New in Hotel Industry: Measurement Initiative to Deliver Consistency & Standards on Reducing Carbon Footprint

Recently, it was announced that twenty-three global leading companies at the urging of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the International Tourism Partnership (ITP), have agreed to adopt a uniform way to calculate their hotels’ carbon footprint. This involves hotels such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton, Marriott, MGM Resorts, and 20 others.

The Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI), launched June 12, 2012, provides consistent methodology for different hotel companies to measure and communicate their carbon emissions. For years, since the green movement really took effect, many companies have adopted measures to reduce their carbon footprint while at the same time helping their corporate clients understand the carbon impact of time spent in their hotels. Many clients often ask questions as it relates to the potential carbon footprint for a specific meeting or an event being held at a hotel. The way this has been communicated by the different hotels throughout the world varies greatly up until now.

According to the WTTC, the goal of the HCMI 1.0 is to “align the hotel sector in how it reports carbon emissions, and develop a common language which will provide clarity to customers who would like to understand their carbon footprint. In turn, this will help clients achieve their own carbon reduction goals.” The methodology is available through WTTC/ITP, and hotels of all shapes and sizes can use HCMI 1.0 to measure and report their property’s carbon emissions.

David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC said, “WTTC has long been advocating that industry speaks with ‘one voice’. Through this initiative we have seen major hotel companies come together to agree a means of communicating carbon impacts which ultimately will result in more transparency and clarity for the consumer. HCMI has broken new ground in its industry driven approach and I congratulate the companies involved on their leadership in ensuring this important initiative comes to fruition. We expect this industry common language to be widely used within the next two years.”

Stephen Farrant, Director of ITP said, “This has been a model of competitive collaboration that may serve as a useful template for other industry sectors to learn from in addressing the challenges of carbon management. It is inspiring to see so many leading hotel companies across the industry working together over so many months to make this unique and ground-breaking initiative a reality.”

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