The Hotel Sustainability Basics initiative, which was announced on Thursday (21 April) at the organisation’s Global Summit in Manila, will help hotels address and improve their environmental impact.
It includes 12 actions which are "fundamental to hotel sustainability" and will help raise the base level of sustainability across the hospitality industry by providing hotels with a starting point on their "sustainability journey".
Jin Jiang International, Louvre Hotels Group and Radisson Hotel Group, Accor, Barcelo Hotel Group, Melia Hotels International, Indian Hotels Company Limited, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, the Hotel Association of India are amongst those signed up to the initiative.
However, the WTTC has urged the sector to seek constant improvements beyond the 12 basic criteria so that every hotel, whether an individual business or part of a larger group, moves on to more advanced frameworks and greater sustainability.
Julia Simpson, WTTC president and chief, said the campaign comes to ensure "no hotel, however small, is left behind in the drive to introduce a basis of sustainability measures within a minimum level" over the next three years.
"Sustainability is non-negotiable but not every small hotel has access to the science on how to make a difference," she continued. "This gives everyone access to a global standard and provides consumers to travel with confidence."
The criteria include actions to reduce energy and water use; identify and reduce waste and carbon emissions; implement a linen reuse programme; use of green cleaning products; the elimination of plastic straws, stirrers, and single-use plastic water bottles; and the implementation of bulk amenity dispensers.
WTTC has called on hotel operators, owners, associations, and investors to support the initiative and work across their networks to implement the criteria over the next three years.
Eight of the 12 criteria are mandatory, whilst others can be committed to and covered within the first three years.
