The American Hotel & Lodging Association AHLA has announced its Responsible Stay initiative.
The industry-wide initiative aims to make meetings, events and guest experiences in America’s hotels more environmentally and socially responsible.
Responsible Stay is focused on prioritising hotels’ environmental sustainability efforts in four key areas:
Energy efficiency: optimising energy efficiency through operational improvements and adoption of clean energy technologies
Waste reduction: investing in waste reduction programs and new, innovative alternatives to reduce, reuse and recycle waste across properties
Water conservation: ensuring the reduction of water usage by implementing water-efficient practices in core areas like laundry, food and beverage, and landscaping
Responsible sourcing practices: sourcing responsibly and prioritising sustainability in supply chains to prevent harmful environmental and social impacts
Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA said: “The hotel industry has shown a longstanding commitment to sustainability, and many of our member companies have been on the leading edge of these efforts. We’re thrilled that the industry is committed to this critical issue that will shape how we travel for years to come. The launch of Responsible Stay is the next step of our industry’s sustainability journey, and we are uniting as an industry to provide a responsible stay for our employees, guests, communities and our planet.”
Responsible Stay aims to advance environmental initiatives and help hotels shift operations to be more sustainable. This commitment to provide a ‘responsible stay’ builds on existing initiatives by AHLA to support industry efforts to reduce carbon emissions, water and energy usage, waste and more, including:
AHLA’s Sustainability Committee, comprised of industry leaders, communicates, educates and advocates on behalf of the lodging industry to showcase environmental efforts and elevates environmental sustainability and resilience;
AHLA’s new partnership with the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance works to amplify, collaborate on and support hospitality sustainability programs and solutions;
AHLA’s long-standing partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Hotel Kitchen programme, which uses innovative strategies to engage staff, partners and guests in curbing food waste from hotel kitchens;
AHLA’s ongoing partnership with the Department of Energy Better Buildings Initiative highlights energy efficiency and drives leadership in energy innovation in the hospitality sector by accelerating investment and sharing successful best practices;
AHLA’s newly-formed research initiative with GreenView helps quantify and benchmark sustainability practices across the hotel industry in the US, which will allow for better insights, best-practice development and sustainability progress tracking over time.
Responsible Stay has elicited broad support across the sector, with members, state association partners and other industry stakeholders endorsing the programme and its principles.
Image: Responsible Stay