 2005, or 21 percent of the total from the tourism industry.

In practical terms, the initiative will yield more efficient use of heating, cooling, lighting, washing, and drying, as well as other hospitality operations.

The first step will be a pilot benchmarking toolkit for four destinations in Europe: one each in France and Spain, which consistently lead as the world’s most popular tourism destinations, one in a Nordic country, and another in Eastern Europe.

Twenty-five hotels in each of the destination countries and located in four distinct destination types – coastal, urban, mountain, and rural – will be chosen as test sites for the pilot program, which is expected to start between this September and December.

The European Union will stump up 75 percent of the 1.1 million euro (US$1.5 million) overall cost of the EEETI project with the rest coming from other partners as UNWTO, UNEP, EREC, EACI, and the French Environment and Energy Management Agency.

“Our role in the EEETI initiative is to identify the European pilot destinations and convince the hoteliers and national hotel associations in various countries to participate and conduct the survey," said IH&RA’s president, Dr. Ghassan Aidi. “We feel this project is needed because of climate change and its effect on our hospitality industry. The industry has to be made aware of sustainable development and how saving energy can contribute to hotel profitability and competitiveness."

“After the end of this test and the results obtained, IH&RA will contact various regional governments in the Middle East and Asia to propose conducting similar tests and studies," confirmed Dr. Ghassan Aidi.

Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are preferred as test sites but properties belonging to large chains also are welcome. The participating properties should not have more than 40 million euros (US$56 million) in annual turnover.

“Europe has been chosen as it has about 5.4 million hotel rooms, or nearly half the world total, and SMEs account for around 90 percent of the total number of rooms in Europe," Aidi continued. He stressed the point that participating hotels will have a marketing advantage with environmentally conscious guests. “Both myself and our organization strongly believe that over the next five years we have to care for our environment and teach hotels about how to become sustainable development destinations," he said.

Along with hotels, the project partners welcome involvement and input from national and regional tourism and government authorities, energy efficiency and renewable energy specialists, and suppliers and hotel and tourism associations.

The International Hotels&Restaurants Association (IH&RA) is the only private association representing the private sector since 1945. Recognized by the United Nations as “the voice of the private sector in hospitality,” it was established in Paris in 1946 and moved to Geneva in 2008 toward the next generation. Its members have more than 200,000 hotels and millions of restaurants worldwide.

For more information, visit www.ih-ra.com .

Executive Vice President and Managing Director Terri A. Haack is pleased to announce Christian Schmidt as executive chef of Terranea, a 102-acre luxury oceanfront resort in Palos Verdes, California, just south of Los Angeles.

Managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts, the 582-room Terranea, opening in June 2009, will bring its eco-friendly orientation into all aspects of its Southern California fine dining options with an emphasis on local and organic foods.

"Chef Schmidt is that rare culinary professional who combines impressive experience ranging from intimate bistros to large-scale banqueting, with an ongoing passion for expanding his already-considerable managerial and culinary expertise," commented Haack.

Chef Schmidt’s impressive resume reflects challenging positions and expansive responsibilities across a who’s who of luxury hotel brands including Ritz Carlton, Mandarin Oriental and Fairmont hotels. He has overseen massive operations (in excess of $50 million) and large staff, building several food and beverage programs from the ground up including working with kitchen designers, architects and engineers. Chef Schmidt also has extensive experience developing restaurant concepts and menus and has worked closely with celebrity designers such as Tony Chi and renowned chefs such as Jasper White on creating innovative restaurants.

In addition to personally producing cuisine that is best described as subtly sophisticated, taking full advantage of fresh and organic ingredients, Chef Schmidt has been a leader in America’s dining scene for more than 25 years. He brings a broad-base of talents to Terranea, including fiscal acumen, a gift for food as well as mentoring, the ability to oversee and manage very large operations, and the interpersonal skills to build successful teams across a range of outlets. Chef Schmidt has been featured in such prestigious publications as Food & Wine, Gourmet, and Condé Nast Traveler. He is also the co-author of a popular cookbook, Viva La Mediterranean.

Working with Schmidt on the Terranea culinary efforts is Blau & Associates, a highly successful restaurant consulting firm with a client list that includes top hospitality establishments across the globe. Catering to an international palate, Terranea’s exceptional food and beverage venues bring a new class of fine dining restaurants in Palos Verdes by combining stunning ocean front locations with truly unique and contemporary offerings. The wide array of dining options include an intimate oceanfront restaurant with sweeping views of the coastline, an all-day dining room overlooking the main pool and terrace, and a casual dining and bar option boasting the resort’s most idyllic location for enjoying California sunsets and whale watching while basking in the warmth of outdoor fireplaces. Lighter fare is available at a coffee boutique, the spa and pool areas. All dining venues feature indoor and outdoor seating.

About Terranea
Just 20 miles from Los Angeles International Airport, Terranea is an oceanfront resort in California magnificently poised above the Pacific Ocean on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The property boasts a 360-room hotel with 20 bungalows and 32 suites. Also available are 50 ocean front casitas and 32 detached ocean view villas tailored specifically to individuals looking for a more intimate setting.

Visit www.terranea.com for more information.