Building on a commitment to sustainability and conservation initiatives, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has introduced sustainable-meeting guidelines at every North American property.

Starwood’s Sustainable Meeting Practices (SMP) will also roll out globally in 2011. The program revolves around five core components: Paperless Meeting Planning, Sustainable Meeting Services, Sustainable Food & Beverage Practices, Impact Assessment Tools, and Socially Conscious Activities.

Starwood operates 1,000 properties worldwide, and expects to open another 80 hotels over the next year. “Rolling this program out across North America formalizes environmental practices our hotels have been implementing and we are excited to encourage,” said Sandy Swider, Starwood’s Vice President for Global Citizenship. “Clients who rely on Starwood properties for great meetings also appreciate that they become our partner in sustainability and environmental stewardship by cutting waste and conserving resources.”

Starwood’s iconic hospitality brands include St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element SM.

The program’s five core components include 18 practices – from sustainable menu choices and bottled water alternatives to energy-efficient digital signage and potted plants in place of fresh-cut flowers – to be incorporated into all on-property meetings and events. Each component is designed to enhance meetings and all 18 practices were carefully conceived to remain cost-effective and operationally efficient.

Starwood has also launched the Meeting Impact Report, an internal online tool that generates a report for clients that demonstrates the impact of their meetings on the environment.

As meeting and business travel rebounds throughout 2010, Starwood is seeing increased demand for sustainable meeting solutions, Swider said. “There’s already a strong sensitivity toward sustainability concerns from meeting planners, and they appreciate the programs we’ve put in place,” Swider said. “We think the next generation of meeting planners and attendees will simply expect green practices and sustainability initiatives as a given for meetings and facilities.”

Championed by Starwood’s internal Global Citizenship team instated by CEO Frits van Paasschen in 2009, Starwood is committed to delivering tangible improvements to the company’s environmental, social and business performance.

“Developing Sustainable Meeting Practices was a year-long process to determine how to meaningfully incorporate sustainability into our meeting practices while maintaining a superior guest experience and keeping costs low for hotels, meeting planners and clients,” said David Dvorak, Vice President of Catering and Convention Services for Starwood. “We are proud of the progress we have made to date – but there is still more to come with additional Core Components and a global roll-out. As an overall Starwood mission, we will continue to provide sustainable resources and practices to our guests, owners and associates throughout our portfolio and corporate offices.”

Related Link: Starwood Sustainable Meeting Practices

I love reading up on businesses outside tourism to see where we can cross-fertilize and gain insights to help our industry.  Zynga, a rapidly growing online video gaming company (anyone play Farmville?) is managing exponential growth and say the key to success is focusing in three key areas.

1.  Have a mission and set values early on.  This lets people know what you stand for and why.

2.  Grow great people. The better your team, the stronger your company.

3.  Embrace processes. Set processes, align with priorities and effectively community what, why and how to all your staff.

Sounds like great info for managing growth – but also good standard business practice!  A well articulated mission and announcing your values attracts staff and customers who value what you have – and managed effectively, both staff processes and customer experiences can yield that win-win outcome every business wants!  Time to think about what’s going on in your shop. Smile if you are on track, and start planning change if you are not.

I was recently (November 2010) invited to speak to the Hotel Managers Association on the island of Cyprus about experiential tourism, at the invitation of both the Hotel Managers Association and the Cyprus International Institute of Management.

This was an opportunity to both contribute a Canadian perspective, but also see first hand how a mass tourism European island nation’s tourism industry is struggling to survive within a global context of change in economics, in consumer demand, and in a world rapidly being affected by climate change.

Aphrodite's birthplace, Cyprus (in the Mediterranean)

The director of the Cyprus International Institute of Management is Dr. Theodore Panayotous. He just had an article posted in the Cyprus Mail on January 28, 2011: Climate change and tourism: A sea change for the industry. There are several comments posted.

As a foreign traveler to Cyprus, and also being an industry operator from Canada, I felt that there were some things that I could contribute to the discussion and responded with my own observations.

Three key areas are outlined in my response that I believe may be important for tourism operators all over the world, from my unique Central Canadian perspective. The following are an abbreviated version of these comments. For a more complete outline of my response, please review the article itself.

1. As a foreign traveler, the Cyprus tourism offer available when searching using Google is a very limited, standardized product mix: resort hotels, events, and packages featuring activities that could be found in Hawai’i, California, or the Caribbean (in other words, undifferentiated). What was missing from the product mix or product offer was the presence and access to “the authentic Cypriots” themselves – real people and access to real culture, cuisine, and nature guided by the wonderful Cypriot people.
2. Climate change is affecting tourism. In particular, a book that was just published (2011) that some may find very helpful in the discussion about climate change and tourism, with over 33 case studies from tourism companies and businesses 17 countries in Europe who have implemented innovative management strategies, involving a combination of carbon savings, costs, and increased profits. The book – Carbon Management in Tourism (Mitigating The Impacts on Climate Change) by Stefan Gossling (ISBN: 978-0-415-56633 pbk) is a very good read.

Several facts early in the reading of this book stand out for me:

• CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) accounted for 56.6% of the contribution to climate change in 2004 (IPCC report 2007).
• Emissions from aviation are contributing somewhere between 2 – 14% of human caused climate change.
• Atmospheric CO2 (the most prevalent of Greenhouse Gases) concentrations have increased to 390 parts per million (ppm), which is at a level 110ppm higher than pre-industrial levels, and at least 40% higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years (Copenhagen diagnosis 2009).
• Tourism’s global contribution to climate change has been updated to a minimum of 5.22% with an upper range of 12.5% (Scott et al 2010).
• Finally, in looking at customer expectations, Gossling identifies, that “…while tourists are not necessarily willing to pay considerably higher prices for holidays that are more climatically friendly or to engage in sustainable holiday practices, there is evidence that pro-climate action by tourism businesses is perceived positively by travellers and seen as a significant add-on (added value). A number of tourism businesses have even built strong brands based on their corporate social responsibility.
• The missed opportunity for Cyprus is that it could become a Mediterranean and global leader in low carbon tourism because of the availability of wind and solar (renewable energy that increases energy security and reduces use of fossil fuel in travel), helping to develop a new concept of a low carbon tourism destination, that supports local people in the process, and helps to revive an economy that is faltering and struggling.

3. The power of the authentic experience: I had an opportunity to experience an evening at a taberna outside Paphos where I listened to live Cypriot music, and ate local food. I shot some video from this experience, which I am happy to share with others. http://vimeo.com/16955719 I left with memories of Cyprus as a wonderful place that I will tell others about. But, it’s only because I was able to shift from my focus from the beaches to the people and countryside of Cyprus – this is where the magic of Cyprus came alive for me.

I loved my experience in Cyprus. I would love to see Cyprus lead the world in showing us how to do low carbon tourism. They are facing challenges that we will all be facing, within a carbon-constrained economy and within global tourism which will be affected one way or another by climate change.

Inspire, refresh, conserve, protect, play. Protecting our natural environment is a world-wide opportunity and responsibility.  But we must do more than protect and preserve – we must find responsible ways for people to enjoy, appreciate and experience the beauty of nature.  Our national, provincial and regional parks are idea venues for merging the worlds of protection and engagement.

This engaging report highlights the value of Parks and contains worthy information that helps define the value of parks as organizations around the world seek to secure the resources to manage protected areas and bring them to life in ways that respect people, wildlife, and nature.

A few benefits of parks:

• Storing carbon
• Maintaining clear air and water
• Cooling our cities
• Contributing to healthy living
• Bringing people together
• Supporting science, education and learning
• Creating employment and contributing to economies
• Conserving landscapes and cultures
• Sustaining life.

Check out this 2008 report prepared by Parks Forum – Australia and New Zealands organization responsible for parks organizations in partnership with IUCN World Commission on Protected areas and the People & Parks Foundation.

Take a peak at our colleagues ‘down under’ and their discussion on sustainable tourism that adopts the UNWTO’s definition of sustainabile tourism; “tourism that delivers positive economic, social, and environmental outcomes with consideration to the needs of the visitor, industry, community and environment.”

As we reach the year end and reflect on our practices, activities and achievements, it is always helpful t talk a look at our colleagues for insights, ideas, and common activities.

I love LinkedIn. I just found a presentation by Dr. Nicole Vaugeios a colleague of mine.   Key findings:

• 10% have not incorporated sustainable practices into their business operations
• 61% have piloted sustainable practices
• 27% are committed sustainability.
• 24% describe their sustainable initiatives on their website
• Incentive programs should be a priority to advance sustainable tourism practices
• Education and information must be designed to meet the needs of rural operato

The study is based on British Columbia’s operators, but the findings relevant for reflection for all.

Congratulations to Todd and Martha Lucier, owners of Northern Edge Algonquin on receiving the Ontario Tourism Sustainability Excellence Award on 8 Nov 2010.  This award recognizes a business that promotes sustainable practices in the carrying out of their day to day activities. Initiatives could include reducing the environmental impact of the business, activities that promote sustainability to guests of the facility.

As Todd states “Quietly with care, and without fanfare, Northern Edge Algonquin has been growing organically over the last 15 years as a green,responsible tourism operator on Kawawaymog Lake at the South River
entrance to Algonquin Park.  Over the years, the Edge has grown an adventure business that includes trips into Algonquin Park like Morning Tea with Moose and retreats like Quest for Balance featuring yoga and sea kayaking.  Tourism experiences continue to evolve with new partners and new experiences like the bike train and Rails,Trails and Ales.”

Beyond their lodge activities Todd Lucier is also well known for is e-marketing talents and Tourism Keys blog, plus, for five years, he has been one of three facilitators leading the Experiential Travel Training program at the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism. Martha Lucier welcomes guests from around the world interested in Shamanism, providing highly engaging and reflective place for people to gather and connect.

The Ontario Eco-tourism Society commended the Lucier’s for their excellence and the example they set for all tourism businesses.

WAY TO GO AMIGOS!  WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

Have a peak at why they were nominated for the Ontario Tourism Industry Excellence Award.

I am traveling by Air Canada. It happens so often. “Garbage?, Any Garbage?”  These are often the last words before an aircraft lands in Canada. The “garbage” includes plastic cups, personal waste items, packaging from meals that have been finished, and always…newspapers. Newspapers, when we have finished with them, can be recycled. I wonder if it might be more appropriate to for the AC flight attendants to say, “Garbage, recyclables?” The real kicker is whether it is all going into the same bin – garbage. And, if so, is it being separated later. I am not really sure.

Air Canada currently is doing a number  of customer surveys that relate to service, future service, and Air Canada’s support to environmental standards and environmental leadership, among a number of topics. A national client research company is carrying out these surveys. Having just responded to the environmental leadership survey, I am struck by the airline call, “Garbage? Any garbage?” as being inconsistent with the direction that Air Canada is seeking in terms of delivering business results with corporate responsibility and attention to environmental accountability and leadership.

I use this as an example, not to simply critique Air Canada, whom I fly with most often. But, also to reflect on my own business as a tourism operator. Here are three quick reflex questions that we can ask when we are doing that last minute checklist prior to your guests arriving, to ensure that your actions are in line with your responsible environmental business leadership and accountability:

1. What have we promised our guests in terms of our environmental responsibilities and policies?
2. Have we shared these promises with all of our staff or partners, so that our guests received consistent service in every part of their itinerary?
3. Does our language educate or lead our guests to environmental leadership?

Do you have any examples of language and actions being out of sync, that you would like to share?

Online activists are criticizing US oil policy by attacking Canada’s Tourism Industry

When Corporate Ethics International chose to tar Alberta’s travel industry by focusing on the Tar Sands, it was much more than a PR ploy.  It was an effort by environmental activists to inflict damage on the province and a countrys economy, specifically, its tourism industry.

The websites “Traveler’s Quiz” focuses on disturbing multiple choice questions that place “Canada” and “Alberta” as the bad guy, tarring Canadian Tourism Industry in every answer.

Upon completing the survey, visitors are shown a video and asked to take a pledge to not to visit Alberta and tell their friends and family to do the same.

The website is generating traffic with a corresponding billboard campaign in four US cities – Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland and Denver.

On-line banner and flash ads also appear on major tourist sites, Google Adwords, and in mailings to organizations that might hold conferences in Alberta as well as travel agencies.

Calgary’s news media responded to the incoming salvo with an attack on California.

Why Canadian Tourism? When the real target of CEI is US Energy Policy.

The energy policy of  United States is in large part to blame for the growth of Canadas Tar Sands Oil industry.  According Corporate Ethics International, “the US needs to end its addiction to oil, and this campaign is the foundation for the movement that will ultimately achieve that goal.”

What do you think? Is it fair game to attack tourism industry in another country over environmental controls, policies of your own country?  What is the responsibility of the tourism industry to prevent or respond to such attack ads and online media?

Congratulations to the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism for securing federal funding from ACOA and Parks Canada to continue its excellent training and development function within the Atlantic Canada Tourism industry!  Makes celebrating Canada Day tomorrow all the more meaningful!

Hats off to all of those involved as volunteers, educators, suppliers, hosts and most importantly industry participants who have contributed to this success!

From your friends: Nancy, Celes and Todd.