4Hoteliers
SEARCH
SHARE THIS PAGE
NEWSLETTERS
CONTACT US
SUBMIT CONTENT
ADVERTISING
How Revenue Management Can Help Reduce Your Hotel’s Environmental Footprint
By Mike Chuma ~ Exclusive for 4Hoteliers.com
Tuesday, 21st January 2020
 

Exclusive Feature: Gone are the days when terms such as 'sustainable', 'green' or 'environmentally friendly' were viewed as niche buzzwords in the hotel sector and simply turning-off lights in unused rooms was enough to meet traveller demands.

Today’s guest expects that their chosen property will have measures in place to limit their environmental impact and operate with a commitment to reducing carbon outputs.

Hoteliers understand the need to operate sustainably today, but achieving environmental goals is not without its challenges. To assist, hoteliers should consider ways in which their revenue management solutions can help limit their businesses environmental footprint.

Use demand forecasts to improve efficiency

Central to the practice of effective revenue management is the ability to develop and utilise accurate business forecasts. Forecasts assist hotels to predict demand and future financial performance. By using these datasets, hotels can improve their financial results through helping to attract the right guest, at the right time, for the right price. Accurate demand forecasts can also help hotels to increase their operational efficiency, trim expenditures and better optimise resources; all of which can benefit the environment.

Reduce energy consumption

Energy usage is the second-largest cost centre for hotels, after employment, and accounts for 60 percent of a hotel’s carbon footprint, according to HotelNewsNow. By far, the largest activity consuming energy in hotels relates to temperature regulation, which represents on average 69% of energy consumption*. Therefore, any way that a hotel can limit the energy being used to cool or heat their property should be investigated.

When a hotel’s demand forecast predicts for low levels of property occupancy; hoteliers should consider measures such as shutting-down groups of rooms, floors or even wings so that temperature controls can be rolled back in these areas to lower energy consumption. This move will not only reduce carbon emissions, but also save on labour, cleaning supplies and maintenance costs.

Cut down on food wastage

In the same way that a hotel’s demand forecast can be applied to achieving optimal staff levels, it can also be used to order supplies from external vendors and minimise wastage. Hoteliers should evaluate which services and perishable supplies are affected most by occupancy and use data around expected guest volumes to order goods accordingly.

About 25 percent of all food that passes through hotel kitchens is thrown out, according to Eco-Business*. Reducing food waste through a better application of matching a hotel’s predicted demand to purchase orders for perishable goods can lower purchasing costs by three to five percent.

In addition to better managing food costs, supplies and staffing, hotels can also reduce the environmental impact of food and beverage operations with recycling, composting, planting a garden, eliminating disposable containers and serving local and organic food.

Use your hotel resources more effectively

With revenue science, hoteliers can optimise underutilised spaces throughout the hotel. For example, some hotels are converting restaurant, lobby and function areas into coworking spaces – which can bring in additional revenue and maximise usage of hotel spaces that draw on property energy.

Hoteliers that run shuttle services for guests should also consider ways to increase their motor fleet efficiency, reduce trips and cut down on fossil fuels. Through drawing on guest arrival and departure data, hoteliers can better plan routings to lower carbon emissions for their guest service vehicles.

Encourage guests to go green

Hotels use huge volumes of laundry, water, detergent and chemicals every day. By now, most hotels have green initiatives in place, allowing guests to opt-out of daily linen replacement and housekeeping services. Hotel’s and their guests can always do more though. Travellers are more attuned to environmental issues these days and hoteliers should include visible reminders that encourage them to recycle, limit the use of plastics, and turn off the lights, thermostat and electronics when they leave the room.

These visible reminders can help educate guests around a hotel’s commitment to the environment, which can lead to positive online perceptions of the property and even influence future room pricing opportunities.

Invest in Technology

Any commitment to long-term environmental practices will require hotels to invest in the right technologies. This may include water-filtering systems, energy-saving technology or composting systems. It also means investing in automated analytics tools to create accurate forecasts that consolidate data across departments.

These forecasts can then become the basis for future operational decision making, which helps to limit unnecessary energy usage, reduce wastage and ultimately benefit the environment.

This is strictly an exclusive feature, reprints of this article in any shape or form without prior written approval from 4Hoteliers.com is not permitted.

References:

* https://www.eco-business.com/news/the-unseen-scandal-of-hotel-food-waste

For more information on how your hotel can increase their operational efficiency, trim expenditures and better optimise resources, please visit: www.ideas.com

Mike Chuma, Vice President of Marketing, Enablement & Engagement, IDeaS

Mike Chuma joined IDeaS in 2016, bringing more than 15 years of progressive experience in driving growth and strategy in enterprise SaaS technology, eCommerce platforms, brand management and marketing for companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 organizations.

In his most recent role with Digital River, Inc. as Senior Director, Global Product Management & Strategy, Mike held responsibility for global SaaS based ecommerce and subscriptions product platforms serving the software, subscriptions and online gaming markets. Prior to Digital River, Mike held strategic roles in eCommerce, multi-channel marketing and brand management for organizations such as Albertsons, Inc., SuperValu and Trinity Springs. Mike received his Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in Marketing & Finance from Boise State University.

Global Brand Awareness & Marketing Tools at 4Hoteliers.com ...[Click for More]
 Latest News  (Click title to read article)




 Latest Articles  (Click title to read)




 Most Read Articles  (Click title to read)




~ Important Notice ~
Articles appearing on 4Hoteliers contain copyright material. They are meant for your personal use and may not be reproduced or redistributed. While 4Hoteliers makes every effort to ensure accuracy, we can not be held responsible for the content nor the views expressed, which may not necessarily be those of either the original author or 4Hoteliers or its agents.
© Copyright 4Hoteliers 2001-2024 ~ unless stated otherwise, all rights reserved.
You can read more about 4Hoteliers and our company here
Use of this web site is subject to our
terms & conditions of service and privacy policy