News & Stories

Hong Kong. The Asian luxury chain Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts has already dealt intensely with the subject of sustainability and with the support of social and ecological projects for some years. In 2010, the initiative "Sustainability" was brought to life company-wide with activities in the areas of "Sanctuary" and "Embrace". A specific percentage of the hotel annual budget is reserved to ensure the sustainability of the projects. The strategy heavily focuses on their own staff members as well as people in the neighbourhood and attempts to further educate on a wider basis. So, large-scale marketing campaigns do not rank in Asia, but rather concrete help on location. With this, Shangri-La has a high moral-ethical business philosophy: The group would like to become a model in society.

Salzburg/Werfenweng (February 15, 2013). For the German resort hotel group Travel Charme, Austria has become a revenue accelerator – and the 4 and 5-star resorts are not even located in the ultimate top destinations. Where is Werfenweng located? This could be one of the questions in a geographical quiz. Werfenweng is located at a place where 950 citizens are able to afford their first "chain hotel" with more than 400 beds or 120 rooms and 46 residences, in addition to their already existing 1,700 beds. The hotel is a "quantum leap" for the location, and, since its opening, it has become an important part of the "SaMo" concept, which means gentle mobility. As the guests are asked to leave their cars parked during their holiday stay and are able to immerse themselves in this "world of pleasure" for free, an additional 50,000 guests have arrived in the small village in the last four years. A perfect example for regional development.

Bethesda. By December 2012, guests and business customers of Marriott International will have online access to a comprehensive list of environmental practices for each hotel in the Marriott portfolio. More than 75 operational and environmental management practices will be reported in the following categories: Policy, Energy Management, Waste Management, Water Management, Supply Chain and External Certifications. Since 2007, Marriott’s Global Green Council has guided the environmental strategy of the company by evaluating the practices, setting long-term goals, developing an environmental strategic plan and catalyzing the progress.

Vienna. The service subsidiary of the Austrian Hotelier Association aims to establish a network of charging stations for electric vehicles across the entire country.

Paris. In an official post, Paris Convention & Visitors Bureau urges hoteliers operating in the capital, to adopt a sustainable vision.

Berlin. The energy-saving policy of the EU does not even stop at illumination. Concerning incandescent light bulbs, halogen lamps and low-energy bulbs, Germany has passed on to the next level of the Ecodesign Directive, which means the definite end for light bulbs. For directed light sources and lamps, a new regulation will be drafted. Energy-efficient light solutions are in high demand more than ever - in the hotel industry too.

Munich. With a financing model for sustainable hotel real estate, Siemens Financial Services certainly drew attention at the Expo Real in Munich at the beginning of October. The initiative is primarily directed at international chains looking to achieve their sustainability targets. Since hotel operating companies have particular difficulty in finding investors for hotel real estate conceived with sustainability in mind, the financial arm of the Siemens group is the first to offer the hospitality industry its support: It also intends to participate with operating cost reduction measures.

London. Today, no business can afford to dispense with sustainability. This is the belief of InterContinental Hotels Group from London. According to the group, attitude is the greatest challenge here. Attitude should not be driven by commercial or financial aspects but regarded holistically. A responsible business contributes to the satisfaction of the guests and to the increase in profits. The balancing act of the hotel industry is to operate hotels efficiently without accepting compromises concerning the guests' services or experiences. In IHG's programme, this commitment is called "Green Engage."

Salzburg. In Austria, electric vehicles have become a subject in holiday resorts. In Werfenweng near Salzburg, electric vehicles add to a welcome change in holiday resorts. For the arrival in the soft mobile vacation, the "largest electric vehicle," the train, is still the ultimate. However, at a discussion in Seefeld, BMW also saw room for its Mini E.

Paris. Accor has engaged in sustainability for almost two decades. The French hotel group is thus one of the pioneers in this field. In the course of time, the group has broadened the scope of the issue substantially to include corporate social responsibility. Its programme has been called "Earth Guest" since 2006. In April 2012, the group started its new global "Planet 21" strategy. The title refers to Agenda 21, a programme signed in Rio de Janeiro back in 1992 defining the most urgent concerns of the 21st century: in order to maintain the ecological systems of this planet, the habitat of human life, production and consumption methods need to be changed. A compact summary outlines the extensive Accor concept in the following.