Hotel industry leaders working with the International
Tourism Partnership and the World Travel & Tourism Council intend to
develop new carbon reporting standards, with the first set "available for
the 2012 request-for-proposal season," according to a WTTC statement.
The group has developed an initial
methodology—"informed by the GHG Protocol standards"—to create common
industry metrics on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints.
Tracking this data in the hotel sector has been challenging
because many hotel companies use their own sets of methodologies and tools; no
constant standard across the industry currently exists.
Participating hotel companies include Accor, Fairmont Hotels
& Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, MGM Resorts International, Movenpick
Hotels & Resorts, Red Carnation Hotel Collection, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide, Premier Inn and Wyndham Worldwide.
ITP director Stephen Farrant in a statement praised the 12
participating hotel companies for working toward a "consensus on the
complex issue of carbon measurement." WTTC president and CEO David
Scowsill added that "a harmonized approach to quantifying and
communicating the sustainability of the industry's products is a firm
step" toward informing corporate and individual hotel customers about
their environmental impact.