ST. LOUIS—Drury Hotels Company, a family owned and operated company based in St. Louis, is in the process of rolling out amenity dispensers in the bathrooms of its guestrooms in all 123 of its Drury branded properties. The five Drury brands include Drury Inn & Suites, Drury Inn, Drury Suites, Drury Plaza Hotel, and Pear Tree Inn by Drury. Drury properties can be found in 20 states. Alison Casler, director of training and communication for Drury Hotels Company, says the new dispenser standard will save the purchase and disposal of at least 1.8 million amenity bottles a year. Drury will still offer a facial bar soap at the bathroom sink. “It makes really good sense and is a great initiative for the environment,” Casler says. “It makes the room cleaning process easier. It makes sense operationally. The feedback overall has been very good. We are working on the in-room signage.” The only guest concerns so far have related to dispenser security but Casler emphasizes that the dispensers are “locked and secure.”

LOS ANGELES—MindClick SGM and Expedia.com announced the results of a study of 5,000 consumers conducted in early January 2012 that measures awareness, expectations and the impact of hotel sustainability efforts. The study revealed that consumers applaud such efforts, but need to better understand the tangible impact to their travel lives. Over the past decade, hotels have implemented and promoted sustainability programs including energy efficiency, water conservation and recycling, and green building through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program. With operational sustainability awareness levels at 80 percent among consumers surveyed, the industry has succeeded in telling at least part of the story. This means that the concept of hotel sustainability is being factored into hotel purchase consideration. Hotel air quality is a prevailing consumer concern: four in 10 consumers list indoor air quality as a highly important in their selection criteria. Hotels that promote higher indoor air quality earn higher favorability ratings among almost two-thirds of consumers surveyed.

WISCONSIN DELLS, WIS.—You may not make it to Africa this year, but your soaps may. Home to America’s largest indoor waterparks, the authentically African-themed Kalahari Resorts and Convention Center has partnered with Orlando, Fla.-based social enterprise Clean the World to collect and recycle hotel soaps and shampoos to help fight the global spread of preventable diseases.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—Event organizers can now report on sustainability issues like impacts on communities, natural environments, and local and global economies, thanks to new guidance just published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) helped developed the guidance as part of a multi-stakeholder Working Group and Advisory Group. The events sector is diverse: its activities range from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals—all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the sustainability performance of the events industry. The new Event Organizers Sector Supplement (EOSS) will enable event organizers to report their sustainability performance in a comparable way. The sustainability reporting guidance, tailored for the events sector, aims to make reporting more relevant for event organizers by defining how to provide qualitative and quantitative information on sustainability issues. The guidance also helps event organizers report on more specific issues including attendee travel and legacy of the event.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—Event organizers can now report on sustainability issues like impacts on communities, natural environments, and local and global economies, thanks to new guidance just published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) helped developed the guidance as part of a multi-stakeholder Working Group and Advisory Group. The events sector is diverse: its activities range from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals—all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the sustainability performance of the events industry. The new Event Organizers Sector Supplement (EOSS) will enable event organizers to report their sustainability performance in a comparable way. The sustainability reporting guidance, tailored for the events sector, aims to make reporting more relevant for event organizers by defining how to provide qualitative and quantitative information on sustainability issues. The guidance also helps event organizers report on more specific issues including attendee travel and legacy of the event.

ITHACA, N.Y.—With energy representing the single fastest-growing operating cost in the hospitality industry—some 3 to 6 percent of total facility costs—hotel operators can no longer ignore the need to implement strategic energy-efficient management systems. Guests, corporate clients, employees, and investors have demonstrated increasing interest in understanding a business’s approach to key environmental, social, and governance topics that widen the scope of performance. The Cornell School of Hotel Administration is addressing these needs with a new Certification in Hotel Properties Management and Sustainability.