In today’s eco-conscious world, many travelers often choose where to stay based on sustainability practices and sustainable hotel amenities.
Put simply, more travelers care about choosing hotels that don’t negatively impact the environment and communities around them.
In fact, the 2022 Sustainable Travel Report by Booking.com has revealed that 81% of travelers believe in the importance of sustainable travel, while 70% state that they are more likely to choose sustainable accommodation.
The natural question that arises is how hotels can help address these travelers’ concerns without impacting profitability or compromising the guest experience.
There are many steps you can take to reduce your property’s carbon footprint and offer more sustainable hotel amenities, including switching to a cloud system. Egypt’s tourists enjoy visiting the country’s natural destinations (such as the Red Sea), so they will appreciate any effort you put toward becoming more sustainable. This means that following these steps could help you enhance guest loyalty and support your customer loyalty program.
Acquiring Sustainability Certifications
There is a misconception that such certifications are limited to ecotourism destinations, but you can still implement sustainability practices even if your property is located in a city.
The most famous certifications are those accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and Travelife. There are many international certifications, but we recommend beginning with local accreditations, such as the Green Star Hotel program managed by the Egyptian Hotel Association under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism. Many hotels also support local environmental initiatives, such as the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) to show their support for the environment.
Providing Sustainable Hotel Amenities
Your journey toward becoming more sustainable shouldn’t be a solo effort; more travelers want to be aware of and involved in the process.
Going about this isn’t limited to sending out a newsletter every quarter – a more engaging option is to actively involve guests and show them how their actions help you make a difference. These include:
Giving guests the option to decide whether or not housekeeping should change their towels daily in an effort to save water.
Making guests more conscious about food waste when it comes to buffet meals and all-inclusive offers.
Controlling air conditioners and heaters via keycards or energy-saving sensors.
Allowing guests to discard trash in organic and non-organic bins for recycling.
Offering sustainable hotel amenities like paper straws and cups instead of single-use plastic.
These very simple steps can help boost guest loyalty among a huge demographic of eco-conscious travelers, which could even help you popularize your customer loyalty program.
Stopping Energy Draining Operations
This can be as simple as thinking twice before printing out receipts and pamphlets, but it can also encompass larger issues, such as the type of hospitality management system you use. If you’ve been using a legacy system, you already know how much energy is drained through the use of on-premises servers.
A more environmentally friendly alternative is the use of a cloud system. Egypt’s companies can help reduce the country’s carbon footprint this way since cloud solutions use remote servers and therefore reduce energy use and electricity rates at your property.
The remote servers used by these systems are run by massive corporations, such as Amazon, which are keen to help clients minimize their carbon footprint by almost 80%.
Using a cloud solution could also help you better manage your purchasing and inventory operations in order to reduce waste when it comes to perishable items, such as expirable toiletries or food.
Every Step Counts: Where Will You Start?
The journey toward offering more sustainable hotel amenities is filled with important steps that will help you boost guest loyalty and reduce your property’s carbon footprint. How are you planning to start yours?