Industry Spotlight
Novotel Clarke Quay in Singapore was recognised for its environmental contribution through Planet 21. It was among the three brands that clinched the 2014 Singapore Environmental Achievement Award. Image: Accor
Accor’s Planet 21 - a gamechanger in hospitality With a 91 per cent success rate so far, Accor’s Planet 21 programme is gradually driving a change in the global hotel industry towards sustainability, reports Mint Kang. s convincing hotel owners and managers to invest in sustainability can be an uphill task. There are many priorities to balance - from financial considerations to customer expectations, and branding to guest satisfaction. So when global hotel operator Accor decided, in April 2011, that it would get all of the 3,000 hotels it manages worldwide (which has grown to more than 3,700 since) to achieve at least a basic level of sustainability by the end of 2015, it was an ambitious undertaking, to say the least. To drive this effort, Accor launched Planet 21 in 2012 – an initiative that raises the standard on how the hotel industry approaches sustainability. It identifies a total of 21 commitments under seven pillars involving social, environmental and community aspects: Health, Nature, Carbon,
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By Mint Kang
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Innovation, Local, Employment and Dialogue. Each commitment carries three quantifiable objectives and corresponding actions which should be met by the end of 2015, and individual hotels can aspire towards varying levels of commitments. Ideally, 100 per cent of Accor-operated and franchise hotels will have fulfilled at least 10 action items before 2015 ends. As of December, a good 91 per cent of Accor’s 500 plus hotels in Asia Pacific including participating franchisees have met that target. “Achieving that 91 per cent was not easy,” says Mallika Naguran, Accor’s sustainable development and communications manager for the Asia Pacific. “Some of the hotels faced challenges in implementing the commitments, usually financial considerations. A few of the hotel owners had other priorities, and we spent time to engage them and come