The BC Hotel Association has signed new partnerships with sustainability-oriented organizations to help its members provide customers with less environmentally burdensome travel experiences.
The two pacts are with the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA) and with Biosphere Tourism.
London-based SHA coordinates tools for the hospitality sector and helps individual accommodations create and evolve sustainability plans. Biosphere Tourism has a sustainability-related certification program that hotels and other accomodations can achieve in order to market themselves to attract sustainability-conscious customers. The BCHA also announced that it has obtained the Biosphere Tourism certification.
The BCHA partnerships come a few days after Destination Canada won an international award for its business-event sustainability plan.
Sustainability has long been a buzzword in the hospitality sector, with hotel chains frequently promoting their enterprises as operating in a way that has a limited negative impact on the environment. The BCHA has for many years set climate-action targets.
"The BCHA has wholeheartedly supported B.C.'s accommodation community in becoming leaders in establishing a net positive hospitality sector that will support our provincial climate action goals through our GoGreen Program, and we are thrilled to unveil our sustainability playbook which builds upon that important work,” said BCHA CEO Ingrid Jarrett.
She said the new partnerships will enable the BCHA to work with its new partners to share knowledge, collaborate and create a greener future.
The BCHA's sustainability playbook is designed to guide hotel-chain members toward what it calls "operational excellence and sustainable practices."
That playbook is "packed with practical strategies, industry insights, and proven methodologies [and] the playbook equips hoteliers with the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of sustainable hospitality," according to the BCHA.
Hotels that act on the BCHA playbook's recommendations can "unlock operational efficiencies, reduce waste, conserve energy, and enhance the overall guest experience," the BCHA said in a statement.
The BCHA anticipates that its partnership with SHA will give it access to a global network of sustainability leaders, new research and collaborative initiatives that address environmental and social challenges.
