Why Travel Providers Should Offer Single-Use Plastic Free Hotels

Sustainable travel has become the buzzword of the last few years in the travel industry, and while it’s important to keep pushing towards an industry where sustainability is at the core of all business models, it’s also just as important to aim for more. 

Single use plastic-free hotels and experiences are essential when we’re thinking about making tourism a force for good, which is a goal that lies near and dear to us at Hotelbeds as a TravelTech leader.

Of course, sustainability, environmental concerns and the travel industry have long been connected within both positive and negative discourse. However, plastic pollution and the prevalence of single-use plastics is one of the main challenges facing the planet and the tourism industry, as plastic waste decreases the visual appeal of destinations, pollutes the natural environment, and can contribute to poor human and wildlife health. 

Tourism isn’t the only victim when it comes to single-use plastic waste, but the tourism industry itself is a large contributor to plastic pollution, and it’s time that the industry tackles this problem from the inside - just like our Sustainable Hotels Programme, which now offers around 40,000 sustainable hotels.

Here are just a few reasons why travel providers should be offering sustainable, single-use plastic-free hotels to your clients.

Meet The Demands of Today’s (and Tomorrow’s) Traveller

While today’s traveller is increasingly sustainably minded, it’s the traveller of the future who will be next in line to take the industry even further and minimising the impact of tourism on the environment. 

So, who is it that you're are trying to attract with these sustainable travel offerings? 

Millennials, Gen Z, and the up-and-coming Gen Alpha (children of Millennial families) are the travellers of both today and tomorrow; these are the young people who you want to impress, attract, and retain as customers. 

These travellers are already purchasing more sustainable travel options than any other demographic whether that’s experiential travel, slow travel, or even domestic travel. It’s got to be sustainable.

Gen Z is a demographic which wants to travel sustainably and, according to some reports, are three times as likely to get involved with volunteering or regenerative travel projects when visiting another country. 

Similarly, Millennials suggest they want trips that have minimal impact on the environment. Millennials also represent the largest generation to date, with a massive $200 billion in spending power - so if anything, that’s a huge financial reason to pay attention to the needs of this travel segment. 

And with the global sustainable tourism industry valued at 181 billion USD and growing all the time, there is significant uplift available for companies, organisations and providers who implement successful sustainable tourism opportunities and who actively partner with those in the travel industry with sustainability at the forefront of their business model.

Accor Hotels: A Successful Case Study In Going Single-Use Plastic Free

In fact, major hotel chains have already made a step forward in order to tackle this issue. One good example is Accor Hotels, which joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in 2022 and has since announced two global partnerships with Green Key and Green Globe certifications. 

Going single-use plastic-free can be a challenging task for any business in the travel industry, but here's proof that such an aim is not only attainable, but significantly rewarding for businesses that do. In the following video, Jordane de Villaret Bentinck, VP of Sustainability Communications & Change at Accor, explains the actions the chain has implemented so far and how they have been received by customers.

Our Sustainable Hotels Programme

This rising demand for sustainable hotels and experiences is also something we’ve clearly seen at Hotelbeds in the last few years.

Our Sustainable Hotels Programme started in 2020 and offered 15,000 properties to travel sellers, and the end, eco-conscious traveller. Since then, it has grown to around 40,000 hotels with a huge increase of 84% over 2022 compared to the prior 12 months. 

What’s more, the programme saw a 30% growth in the number of travellers booking sustainable and single-use plastic-free hotels on our platform between 2022 and 2023, and interest shows no signs of slowing down.

Sustainable hotels can be found with a filter in our online Booking Engine, which refines searches to highlight hotels who have signed up to our Sustainable Hotels Programme and earned the relevant certification, such as the Hotel Sustainability Basics certificate by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the GSTC Industry Criteria offered by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

This combined with the powerful, data-driven and user-friendly nature of our Booking Engine, which helps streamline daily tasks for travel providers, means it is easier than ever for travel providers to find the most relevant properties for eco-conscious travellers in just a few clicks.

Avoid Losing Business As Travel Goes Sustainable

As more and more travellers are putting their money where their beliefs are, there is the potential risk that current hotspot destinations which are producing plastic waste will be left behind by an increasingly eco-conscious market. 

And for the communities which are so dependent on the revenue generated by tourism, as well as the travel providers, like you, who are dependent on securing bookings from travellers themselves, keeping up with client demand is key.

For example, a study in Mallorca suggests that catering for sustainable travellers is not only feasible in built-up, popular locations, but necessary to maintain business and meet traveller needs. 

This study was carried out to determine the feasibility and impact of plastic-free zones where single-use plastics (SUPs) were drastically reduced. Hotels in the area were found to produce 7,720 tonnes of plastic waste every year, harming the natural environments which are so popular with visitors. Of the travellers that took part in the study, 84% suggested they would pay more for a single-use plastic free experience - which is a number that cannot be ignored.

Evidently, if popular locations do not begin to implement green initiatives, and if travel providers do not promote sustainable hotels and experiences in these regions, the risk of suffering a drop in business as customers choose sustainable alternatives becomes very real.

And with 13 million tonnes of plastic entering the waterways around the world every year, reducing the impact of single-use plastic pollution as a result of tourism has never been more important, especially in coastal and island destinations. As our head of Environmental, Social and Governance Carlota Galvan suggests:

Considering that around 90% of the plastic in the oceans comes from land-based sources and that the annual damage of plastics in marine ecosystems amounts to 13 billion dollars a year, it is essential to be proactive on the issue.

So, the motivation is two-fold for travel sellers to offer and promote single-use plastic free and sustainable alternatives to travellers at the very beginning of their travel plans; not only to help fight the destructive impact of plastic waste, but to continually meet the needs of todays’ traveller, without compromising the traveller of tomorrow. 

What’s the first step? 

Accessing a portfolio of thousands of sustainable hotels to offer your clients! And with around 40,000 hotels participating in our Sustainable Hotels Programme, we at Hotelbeds are in a prime position to offer exactly what your customers are after.

Become Part of a Forward-Thinking Industry 

Single-use plastic free. Carbon Neutral. Climate Positive. 

When you think of these terms, you think of the future. You think of the shape of the travel industry as it is in the minds of those that want to change the industry for good; you think of the next wave of generations who are the most vocal and outspoken about climate change and all the ways that individuals, industries and businesses need to offset the impact on the environment as a matter of urgency. 

Global and institutional incentives are also a great way to actively combat plastic waste and join forces with brands and organisations taking it upon themselves to make travel a positive force.

As an example, the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI), which is co-led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), requires national and local governments, companies, and supporting organisations in the tourism sector to actively commit to reducing plastic pollution and shift towards plastic circularity (reusing and upcycling products rather than disposing of them) by 2025. 

While the ‘Future of Tourism’ coalition includes six NGOs who are encouraging key industry names to uphold 13 regenerative principles, such as circular economy, and including sustainable local supply chains in the definition of economic success, rather than just relying on GDP. 

These are critical developments from the industry itself, meeting the rising demand for something more than just sustainable travel. 

Plus, incentives like this are a practical way to support travel providers like you, as you reduce plastic waste in the daily practices and partnerships that you have, while still maintaining health and quality protocols for the end traveller.

Already, many of the world’s best travel providers and institutions are taking action to reduce their plastic use and carbon emissions! For example: 

• Beyond tours, Cunard and P&O had all removed single-use plastics from their ships by the end of 2022.
• Alaska Airlines has remained the leading US airline on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the last three years running. 
• Leading slow travel tour operator Byway is launching flight-free planning services for international events to minimise carbon emissions.
• Adventure travel specialist Explore announced one of the most comprehensive carbon measurement projects in the industry, allowing travellers even greater transparency on their environmental impact.
• Marriott International had converted to shampoo dispenser bottles by 2020, eliminating 10.4 million mini bottles. 

Being a part of the movement is only going to bring positive responses from the high-value sustainable traveller and boost your success as a leader of the sustainable charge.

What’s more, according to our platforms, tour operators and travel wholesalers are paving the way when it comes to booking sustainable hotels and experiences in some of our most popular destinations around the world. Which means, when it comes to influencing travellers to make sustainable choices, travel providers are essential!

Promoting single-use plastic free hotels is just the first step of many; but it’s certainly a start.

Plus, ensuring that more sustainable hotels and travel opportunities are front and centre for travellers at the beginning of their booking journey, encourages and enables more sustainable choices – allowing the industry to work together to transform the ‘traditional’ traveller into a sustainable traveller.