CSR and Sustainability

🏕 Atzaró Okavango Camp in Botswana, opened June 2024, secures the Conde Nast Traveller ‘Hot List’ Best New Hotels 2025 award. The luxury camp offers 12 suites, two villas, all with plunge pools and star-beds. It partners with African Bush Camps Foundation (ABCF), which started the Female Guides Program in 2021, now introducing female guides in 2025. ABCF supports Ditsiping Village with education and healthcare, including a full-time tutor and transport for mobile clinic staff. Guests can enjoy a 20-meter pool, wildlife safaris, wellness facilities, and children's activities, with encouragement for stays of 5+ days. The camp is eco-friendly, employing a solar farm and water purification systems.

🌲 The hotel industry is under transformation due to CSR pressures. UMIH and ADEME support the transition with steps like reducing food waste, fluid consumption, energy performance, and bio-waste management. By 2025, all hotel industry players are expected to adopt a sustainable approach, aiming to reduce emissions by 66% by 2030 and 90% by 2050 in alignment with the Paris Agreement. 83% of travelers prefer sustainable accommodations; 40% of millennials consider employer sustainability for job choice, and 70% stay longer with companies that have strong environmental policies. Green certifications are critical; Green Key certifies over 6,700 sites globally, with 2,400 in France. Accor aims to certify all its hotels by 2026 and has partnered with Green Key and Green Globe. Leonardo Hotels’ European portfolio is in the certification process, and Meliá has 270 hotels with Ecostars certification. Edgar Suites received the B Corp label in 2023. Top 10 hotel groups target carbon neutrality by 2050, using carbon audits and CSR programs like Accor’s Planet 21 and Hilton’s Travel with Purpose. Some, like Accor, Hilton, and Meliá, include scope 3 emissions in their strategies, accounting for nearly 70% of the total carbon footprint.

🌱 PM Hotel Group in Chevy Chase, Maryland, released its seventh annual sustainability report in 2024. The report shows the company's progress in environmental stewardship, community impact, and social responsibility. Initiatives included assembling 2,100 hygiene kits, providing an estimated 105,000 hand washes, 88,200 tooth brushings, and 44,100 showers. They bagged 2,500 pounds of food for the North Texas Food Bank, equaling 5,000 meals. PM Hotel Group created 2,000 hours of employment for those facing work barriers and installed EV chargers at ten properties, with plans for 45 more in 2025. The Windsor Suites in Philadelphia planted 5,000 trees in Rwanda, while Airlie in Northern Virginia maintained a National Wildlife Federation habitat certification. Hilton BWI Airport's composting partnership diverted over 26,000 pounds of organic waste. During Earth Week 2024, various hotel teams engaged in sustainability activities like tree planting and promoting organic products.

🌏 Global Hotel Alliance's Green Collection expanded by 150% to 472 hotels, launched March 2023. Properties have at least one certification from recognized environmental organizations. Present in 60 countries, 260 destinations. Europe leads with Spain (74 hotels), Italy (57), Germany (54). Regular audits required for certification. 25 out of 45 GHA brands feature properties in the Green Collection.

🏛 Populus Hotels' second carbon-positive property, a 120-room hotel, is set to open in spring 2025 in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Developed by Urban Villages and operated by Aparium Hotel Group, this marks Populus Hotels' first adaptive reuse project, housed in the restored 1907 Westland Building. The property, featuring over 300 artworks, will be carbon positive, offsetting more carbon than it emits. Amenities include a café, meeting rooms, a restaurant named Salt Harvest, and the district's first rooftop bar.

🌎 On Apr 23, 2025, it was reported that eco-friendly luxury travel's demand is growing, with affluent tourists prioritizing environmental stewardship, cultural authenticity, and community support. Advisors are emphasizing sustainability as an enhancement to luxury, offering personalized, responsible experiences. Luxury travel is setting a standard for sustainability integration, with a shift towards trips that leave a lasting emotional and environmental legacy.

🌍 Staypineapple, a national boutique hotel brand based in Bellevue, Washington, has eliminated single-use plastic water bottles across all properties since 2024, diverting around 600,000 bottles from landfills. Guests now receive complimentary PATH refillable water bottles and can use Quench Water Bar refill stations. Aiming for 75% waste diversion by 2027, Staypineapple is pursuing Green Key certification for its Chicago property by the end of 2025 and enhancing waste diversion training for team members.

🌍 Hotels showcasing environmental responsibility, like Solaz with 53,000 square meters of green areas, a desalination plant for 60,000 liters of daily fresh water, and smart rooms powered by Crestron technology, are fostering guest trust and loyalty. A 2024 study highlighted the importance of sustainability in guest preferences in the U.S., with ethical practices leading to repeat bookings. MGM Resorts' Las Vegas properties use solar power for 90% of daytime energy needs and recycle over 30 materials, while the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center uses waste-tracking to divert over 60% of waste from landfills, saving 1.2 million gallons of water annually and reducing energy use by 20%.

🌍 Green Collection hotels saw a 16% increase in stays in 2024, favored by GHA DISCOVERY's 30 million members. The collection now covers 60 countries and 260 destinations, with 81% of properties located in Europe. Brands like Paramount Hotels, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, and Lore Group joined in 2024. These hotels uphold sustainability with certifications from EarthCheck, Green Growth 2050, and Green Key. In 2024, Green Collection properties generated 71% of GHA's total revenue and 68% of total nights stayed, with stays 9% longer on average compared to other hotels.