The global sustainable policies are being impactfully implemented in India, reducing the overall carbon footprint of the industry considerably
By BABITA KRISHNAN
Certain sustainability practices are universal in the hospitality industry, world over. Among the common green practices are energy and water conserving fixtures and linen-reuse programmes. A survey found that guests are generally willing to participate in sustainability programmes and there is an increased willingness to participate when hotels offer incentives, such as loyalty programme points, for participating in environmental programmes. Although the link between environmentally sustainable programmes and improved customer satisfaction is weak compared to standard drivers like facilities, room, and food and beverage quality, hotels are increasingly expected to maintain sustainability programmes as a regular feature of their business. At the same time, the study also found that environmental sustainability programmes do not diminish guest satisfaction.
Consequently, the decision regarding which programmes to implement should rest on cost-benefit analysis and other operating considerations. Almost all brands have their sustainable policies that have garnered not just the appreciation of their customers but also added to the brand image globally.
BRAND POLICIES
Hotel operators are well aware of the potential benefits of sustainability, and many of them publicly promote resource conservation. Marriott International, for example, has achieved several certifications for its environmental efforts. Marriott’s environmental vision is to be the global hospitality leader that demonstrates how responsible management of hotels can be a positive force for the environment and create economic opportunities around the world, and by example, “inspire personal action in the communities where we live and work”.
In addition to its Environmental Public Policy Statement, which outlines several resource-reduction goals over a ten-year period, at a global level, all Marriott hotels receive a sustainability guide to assist in selection and to help educate associates. The guidance takes into consideration cultural and market uniqueness.
Hilton Worldwide, on the other hand, believes that to achieve long-term sustainability, organisations need to fully integrate the commitment to preserving the environment with how they run their business. “Since 2009, across the enterprise, we have reduced energy and water use by 14.1%, waste output by 27.6% and carbon output by 20.9%. This makes smart business sense as our efforts have not only helped to protect the environment but also resulted in an estimated cumulative savings of USD550 million,” says Andre Gomez, head of operations – India, Hilton Worldwide. A leading policy is Travel with Purpose – to create shared value for the business and communities, under which all Hilton hotels and resorts globally are required to use LightStay tool to measure their environmental and social impact which includes water and energy use, carbon emissions, waste output, team member volunteer projects as well as community donations in cash or kind. “Since the introduction of LightStay in 2009, we have been able to track usage, identify major opportunities for change and reduce energy and water along with carbon output.” Another successfully implemented initiative was Earth Month, “In its inaugural edition, our team members and guests from 900 communities across the globe participated in more than 1,500 environment-focused projects,” he shares.
One of the most successful sustainable programmes is credited to AccorHotels, which has been actively pursuing sustainable hotel management practices for over 20 years in order to protect people and the environment. PLANET 21 is more than just an environmental programme, it has become AccorHotels’ pathway to minimise its environmental footprint and maximise societal contribution, involving all levels of hotel operations. “With PLANET 21, we have made 21 commitments to act together for the well-being of our world. These commitments cover a range of topics including the health and well-being of our guests and employees, our impacts on nature and our relationships with the local community. AccorHotels works with the local communities and involve the local farmers to develop the homegrown products. This is a part of the key pillars of PLANET 21. With the initiative, AccorHotels is reinforcing its determination to put sustainable development at the heart of its activities: 21 commitments that involve customers, partners and employees in order to improve and reinvent AccorHotels’ sustainability,” explains Ashwin Shirali, regional director, talent and culture, AccorHotels, India.
5,000 hotels across the globe and 1,378 in the development pipeline, make being a responsible organisation as an integral part of IHG’s business philosophy. “We believe it is critical to enabling us to stay ahead of the competition and grow, so that we create value for all of our shareholders and stakeholders in the long-term, and do the right thing by our guests and our employees. Caring for the environment goes hand-in-hand with our purpose of creating Great Hotels Guests Love,” shares Shantha de Silva, head, South West Asia, InterContinental Group. The IHG Green Engage™ system has been designed to measure the impact of the hotels on the environment, and help them manage their costs. It provides over 200 ‘Green Solutions’ that cover every aspect of the hotel lifecycle and “our hotels achieving a level 3 certification or above can reduce energy use by up to 25%. The proof is in the pudding – the environment benefits, our owners save money, and our guests get to stay at hotels that share their values,” he adds.
Home grown Indian brands, too, are not far behind. Brands like The Leela, Fern Taj and ITC, to name a few, have strong policies conducive to the environment that have given them global recognition as sustainable leaders. In fact, ‘Responsible Luxury’ is not just the brand signature statement, it is at the core of ITC’s work culture – a fact reiterated by the 170,000 sq-ft, ITC Green Centre, the world’s largest 0% water discharge, non-commercial green building, which houses the Group’s top management. Taj, on the other hand, has received a world-first milestone in sustainable and responsible tourism management through an eight-year collaboration between EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group.
50 individual hotels in the Taj Group portfolio have been awarded EarthCheck Gold Certification, with data revealing an average 28.6% reduction in energy, water and waste and USD6,107,585 in savings for the group as a whole.
Global recognitions and accolades notwithstanding, how have these policies and programmes translated for the Indian hospitality industry?
IMPLEMENTATION
Taj is committed to environmental sustainability through efficient management of all its assets and resources and constantly works towards closely integrating its operations with product design and development coupled with responsible sourcing. “We have several on-ground green initiatives that enable us to function in tandem with the environment and over the years, we have implemented innovative changes that now collectively make a significant impact on sustainability and also resonates with our guests,” shares, Rakhee Lalvani, associate VP, public relations, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.
All InterContinental properties in India use the IHG Green Engage™ system to manage energy, carbon, water and waste. The system allows hotels to track, measure and report on their carbon footprint and utility consumption and supports hotels to create environmental action plans and targets while recognising progress and performance through four levels of certification. The IHG Green Engage™ not only makes the hotels more cost-effective, it allows improvement in the value of services offered. The system is an easy-to-use tool with over 200 ‘Green Solutions’ to save on energy costs.
WelcomEnviron is ITC Hotels’ vision for a green world, with the guiding principle – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Each hotel has its own programme, encompassing local participation, creating awareness among employees and internal conservation through energy-saving gadgets and environment-friendly material. Guests are also encouraged to be a part of this campaign. Going a step ahead, ITC Hotels pursues a policy of beyond compliance in its journey in SD – Sustainable Development. In this process it has aligned itself with its supply chain to help all. The first steps have to be taken by all the concerned vendors in putting all their data in the illustrative format for self scrutiny and self motivated actions. Once this exercise is initiated it will help all the supply chain partners to start taking simple steps to rectify the systems and procedures and work towards cleaner production practices.
The Clean Air Programme was launched by Hilton Worldwide in 2015 to reduce the environmental impact of meetings and events held at more than 70 participating Hilton Worldwide Portfolio hotels and resorts in Asia Pacific. In India, this is currently being offered at two hotels in Bengaluru, Hilton Chennai, Hilton Garden Inn Trivandrum and DoubleTree by Hilton Goa-Arpora-Baga. One of the projects supported by this programme is the Tamil Nadu Wind Project that replaces non-renewable and polluting energy sources, such as coal, with a clean 45 Turbine wind farm that powers the Southern Electricity Grid of India. Additionally, the brand has a partnership with GOONJ, a non-profit organisation that runs a unique resource mobilisation initiative providing clothes and other basic amenities to those staying in remote parts of the country. “We collect gently-used items from our hotels, team members and guests, and donate these to GOONJ. Last year, as part of our Global Month of Service and during Diwali, our hotels aligned their effort and collected over 1,100 pounds of clothes, 1,900 note books, 25,000 sheets of one-side used paper and several other items for GOONJ,” Gomez shares. Training, need for local solutions, stakeholder consultation, etc. were some of the challenges faced while implementing the programme.
As part of PLANET 21, the priorities for AccorHotels are aligned with that of the country – primary focus being reducing water and energy consumption. The biggest challenge faced was in engaging employees. “The implementation of all sustainability practices lies with employees and therefore, it is important that they take the programme seriously and commit to it,” says Shirali. AccorHotels introduced a unique online training tool for employees across all hotel brands that enables participants to embrace sustainable development issues and the PLANET 21 programme’s ambitious objectives, while raising their awareness of the daily actions that can be applied in different parts of the hotel, including guest rooms, restaurants and kitchens. This has resulted in all employees being trained on this module and playing an active role in meeting the brand’s commitments towards sustainable development.
IMPACT
After having been implemented for some time now, what have been the measureable and immeasurable impact of these programmes?
For Hilton Worldwide, the measurable outcomes are reductions tracked by LightStay; diversion of soap waste; participation in company-wide platforms such as Earth Month and Global Month of Service; as well as the social/environmental impact of projects funded by the nearly 200 Travel with Purpose Action Grants awarded so far. “Among immeasurable impacts is the ownership and pride it generates in our team members, as well as the enriched relationship with local communities, as we work towards assuming a fair share of responsibility towards the world in which we live,” Gomez reveals.
AccorHotels in India has managed to reduce their 2015 energy and water consumption significantly through investment in greener technologies and by educating staff on best practices. It leads the Group in renewable energies like solar panels, with nearly a third of properties in India using some form of renewable energy today. Shirali adds that, “We have been exemplary in addressing sustainable development issues in India. Today, almost all our properties in the country have achieved at least Bronze level with some flagship hotels having achieved the prestigious Platinum status, among others”.
In 2013, IHG set a target of reducing the carbon footprint per occupied room by 12% and water use per occupied room by 12% in water-stressed areas by 2017. By December 2015, the brand had achieved 3.9% reduction in carbon footprint per occupied room and 4.8% reduction in water use per occupied room in water stressed areas. “In 2015 alone, we had 34,389 ‘Green Solutions’ implemented by IHG branded hotels through the IHG Green Engage™ system, which enabled our hotels to avoid costs of USD86.8 million (approx Rs580 crore),” share de Silva, demonstrating to the stakeholders, colleagues and guests, how seriously the brand takes issues such as climate change, water scarcity and environmental degradation.
Although hotels’ sustainability efforts are essential for saving energy and resources, a key element of any green programme is guests’ reaction and participation. The hotel industry’s long-established and continuous effort to control costs through such sustainable practices as limiting water and energy use has been given additional impetus as consumers have become interested in having hotels reduce their resource consumption and address their impact on the environment. Despite years of conservation efforts, hotels’ energy and resource use is still considerable – but that also opens the way to further sustainability efforts, which have the double benefit of saving money and benefiting the environment.
