Going Green

Brendan Berl

Hotel Online

Hotels Go Green to Save Green

March 26^th, 2010

Sustainability is a national trend affecting just about every small business, home, and corporation. It goes by several names including conservation, being environmentally friendly; or just plain green. The article focuses on a number of hotels and restaurants in Myrtle Beach that have begun going green, and not just for the moral aspect of taking care of our planet. In this first year of the Green Alliance program, three hotels and six restaurants have already been certified and are now saving money and the environment.

It’s not just about using less energy; Kenneth Harwood, a senior manager at Proctor & Gamble gives that example that cutting chemical usage in the bathroom by using fewer sprays in the 30,000 hotel rooms can save more than 100,000 gallons of chemicals a year. The sustainability trend really spiked when the fuel costs rose in the mid-2000’s. Consumers that demand more sustainable hotels have also driven the change, even if they can’t actually see that a change has been made. More often than not, a ‘sustainable hotel’ is likely just one that has purchased a green logo but probably doesn’t even recycle. Consumers need to become more aware about what hotels and businesses are actually doing. That is why Hilton Hotels have begun handing out brochures to inform their guests about what the staff is doing, and how they can help.

This article connects with our project because we plan on creating a green hotel that belongs to the Element brand by Westin. I think going green is very important purely for the effects it has on our planet. The fact that when people build something they knock down the trees instead of attempting to minimize environmental costs and build around them shows me that the majority of the population just doesn’t care. I’m glad to see that so many hotels are trying to minimize the impact they have, but it will be a very gradual change for the industry.

I liked the way that the article was written; short and split up into various facts about going green in the industry. I wish they had used some more statistics like they did with reducing chemical usage, such as how solar panels can affect energy usage, or some kind of water filtration system for their sewage. I’m not surprised though, as becoming environmentally friendly is still relatively new; I’m just glad see were moving in the right direction. Hopefully our generation will keep this trend moving forward by learning about the changes we can make.

Hotel Online – Tourism Talk

http://hotel-online.com/News/2010_Mar_28/k.MBM.1269883853.html

The Effects of Globalization on Hospitality

Smartbrief due 2/28/09

“Hospitality Adjusts to Globalization”

http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/Andersen/global.html

° Small company feel at a global scale

Nobody wants their company to feel like a company, especially if it’s from another country; it should feel like a family. A good way to avoid this is to use architecture and interior design that is familiar to that culture or region. You should also hire people from the area, to help grow some roots. Lastly, management is key. Employees should not have any contact with “Corporate”; it makes employees feel less responsible, like if they make a mistake that corporate will solve it. Every location should be able to function independantly of each other in case of any communication problems.

° Getting information where it needs to be

Corporate needs information from it’s hotels and franchises just as much as they need information from corporate. The difficult part is limiting whos hands the information gets to. You don’t want employees with information that only the manager should have, the same goes for some members of corporate. Not everyone checks their e-mail everyday, there should be a type of inter-company communication such as Instant Messaging for people who are clocked in.

° Communication between countries

Language is probably one of the biggest obstacles a company will face in globalization. If a franchise or satellite speaks a language different from corporate, things could get very complicated. The best solution would be hiring a manager that speaks the native language as well as the language that is found at corporate. That is to avoid hiring a middle-man to translate information that could be vital to your company.

° Global currencies

Nearly every country uses its own system of currency, a simple miscalculation could be cause for a very big error in accounting. If 30,000 yen in Japan are sent to corporate as “30,000”, they might take it as dollars instead of yen. The best solution would be to convert currency before it leaves the franchise/satellite. Or have a system to automatically convert all monetary values to dollars, however this could confuse employees.

° Free Trade and Regional Agreements

Many organizations are concerned about the impacts of agreements such as the European Union and the possible North American Union. These unions create a very strong infrastructure between businesses in these areas. A business originating and staying within one of these areas will likely be more profitable when importing from countries within that union. If they spread outside that area they will probably not receive the same benefits.