Environmental

Earlier this year the Westin Houston Medical Center announced it was using LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots to sanitize and disinfect its guestrooms and common areas to help combat the threat of coronavirus. The robots use intense germicidal UV light to disinfect rooms by quickly destroying microscopic bacteria and viruses that may be missed during the manual cleaning process. Operated by hotel staff, the robot uses pulsed xenon (a noble gas) to create intense broad-spectrum UV light.

A new set of Recommendations published today outline how the global tourism sector can continue in its fight against plastic pollution while effectively facing the public health and hygiene challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Green Lodging News asked Nina Hwang, MPH, Senior Scientist at Green Seal, about the use of foggers and electrostatic sprayers. Click here to read those questions and answers.

It is the first and only one of its kind in the world and recognises social innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism. In particular, it addresses the problems that arise from tourism development and looks for innovative solutions for industry, government institutions, NGOs and municipalities.

We hear the word everywhere, but what does it really mean for hospitality business owners and why should we try and incorporate sustainability in a guest’s experience?

Under the new Investment Readiness for Green Finance Mechanisms initiative, the United Nations specialized agency for tourism will work alongside IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries, on a series of training programmes.

With so much attention on virus elimination given the COVID-19 pandemic, Green Lodging News has been exploring green cleaning technologies that make it easier for hoteliers to provide a safe, hygienic, disinfected environment for guests and employees.

A year and a half ago, Great Wolf Resorts announced it would replace plastic straws at all 17 of its indoor water park resorts with more environmentally friendly paper straws. That step completed by the end of 2018 stopped more than 5 million plastic straws from entering local landfills annually. Bob Holesko, Corporate Director of Engineering at Great Wolf Resorts, said there were very few complaints about the switch.

Radisson Hotel Group will implement bulk amenity dispensers across all brands by the beginning of 2022, replacing small bottles for common bathroom products. This action will remove 57 million miniature amenities from circulation, avoiding the use of almost 500 tons of plastic annually.

As it advances its role as a responsible tourism provider locally and globally, Accor has committed to join the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation