New Deloitte Survey Confirms Consumer Demand for Green Travel
It's official: The holiday season is here. Many people will be traveling today as part of their Thanksgiving plans and looking to their next set of travels. People are still traveling despite pundits' predictions for less travel due to the economy.
As we mentioned in a previous post - now is the time to market to, and attract these travelers. Of course, the hotel industry could develop promotions for cost saving benefits for travelers but that's a temporary solution to fill rooms, the return on investment simply isn't there for the property in the long run.
The solution to help in both the short and long term is to simply go green - it's a long-term proposition that is of increasing value to consumers.
Green is a key concern to travelers. A recent Deloitte survey found an increase in the number of consumers who want to be green when they travel, up to 48 percent this year - up seven percentage points from last year's survey.
Eco-friendly travellers want the properties they stay at to recycle (80 percent), use energy efficient lighting (75 percent), use energy efficient windows (60 percent), use environmentally safe cleaning products (57 percent), have water-saving devices in rooms (50 percent), provide local transportation options (50 percent) and use renewable energy (40 percent).
Investments in sustainability is the solution to acquire new customers and grow business during a difficult economic climate. The hotel industry executives that engage with The Refinishing Touch realize the benefits of managing their existing assets and can use this as a way to promote their commitment to the environment, sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint. Executing a green program now will benefit the hotel down the road as more travellers are focused on green issues.
It will be interesting to see the year-on-year increase to Deloitte's survey in 2009, and how the hospitality industry responds.
posted by TRT Blog on
Friday, November 28, 2008
at
10:00 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for providing some global insight into what is happening globally in terms of green hotels. All this information is enlightening to see what global iniatiaves are currently in the works. Existing hotels all over the world must make strides to get to where URBN hotels plan to be over the course of the next three years. Hoteliers that look at ways to go green by utilizing existing materials is not only a benefit to the environment but also budgets. Eco friendly solutions and green spaces are certainly on the minds of many business and leisure travellers today. Existing properties, throughout the globe, can create various campaigns to go green. Small changes include the following; switch to energy efficient light bulbs, refinish worn furniture instead of discarding, and cut back on housekeeping laundry to save on both energy and water.
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