Intriguing title, but what are we talking about here? Perhaps defining terms would help. Hospitality and hospitable derive from the same root word, suggesting the friendly, favorable, warm, and generous treatment of guests. The hospitality industry – in itself an interesting juxtaposition of terms – prides itself on creating cultures of service that seek to treat people like honored guests, while offering some sense of “the comforts of home.” All this in hopes of exceeding customer expectations, increasing return visits and raving referrals, growing profitability, and ultimately, being successful at sustaining themselves.
Yes, you knew we’d get to sustainability. As most successful businesses have been learning over the last several years, there are two integrated paths to success. The first, a quality service-oriented approach, has been to do whatever it takes to increase guest satisfaction and sales. The second has been more grounded in reducing ongoing operational costs by employing innovative perspectives and practices behind the scenes.
Being hospitable implies an intimate understanding of the first path, which manifests most readily in terms of staff behavior, extensive guest services, and a pleasing design aesthetic. Conventional wisdom suggests that the second path, again reducing operational expenses, manifests as the lack of behavior, that is to say, fewer resources used, fewer repairs (and repair people), fewer inconveniences, fewer complaints, and fewer apologies. Operational efficiencies are usually transparent to the customer, but when we see the rising costs of energy, water management, and waste management, expense increases are eventually transferred to the customers’ bills. So it’s easy to connect the dots between operational savings, profit margins, and sustainable success.
Now, under the relatively new purview of environmental health and safety, successful enterprises must learn to integrate a third path to sustainable success. Businesses of all types are expected to reduce and ultimately eliminate their harmful impacts on public health. Specifically, they need to curtail their contributions to global warming, greenhouse gases, and other environmental toxins outside of their buildings, as well as eliminate threats to both staff and guests that compromise indoor environmental quality. Currently in the news and the collective consciousness are issues related to the latter, which include concerns around air quality, lighting, temperature, noise, food, contaminants, and harmful chemical residue from building, finish, and furniture materials. Such concerns are well-founded, as we see increasing cases of long-term stress, compromised immune systems, lung disease, neurological impairment, etc.
Wow, that’s a lot of stuff to be thinking about! How can a hotel possibly get its arms around all of these……….opportunities for innovation and creativity?
In Philadelphia PA, one answer is the Philagreen Hospitality Association. According to Francine Cohen, Executive Director of PGHA, it is an initiative comprised of hospitality and environmental professionals joining together to create sustainable, or “green,” business practices. PGHA encourages and supports hospitality professionals to green their operations in a variety of ways, from using environmentally friendly cleaning products to following protocols set forth by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) via their LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification program. PGHA also offers regular educational seminars throughout the year to get its message to more levels of more hospitality organizations.
What motivated Francine to create the PGHA? In her own words:
“After a successful career as a corporate art consultant, I decided it was time to give something back to the planet. As far back as I can remember, even before Al Gore put it on the map, I was conscious of respecting the environment. I also happen to love travel, and appreciate the sanctuary that is a clean, fresh hotel room. One day it occurred to me to combine these two passions, so I founded Philagreen– an association whose mission is the greening of the hospitality industry.”
It is nice to know that people like Francine Cohen are around, behind the scenes, devoting their lives to ensure that when you and your family travel, your needs – both seen and unseen – are a priority.
Perhaps this brief article will provide an opportunity for you to learn more about the hotels you’re considering for your next trip or even a local “stay-cation.” Sustainable you, sustainable hospitality, sustainable communities, sustainable planet – as honored guests at each and every scale, we can and do make a beneficial difference in the world just by making conscious choices.
To learn more about the Philagreen Hospitality Association, please call Francine Cohen at 215.922.1109 or visit www.philagreenhospitality.com.
I invite you to visit me at www.TheHTrust.com to connect personally and learn more about shifting your personal lifestyles and organizational cultures.
This article is the property of David Secan and may only be used with permission
© 2009, all rights reserved
Tags: comforts of home, guest satisfaction, hospitality industry, pleasing design, sustainable success
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