This month Sabre Holdings employees around the world are reaching into their communities and joining forces with their teams to raise company-matched funds for good causes. We have asked some of the leaders of Sabre’s Global Corporate Responsibility initiatives whether they would be willing to share some best practices for hotels who want to contribute to reducing their footprint, being involved in the communities they serve, and promoting sustainable tourism. This week Leilani Latimer guests blogs on “Upping” the hotel green game:

It used to be that when we thought about “green” hotels or “sustainability” in hospitality, our imagination went straight to an eco lodge in the middle of a rainforest. Well … not anymore! The Hospitality Industry has made great strides over the last few years, putting significant resource and investment into developing social and environmental programs, and they are now “upping” their game by moving towards certification to global standards and common methodology in measuring social and environmental impact.

Hotels have the ability to engage recognized organizations in the sustainability space for guidelines and recommendations for their sustainability efforts, as well as certifications to ensure customers of certain practices and strengthen their brand proposition. The Hotels that participate in our “Green Hotel” program at Travelocity, and soon in the Sabre Red Workspace are all aligned with Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. Sabre Holdings works with GSTC to align various initiatives across Sabre business units such as Travelocity’s “Green Hotel” program. Global standards and frameworks are essential tools for our businesses to innovate, increase customer loyalty and compete in today’s fast-paced environment - all whilst protecting our key stakeholders; economies, communities, people and the planet! By aligning their individual programs’ standards with the GSTC criteria - we are able to drive demand for certified sustainable travel options with clarity and integrity.

Moving the dial forward and demonstrating that power is in collaboration, a group formed by the International Tourism Partnership and the World Travel & Tourism Council includes ten major players in the hotel industry. The Carbon Measurement Working Group is working to standardize how carbon is measured and reported in order to create consistency in how hotels calculate and communicate carbon emissions so that guests and corporate clients can gain clarity in understanding the impact of the hotels they stay in.

These examples make it clear that hotels can engage with sustainability in a deeper, more strategic way and that by doing so we, as marketers and distributors of their products, play an active role in “upping the game” with them for the next phase of sustainability: one characterized by global frameworks that will increase customer, brand and industry engagement.

Leilani C. Latimer (Leilani.latimer@sabre.com) leads Global Sustainability Initiatives for Sabre Holdings, the world’s leading provider of high-performance technology solutions for the travel industry. She develops and directs the company’s sustainability strategy and initiatives in collaboration with business leaders across the corporation. Previously Leilani led worldwide marketing strategy and planning for Sabre Travel Network and held positions in Customer & Product Marketing in North America. She also managed Marketing and Business Development for Southern Europe, where she began her career with Sabre.