Green Hotels – Marketing and Profitability Advantages of Environmentally Friendly Practices

Going Green Again – The marketing (and profitability) advantage of environmentally friendly practices
By Jennifer Rodrigues, TravelInk’d

It may be hard to remember, but not too long ago environmental awareness was the hot topic in the hospitality industry. Everywhere you looked there were hotels and restaurants ‘going green’ and executing ‘sustainability’ campaigns. Then, of course, the recession happened, and ‘sustainable’ became an adjective most associated with profits and the ‘green’ hoteliers and restaurateurs were most concerned with was cash. In the hospitality marketing realm, the focus shifted from emphasizing environmental strategies to emphasizing value. We can be forgiven for putting environmental awareness on the back burner during this turbulent time.

But just as value is a constant in terms of consumer perception, it turns out environmental consciousness is equally consistent. A new study by Cornell University out this quarter demonstrates that consumers didn’t forget about environmental concerns during the recession; in fact, they are increasingly willing to pay a premium to patronize green restaurants and purchase green products. Almost 90% of respondents said they would pay more to eat at a green restaurant, and one third said they would pay up to 12% more. From a marketing perspective, this means that ‘green’ is again- and indeed, always was- a viable and profitable differentiating factor.

Consumers, particularly those in the higher income, higher education demographic (according to the Cornell study), continue to be concerned and cognizant about the environmental impact of their own behavior as well as that of the businesses they patronize. This represents an opportunity for hotels that are engaging in green practices to use these aspects of their operations to draw in valuable customers. It also acts a spur to those businesses that do not execute- or have suspended due to cost- sustainability initiatives. For these hotels and restaurants, the first step is to get back into the green game. It’s the right thing to do, and the Cornell study shows that consumers are willing to reward responsible behavior. For those hotels and restaurants that have already gone green, the question becomes how to effectively market that facet of their operations, or how to relaunch a marketing campaign centered on their environmental record.

Positioning a hotel or restaurant as environmentally conscious or green requires a marketer to identify and publicize individual aspects of the business’s operation. Simply announcing that your enterprise is ‘green’ is not enough; consumers are receptive to details about your supply chain, your specific practices and those green solutions that most affect them as guests, and which ones can mitigate whatever effect the consumers themselves are having on the environment as patrons. In hotels, where green initiatives can sometimes rankle guests (water conservation efforts that entail reducing linen changes come to mind), taking a cue from restaurants and focusing on the supply chain and local sourcing might be an effective way to communicate environmental priorities.

The Cornell study recommends joining recognized green groups or adhering to guidelines set by industry groups with environmentally friendly goals and best practices. This is an excellent way to align your hotel or restaurant with other like-minded enterprises and to leverage the marketing reach of trade groups without making a sizable investment in an internal campaign. Speaking of internal campaigns, it’s important to remember that front-line employees can be the best ambassadors for going green. If your hotel can create buy-in for environmental initiatives among staff, that can go a long way toward convincing your customers that your establishment is serious and committed to creating environmentally sustainable operating procedures.

Green is back, if it really ever left. For the foreseeable future, we will be confronted with challenges and realities of a changing environment, and hotels and restaurants should be prepared to deal with these challenges with solid green practices. Now that it seems clear that consumers are willing to pay a premium to enjoy the fruits of such practices, there is little excuse not to engage in them; in fact, it is advantageous to promote them and publicize them. We may not be in the going green heyday of the early 00s, but for those hotels and restaurants that position themselves like they still are, the benefits can be great.

Jennifer Rodrigues, Visibility Development Manager with ThinkInk and TravelInk’d, is a seasoned public relations professional with a passion for the hospitality industry, which is expressed in her role at ThinkInk’s travel division, TravelInk’d. At TravelInk’d, she is responsible for developing cost-effective and creative public relations and marketing strategies for clients in the travel and tourism, airline, lodging, cruise and meeting/event sectors. For more information on TravelInk’d, please visit www.travelinkd.com or contact Jennifer at jlr@travelinkd.com. For more news about PR and marketing in the travel industry, follow TravelInk’d on Twitter @TravelInkd and visit the TravelInk’d Facebook Fan Page.

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