Dive Brief:
- Choice Hotels International signed an agreement with Green Key Global to make the sustainability certification organization’s expertise available to hotel owners, the company announced Wednesday.
- Choice hotel owners in the U.S. will be able to access “preferred” services as they optimize operations for sustainability — with the possibility of earning Green Key Eco-Rating and Green Key Meetings certifications down the line.
- Anick Levesque, Green Key Global’s managing director, said the partnership will allow Choice franchisees to “work with Green Key Global to achieve sought-after sustainability certifications, potentially helping to drive bookings to their hotels.”
Dive Insight:
Green Key Global is operated jointly by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Hotel Association of Canada, which made its sustainability certifications live for U.S. hotels in April.
“This agreement will help support Choice franchisees as they seek to certify their sustainability practices and help them attract guests and corporate clients,” said Megan Brumagim, Choice’s vice president of sustainability, in a statement.
Green Key Global assesses hotels across four pillars: sustainable management, environmental impacts, cultural impacts and socioeconomic impacts. Participating Choice hotels will be able to access tools and one-on-one guidance geared toward improving their environmental impact, including opportunities to reduce their utility consumption, waste, emissions and operating costs.
Guests increasingly seek more environmentally friendly hotel stays, with nine in 10 saying they look for sustainable options when traveling, according to Expedia.
Brumagin previously told Hotel Dive that hotel investors, franchisees and property associates are also calling for greater hotel sustainability.
“Companies, including Choice, are now thinking about sustainability not just in terms of a great marketing opportunity or free PR but also as something that should be incorporated into their strategy and operations [because they] are hearing from more and more stakeholders that this is something they care about,” she said last July.
Green Key Global’s certifications are designed to “give credibility to sustainability initiatives properties are already undertaking,” the organization said in April. Beyond sustainability certifications, Green Key also offers a meetings and events program, which certifies hotel meeting spaces as up-to-date with the best sustainability practices; a carbon neutral events program; and a green vendors network.
According to JLL, sustainable tourism will be a key driver of global hotel investment this year.
