Case Study: Greening the Excelsior Susan Sayles, Director of Marketing for the Excelsior Hotel and Conference Centre, was not happy. She had just heard that one of her competitors, Natural Lodging, had booked some business that she had hopes of getting. The annual conference of CERES was going to Natural Lodging rather than the Excelsior. Not only were the CERES business good-300 rooms for three nights plus conference rooms, lunches, and a major banquet-but Susan was hoping the conference would get her property on the radar screen of those attending the conference. Several Fortune 100 businesses were among the companies represented at the conference, and many of these companies had substantial local operations that could generate a lot of follow up business for the Excelsior. When a local historic but under performing hotel had reopened as Natural Lodging a few years earlier, Susan and several marketing directors at other area hotels had viewed its “green hotel” concept with scepticism. She had heard of green marketing and knew it worked for companies such as Whole Foods and Body Shop but doubted it would work in the hotel business. She had been a little surprised that Natural Lodging’s certification under the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design—Existing Building program (administered by the U.S. Green Buildings Council) had generated a lot of press when it was announced, and she sensed that some business had come to Natural Lodging as a result. When the hotel had operated under the flag of a well-known lodging brand, it had been a below-average performer in the market. Now, as Natural Lodging, the latest Smith Travel Research information showed it was outperforming its competitive set in occupancy with rates that were comparable and edging higher. Natural Lodging seemed to be doing quite well. When Susan had prepared the bid for the CERES conference, it required that someone from the Excelsior complete the CERES Green Hotel Initiative Best Practice Survey. She had asked the rooms division director to complete this survey, verified that it had been done, and included it in her bid. Wondering if this might have influenced her bid’s failure, she pulled out her copy and looked it over. Ouch! Excelsior scored a 0 (“no activity in this area”) or a 1 (“budgeted initiative, planned for implementation within one year of submission date”) in most areas. Nothing had scored a 5 (“well-established practice/equipment installed throughout property”). She had a feeling Natural Lodging’s scores were a lot higher. A year later, Susan was asked to take the Director of Marketing position with another Excelsior Hotel in another city. Coincidentally, CERES was looking to have its annual convention in this city in a little over a year. She decided to have a talk with her new GM about the lost bid and the potential value of greening the hotel in light of the CERES opportunity. Susan indicated that Natural Lodging did not have a property to compete within this city, and she thought the CERES business was an excellent opportunity to pursue. The GM was cautiously supportive of the idea and asked her to put together a group of staff to pursue it. Susan found herself leading the Excelsior “green team,” except she didn’t yet have a team and she wasn’t really sure what was involved in a hotel’s environmental performance. Question 1: (Suggested 250 words per section)
1.1What items might Susan present to the GM regarding the value of a green program in addition to the potential for business such as CERES?
1.2What Energy Saving engineering practices could the hotel employ in order to enhance their sustainability and reduce operating costs?
1.3What Capex Items should the hotel consider adding in their next Budgetary Cycle?
1.4How and why should the Hotel Staff be involved in the project?
