Everybody’s been hyping sustainability over the last decade, at least in the world outside of our industry. Our industry has been quietly talking about it only since a a couple of years. Are we not seeing the benefits of claiming a green image, or don’t we see the (financial) benefits clear enough?

Did you know that research shows that 10% of all travelers would stay at a hotel with a clear sustainability policy, over one that doesn’t?

Surely hotels have been applying the towel-policy but can we call that sustainability?  It’s certainly a good start but we’re still relying on guests, who are ignorant about it and think that when they’ve paid for an – in their eyes – expensive room, they want to make use of everything in the room. Including all of these towels. So perhaps that’s a bad example and it’s not a driver of a hotel’s the green image. But what is driving this and how can we support you?

Just as an example, I recently booked a conference in a renowned hotel chain. In their offer, it was clearly stated that the hotel did everything to reduce carbon emissions during our stay. A good step forward from the towels-policy, but unfortunately not really concrete. Is this already an image builder (good or bad, up to you)?
A well known and successful hotel image builder is the Marriott Green Initiative. This programme is  concrete in terms of energy and CO2 saving and the guest is becoming aware of this throughout their complete experience at the hotel (before, during and after their stay). So it’s rather on a hotel’s core business strategy to differentiate from another while saving money in its operations and communicating this openly to its guests.

Exactly, saving money! And isn’t that what we’re all after? A green image is (only) interesting when it attracts more visitors, and more visitors on the long run can only be achieved when sustainability is considered into a brand’s core strategy (otherwise it may soon come across as fake). When it’s part of the core strategy it will also save costs. So at the end, doesn’t sustainability, when applied correctly, both save money and  bring in more recurring clientele? Then why don’t we see more of these best practices, and why don’t we have one hotel brand in mind which lives and breathes sustainability?

Is there something we can do as technology suppliers? Are we clear enough in our communications, and if we aren’t, what should we improve? Let me give you an example with our PrimeSuite TVs and Acentic’s Panorama as this would be close to your interests. We’re known as not the cheapest solution in the market, and we don’t aspire to be. However, over the lifetime of the product, we offer a better financial result for your operations as we help you save money and build your sustainability strategy resulting in repeat business. Acentic’s system - with PrimeSuite TVs - runs on only a small STB rather than a DVB-tuner or a mini computer, saving you 91% in energy costs. With the PrimeSuite TVs you will save another €20 per year per TV versus the average currently installed sets or competition. The combination of Philips and Acentic results in reduced lifetime cost or TCO, rather than plainly focusing on the initial cost!

Think cost saving, think repeat business, think sustainability. Let us know what we can do to help you!
I invite you to discuss this with us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter (key words: PhilipsHotelTV).