Be our guest
Global survey "checks out" hotels
The green scene
A hotel's green credentials are also becoming more important to its guests.
The Synovate survey asked potential guests to choose a statement that
best described their feelings about all-things-green in their home away
from home.
While it remains the least popular choice, nearly one in ten people (9%) say
they will not stay at a hotel unless it has an environmental policy. There was
significant difference from market to market though, with Malaysians
leading the green charge at 27%, followed by Indonesians (17%) and Brazilians (15%).
Over half of all respondents chose the pragmatic-yet-caring approach, agreeing
to 'a hotel's environmental policy is important to me, but I don't research it
ahead of time'. This was most prevalent in Japanese (70%) and French (63%) respondents.
Fujiki says, on this, she's not surprised by the 'middle-of-the-road' response.
"Most Japanese do not deny the importance of a hotel's green policy, but they
do not actively pursue it."
Sixty percent of Hong Kong respondents (the highest) agreed with "I don't care if
a hotel has an environmental policy; I will stay there regardless", which Brendan Shair,
Managing Director of Synovate in Hong Kong explains:
"While people in Hong Kong care about the environment, it is a long way off being
as important as brands and luxury to the Hong Kong traveller. It's not that
people are against green, it's simply that they don't think it should get in
the way of choosing exactly the hotel they wish to stay at."
Synovate's Hong Kong-based Frances Li does a lot of work across many markets on
hotels and their customer experience management: "People are more and more
environmentally concerned in most markets but this has not yet translated into a
major hotel selection criteria. The one in ten who look for a policy beforehand is
very encouraging though, and I believe this number will rise as more hotels promote
this as a competitive advantage. It is a way for a hotel to differentiate itself
while having a positive effect on the environment."
About the Survey
Numbers of people surveyed
BR
1000
 |
CA
1000
 |
FR
600
 |
HK
500
 |
ID
600
|
JP
1000
|
MY
600
|
NL
900
|
UAE
600
|
US
800
 |
This In:fact survey on hotels was conducted online, via telephone and face-to-face in January 2009
across ten markets – Brazil (BR), Canada (CA), France (FR), Hong Kong (HK), Indonesia(ID),
Japan (JP), Malaysia (MY) , the Netherlands (NL), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States
of America (US). It covered over 7,600 respondents, 6,350 of whom stay in hotels.
Most questions were addressed to those who stay in hotels only. We believe in our subscribers'
privacy rights. The data you provide us will not be shared with third parties.
Martin Dishman
Managing Director of The One Hotel Group
Siem Reap, Cambodia
