Skift Take
Can IHG's new green effort satisfy both cost-conscious hotel owners and eco-conscious travelers? IHG admits its new program is just a start. It's not pretending to have all the answers, which is refreshingly honest for a major corporation.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) debuted a program on Wednesday to showcase hotels whose operations have low carbon emissions footprints.
Participating hotels in IHG's "low carbon pioneers" program must meet energy efficiency standards, draw power from renewable energy, and satisfy related requirements.
IHG is launching its effort with three hotels. It will put "badges" on the hotel listings of its booking platforms, starting with the IHG One Rewards app.
"We want to be able to scale it to be more," said Catherine Dolton, chief sustainability officer at IHG. "I'm not pretending we're going to get to thousands of hotels quickly, but this is going to help us to test and learn about those sustainability measures so we can then roll them out more widely."
IHG has a global portfolio of more than 6,300 hotels. Its