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There’s no denying it: environmental sustainability is currently one of the most pressing topics in the hotel industry. Yet, we couldn’t find any up-to-date information about the concrete ways in which electricity, waste, and water are managed in European hotels.

Sure, we’ve noticed that towel and linen programs have increased in popularity, that many hotels have replaced single-dose shampoo bottles with refillable dispensers, and that motion sensors are often used to control the lights in hotel corridors and other shared facilities. However, we also realize that a lot of sustainable hotel management practices happen behind the scenes.

And since we knew that the hotel industry at large would benefit from fresh benchmark data, we figured why not collect it ourselves. So go ahead and skip to the bottom of this post where you can download the research report completely free of charge – or keep reading, as I provide an overview of our research design and the types of questions that we’ll answer in the report.

The research design in a nutshell

To get a comprehensive view of the state of environmental sustainability in the European hotel industry, we decided to collect data through an online survey and expert interviews.

A) Online survey

In the short online survey, we focused on four main themes:

• The importance of environmental sustainability according to European hotel managers
• The biggest challenges European hotel managers are currently facing when it comes to environmental sustainability
• The current tools, technologies, and practices European hotels are using to manage energy, water, and waste
• The tools, technologies, and practices European hotel managers are planning to deploy within the next 12 months

B) Interviews with industry thought leaders

While the online survey was designed to provide us with some valuable information about the popularity of different tools and practices, we also wanted to dig deeper into the topic with a handful of industry thought leaders.

During the discussions with the managers of some of Europe’s most prestigious hotels, we uncovered interesting stories and details about the evolution of sustainable hotel management. These expert interviews also helped us better understand some of the motives behind the blooming interest for environmentally sustainable tools and practices.

Based on the rich information collected with these two methods, we’re looking to publish a research report chock-full of timely and relevant information about sustainable hotel management. Next up, let’s take a look at the preliminary table of contents of the report.

The research report: State of Sustainability

The research report will consist of five key chapters, each enriched with direct quotes from industry thought leaders:

1. Challenges
   • In the first section, we’ll reveal the percentage of survey respondents who stated that environmental sustainability is extremely important in the hotel business. Additionally, we’ll discuss the key challenges European hotel managers are facing as well as the biggest opportunities they see in environmentally sustainable hotel management practices.
2. Energy
   • In the second chapter, we’ll take a closer look into the many ways in which leading hotels in Europe manage the consumption of electricity & gas.
3. Water
   • In the third section, we’ll dig deeper into the best practices for sustainable water management in hotels.
4. Waste
   • The fourth section will be dedicated to discussing European hotel managers’ attitude towards waste management and eco-friendly chemicals.
5. Advice from industry thought leaders
   • In the fifth and final chapter, our expert respondents share their best pieces of advice for reducing the environmental impact of your business.

Download the research report for free

If you’re interested in getting your hands on the research report, you download it completely free of charge.