Consumer’s Have More Power Than They Think

So we have explored the ways that different hotels have already started taking the initiative to become sustainable, but now we need to ask ourselves why this is important and moreover how as hotel goers can we act as a catalyst for change? The mission of this blog was to give readers insight into sustainability in the hospitality industry; however, one key take away is understanding how much power you, the hotel user, has.

While sustainability in all companies is important because of the positive effects it has on the world, it is more important for business in the hospitality industry because it adds value to the business as a whole. Customers are knowingly seeking out business that are sustainable because they want their consuming to be beneficial in the big picture. Enough drive for sustainability from the hotel consumers will yield more and more hotels finding it cost effective to be completely sutainable.

There are several different ways that sustainability adds value to hotels more than other businesses which is why CSR in the hospitality industry is so important. One major way that CSR is value adding in hotels more than other business is that hotels require a large amount of fixed costs i.e. gas and electric, water, and land. By making these features pull from sustainable sources like solar panels, it will reduce the fixed costs of the hotel in the long run. Yes, the upfront cost of installation will be more; however, hotels are long-lasting entities and using sustainable features is cost efficient in the long run.

Below is a flow chart to illustrate how consumers drive change:

How do we know that our impact as consumers haven’t already caused sustainable change throughout all hotels? The following is just one example of how uneducated consumers actually forced a hotel to be unsustainable in order to conduct business:

The Hilton Hotel in San Francisco, CA installed a self-regulating air temperature system which negated the need for an A.C. system in the room, but people simply would not rent a room without an A.C. system in the so they had to install an unnecessary one in each room. This was not only an extraneous cost, but it reduced the sustainable motivation that the Hilton had because of consumer demands.

Here’s another Hilton branch in the Bay Area that has learned from this incident as is trying to adapt.

Coming full circle we see that the consumers drive change. You create the value in sustainability and the value in sustainability is in the eyes of the consumers which is why it is continuously crucial for hotel users to be educated in their power in creating sustainable hotels.

Check out this short video about how consumers will pay more for sustainable goods and services: