WTTC launches major hotel sustainability initiative at its Global Summit in Manila
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) launched its ‘Hotel Sustainability Basics’, a coordinated set of basic actions that hotels should implement as a minimum at the beginning of their sustainability journey. The initiative was launched at WTTC’s Global Summit in Manila in April 2022 for hotels that want to start addressing and improving their environmental impact.
WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics
WTTC’s ‘Hotel Sustainability Basics’ provides the global hospitality sector with a baseline of positive actions to be taken as the minimum sustainability requirements for hotels. It highlights 12 actions which are fundamental to hotel sustainability and will help raise the base level of sustainability across the entire hospitality industry by providing every hotel with a starting point on its sustainability journey.
The 12 basic actions, developed by WTTC in close collaboration with leading global brands and industry associations, focus on actions which are fundamental to hotel sustainability and address tourism’s impact on the planet across a spectrum of critical issues. These include actions to measure and reduce energy use, measure and reduce water use, identify and reduce waste, and measure and reduce carbon emissions. It also includes a linen reuse program, the use of green cleaning products, the elimination of plastic straws, stirrers, and single-use plastic water bottles, the implementation of bulk amenity dispensers, as well as measures to benefit local communities.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “We are launching the Hotel Sustainability Basics to ensure no hotel, however small, is left behind in the drive to introduce a basis sustainability measures within a minimum level the next three years.”
“These Hotel Sustainability Basics are an excellent way for hotels to take the first step on their journey to sustainability,” said GSTC CEO, Randy Durband. “The GSTC Industry Criteria for Hotels serve as the global standard for sustainable hospitality and the Basics map to eight of those that have been frequently mentioned by our global partners as essential first steps. As such, GSTC supports the application of this program and we encourage users that do not comply to them currently to take steps to move quickly to do so.”
The GSTC Criteria and WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics
Sustainability is an ongoing process of improvement. The WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics are 12 basic sustainability actions for hotels starting their sustainability journey. It’s a starting point and not an end point. It is suitable for hotels that are just starting their sustainability journey, while hotels that are already began their sustainability journey will probably do more than these 12 basic actions.
The Hotel Sustainability Basics is not a certification scheme, it is an open source resource for hotels and hotel companies to use in order to get started on sustainability. It provides the common denominator of actions that hotels should be taking at the minimum in order to ensure that their operations can be sustainable in the long term.
The WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics are mapped to 8 criteria from the GSTC Industry Criteria used by hotels worldwide (8 out of 40+).
For hotels that are already using the GSTC Criteria, you will find the WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics, as the name suggests, basic. It is recommended to continue your progress towards compliance with the GSTC Criteria and seek certification by a GSTC-Accredited Certification Body, joining the increasing trend that demand verification of sustainability claims.
Read the original article: WTTC launches major hotel sustainability initiative at its Global Summit in Manila (April 21, 2022)
