http://www.enn.com/invest.html?id=1578

The hotel industry has shown steps to become more eco-friendly. There have been an emergence of eco-hotels. These hotels fall in several categories; those that conserve ecologically significant habitats, "green" hotels that reduce, recycle, minimize waste, and conserve water, sustainable hotels that harvest food from gardens on the hotel property or obtain part or all of their power from renewable energy, hotels that encourage community involvement, and hotels that offer some form of environmental education to their guests. These are all different steps taken by different hotels, which have earned them the title of ‘eco-hotel’.

This is definitely a step in the right direction. This shows that people are indeed doing something for the environment. These hotels may be just trying to attract more customers with their title, but ultimately, these steps are benefiting our environment.

Even though none of these certification programs are regulated and compliance is voluntary, but that has not stopped any of these eco-hotels from becoming certified. In fact it's to their advantage. According to them, hotels see a net benefit to transforming their facilities and operations, meaning the benefits including savings in operating costs and increased revenue from attracting a responsible tourist outweigh the costs (e.g., equipment, human resources, consulting fees, and certification

However, as the article shows, these awards are given out by different bodies, so there is no really certified body judging them. Thus, these hotels are in varying degrees of their title. As such, it may become quite confusing when differentiating. If there was a central committee to give out these titles, they will become more standardised.

Nathaniel