Marketing for Sustainable Hotels

Sustainable hotels are the new trend that is blazing across the hospitality industry. Hotels of all shapes, sizes and locations are hopping on the bandwagon to “go greener” but what does this mean for your average hotel?

And more importantly – should hotels go green to improve their marketing? 

Sustainable Hotels and Their Rising Market

To pinpoint where the trend began would be impossible, but nevertheless it is swiftly taking over the hotel industry.

What IS important is that we now see a brand new generation of climate-conscious travellers searching for their next guilt-free experience.

Destination marketing was once the grand selling point of most hotels. A beautiful beachfront, crisp mountain air, breathtaking views of the Northern Lights… However many hotels now also need to prove that they are working with sustainable practices.

That’s why even TripAdvisor has brought out their own “green ranking” system of hotels. Despite OTAs having a history of brandjacking hotels, their understanding of the traveller markets is helping drive a surge of “green travellers”

The Advantages of Sustainable Hotels

There are a huge range of advantages for hotels going green. However, our focus is on the marketing aspect, so we will stick to our strong points for now. 

Let’s take a look and analyse how they improve your hotel’s marketing capabilities.

Resource Efficiency

This category can include anything from:

• Installing low-power bulbs
• Plastic bottle return incentives ie. Hotel Reward Program
• Encouraging re-use of towels

It goes without saying that the more you encourage guests to go green, the lower your electricity costs, and the less waste that needs disposing of. After all, replacing your light bulbs with energy-saving ones can reduce their electricity consumption by 90%!

These small steps not only save your hotel money, but also enable you to stay ahead of any environmental regulation changes that may occur in the future.

But in terms of sustainable hotel marketing – it is not a big impact.

The Real Sustainable Hotels

Promoting recycling and changing bulbs are only two small steps when it comes to going green. It is quite possible to become showcased on some “sustainable hotel” searches, but you will be quite far down the list.

The real trick to marketing sustainable hotels is going one step further. Now, energy-neutral hotels are at the forefront of the green traveller markets. They are the ultimate get-away for climate-conscious guests who want to enjoy themselves without the guilt.

So are you going 100% sustainable? Creating your own greenhouse for your kitchen? Building solar panels and turbines to provide sustainable energy?

 

Probably not.

Our Take

Ultimately the market for sustainable hotels is all about reaching that 100% sustainable mark. There is no point heavily marketing your hotel in that direction if you do not have the means to compete in that market.

Being a sustainable hotel is now almost inseparable from destination marketing. You don’t advertise your hotel as having “okay sunsets” and “mediocre meadows.” Nor should you advertise as fully sustainable without the means to fully back it up.

However, going eco-friendly is well worth your hotel’s time. Simple practices that not only save your hotel money, but also provide them with a basic ranking on online “eco-friendly hotel” lists are fiscally responsible, foresighted, increases traffic to your website and can make the difference between a direct booking at your hotel, and at a competitor.

You may not be fully sustainable, but going green(er) is a step forward for every hotel. In fact, we will provide a full guide on marketing your eco-friendly hotel here soon…. watch this space!