The partnership offers destination management organisations unprecedented insights into the eco-certification levels of hotels, attractions, beaches, and restaurants through comprehensive, verifiable eco-certification data.
Copenhagen, 21 October 2024 – BeCause, the Danish start-up revolutionising how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, is partnering with the Global Destination Sustainability – Movement (GDS-Movement) to help tourism and event organisations, including Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), gain unprecedented insight into their region’s sustainable accommodations and offerings.
Members of GDS-Movement, an international change agency that acts to catalyse socio-economic and environmental transformation in regions and cities through tourism, can now access a specially designed data overview on the BeCause platform that shows them a real-time, comprehensive view of the sustainability status of their destination’s hospitality landscape. Specifically, they will be able to quickly see which hotels, restaurants, attractions, beaches and experiences have valid sustainability certifications, which will provide them with a trustworthy foundation for building a targeted sustainability strategy.
A Game-Changing Approach to Sustainability Data
Prior to BeCause, destinations could only obtain this information by manually matching each certification to the accommodations and hospitality services in their coverage zone – an error-prone, laborious process that kept DMOs and NTOs from promoting their full range of sustainable offerings.
As the only sustainability data management hub tailored for the visitor economy, BeCause works with over 70 eco-certification bodies and globally-recognised industry organisations including Green Key, Travalyst, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Green Sign and EarthCheck. Its platform enables the seamless exchange of sustainability information between these organisations, hotels and other key stakeholders such as booking platforms, travel retailers and tourism organisations, significantly streamlining the data flow.
“One of the greatest challenges destinations face today is accessing accurate data about the sustainability practices of their supply chains,” said Guy Bigwood, CEO of GDS-Movement. “Our partnership with BeCause directly addresses this challenge, helping DMOs, CVBs, and NTOs create more regenerative, resilient destinations that benefit both visitors and residents,” says Guy Bigwood, CEO of GDS-Movement.
“By utilising the BeCause platform, destinations participating in the GDS-Index will be able to assess their environmental performance more efficiently, complete the index faster, and communicate their sustainability initiatives more effectively to stakeholders, including governments, clients, and visitors,” Bigwood added.
Meeting demand for sustainable travel
According to a 2024 Booking.com survey, 75% of global travellers say they want to travel more sustainably in the short term, while 89% of business travellers say they are taking extra steps to reduce the environmental impact of their travel. Access to sustainable travel options is also a key consideration for meetings and event planners, with 13% of those surveyed for the American Express 2024 Global Meetings and Events Forecast ranking sustainability as among the top two factors influencing where they choose to hold their events and 39% admitting that they struggle to identify sustainability certified suppliers.
“In today’s always on and information hungry world, VisitEngland recognises the need to ensure our destinations have access to data that is both trustworthy and accurate. VisitEngland is working with BeCause to ensure access to their platform can help England’s tourism industry meet the growing demands of visitors seeking environmentally responsible experiences, from which attraction to check out and which destination to discover to where best to stay to suit their needs,” says Andrew Stokes, Director of VisitEngland, the first destination to pilot the BeCause-powered data hub.
By having the data overview from BeCause, organisations like Visit England can zoom in on specific regions and get a thorough overview of offerings in real-time, as well as information on those certifications. This will enable NTOs and DMOs to gain unforeseen insights into the status and trends within their own destination, greatly empowering their strategic work with sustainability and building a data-led decision setup. Furthermore, it will enable them to address greenwashing claims head-on backed up by validated data and enhance their credibility as trusted sources for sustainability information on the destinations.
Building Trust Through Data
“Trust is the foundation of sustainability,” said Frederik Steensgaard, CEO of BeCause. “By automating the verification of sustainability claims with direct communication from certification bodies, we ensure that trust is prioritized across the entire value chain - from consumers to tourism organisations.”
For more information about BeCause and its partnership with GDS-Movement or to speak with CEO Frederik Steensgaard, please get in touch with Vanessa Horwell at vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com.
About BeCause
BeCause is an enterprise software company that streamlines the flow of sustainability data and creates synergies between different stakeholders in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries, empowering them to make decisions that result in positive, responsible change for people, the planet, and their profits. BeCause works with over 25,000 hotels, including brands like Radisson, certification entities like GreenKey, industry partners like the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the WSHA, and marketplaces like Booking.com. For more information, visit because.eco.
About Global Destination Sustainability Movement
The GDS-Movement is a pioneering, data-driven international change agency that acts to catalyse socio-economic and environmental transformation in cities and regions across the world. Our mission is to empower tourism and events professionals with the mindsets, skill sets, and toolsets to co-create more regenerative and resilient destinations to visit, meet, and live in. Discover more at www.gds.earth.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL DESTINATION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX (GDS-Index)
The GDS-Index is a trusted performance improvement programme to assess and accelerate the progress of a destination’s regenerative journey. It measures, benchmarks, and enhances the sustainability strategies, action plans, and initiatives of more than 100 destination management organisations, municipal authorities, and their tourism supply chains.
Co-founded in 2016 by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), IMEX Group, and MCI, the GDS-Index offers an unparalleled resource for visitors, DMOs, municipalities, and event planners looking for destinations that offer the best in sustainability performance.
Three factors influencing the development of sustainability data management technology in 2024
by Frederik Steensgaard, CEO and Co-Founder, BeCause
Want Better ESG Outcomes? Get Your Data in Line
Regardless of sector, no company can afford to ignore sustainability today; the commercial, moral, and regulatory mandates are just too significant – and potentially costly. Despite this, many companies struggle to advance sustainability within their operations, resulting in tepid actions that amount to little more than greenwashing or worse, greenhushing. Why? In most cases, organizations have a data problem.
Specifically, they lack reliable and trustworthy data about their environmental and social impacts and the tools to translate them into the meaningful insights required to convince decision-makers to pursue transformative projects. The adage,” You can’t manage and innovate what you can’t measure,” has never been more accurate when it comes to sustainability data.
Technology that can help a company harness its own sustainability data and communicate sustainability metrics across stakeholders is indispensable. More than any other sustainability innovation, it can catalyze better ESG outcomes, enabling companies to identify strengths and weaknesses and optimize costs, asset utilization, and energy performance.
What is currently influencing the development and direction of this technology? Below are three factors that will have the greatest impact on how corporations collect, coordinate, communicate, and, in general, manage their sustainability data.
Artificial Intelligence Elevates Sustainability Data Management
Could we write about technology innovation in 2024 without referencing artificial intelligence? No. While AI permeates nearly every discussion about the future of business operations, its promise is immense in efficiently managing sustainability data.
For many industries, as is the case in the tourism, hospitality, and travel sectors, where we focus our efforts, sustainability data exists in siloes and is governed by outdated manual-led and error-prone processes. A sustainability data management platform upends the current and fragmented approach to data collection, analysis and distribution by serving as a centralized hub where all sustainability data enters and exits.
Instead of having bits and pieces of valuable information between stakeholders’ inboxes and other disconnected places, the platform acts as the single source of truth. It allows sustainability managers to leverage big data analytics to get buy-in on sustainability projects internally with shareholders and customers.
AI is the layer that helps interpret and apply this data across stakeholders and workflows without putting the onus on human resources to map this data. For instance, say a company collects metrics on their direct and indirect water usage and needs to use this data for many purposes, such as applying for voluntary certifications, complying with mandatory sustainability reporting frameworks, sharing with a supplier working on water conservation implementation, etc.
Unfortunately, these pieces of critical data can rarely be used in their current state due to different input requirements and requests, making it impossible for companies to upcycle their data effectively.
AI eliminates this impediment, allowing sustainability managers to do more with less effort, time, and money. AI, coupled with machine learning, can also identify gaps in the data collection to make targeted suggestions that help companies set ambitious internal benchmarks and better meet external requirements.
Regulatory Compliance Forces the Issue
2024 is already evolving as a watershed for sustainability disclosure legislation. In March 2024, nearly two years after they were initially released, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission finally ruled in favor of climate change reporting regulations for publicly listed companies, while in the European Union, large enterprises are preparing to release their first reports on their sustainability-related activities under the EU’s Corporate Social Responsibility Directive. New Zealand, Australia, and Canada all have similar reporting rules, either on the table or approved.
Of course, this exercise won’t directly push companies to become more sustainable, but it does force them to undertake a more thorough analysis of their activities, which is a potential game-changer. The most rigorous reporting rules will require companies to report on both their direct and indirect footprints, a process called double materiality. This means that sustainability data management platforms must do more than collect a company’s data and be able to output audit-ready reports.
These platforms must also be comprehensive communication vehicles for all sustainability metrics that affect and are affected by the company. For instance, under double materiality, a hotel reporting on its energy consumption would have to detail how its energy-intensive operations, such as heating and cooling, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore, global climate change while also accounting for how climate-related risks due to extreme weather events could disrupt their operations, damage their property, impact guest safety and their capacity to deliver goods.
Some business leaders aren’t quite cheering the introduction of mandatory sustainability reporting, saying the activity, which elevates sustainability to financial reporting status, will cost too much. Indeed, the American rule, which doesn’t include Scope 3 emissions reporting (emissions that a company is indirectly responsible for), is already being challenged in court. Whether that challenge is successful is, nonetheless, almost beside the point because companies operating in the United States and Europe will already have to determine how much greenhouse gases they emit and how climate change could hurt their businesses.
Just like technology advancements significantly reshaped the landscape of financial reporting by driving down costs and making it easier to collect, distribute, and publish audit-ready reports—think automated accounting software, data analysis and management, and digital dashboards—innovations like sustainability data management platforms can do the same for sustainability reporting.
According to Reuters, this is already happening. Investment in these platforms, along with investment in sustainability risk management solutions and emissions management solutions, is seeing exponential growth and will be the focus of corporate sustainable tech expenditures by 2026, underscoring the critical role that sustainability disclosure rules play in promoting sustainability-focused actions.
Investor Demand for Sustainable Options Grows
While not directly tied to sustainability data management, venture capital investments in climate technology as a proportion of overall startup investments have continued to rise despite 2023’s challenging funding environment.
Further, investors (including individuals) are increasingly incorporating ESG factors into their investment decisions and demanding more transparency and disclosure from companies on sustainability issues. A Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) survey found that 80% of investors consider ESG factors in their investment decision-making process. In contrast, according to Morgan Stanley, 54% anticipate boosting allocations to sustainable investments next year. Last year, ESG mutual funds and ETFs rose by 53% to $2.7 trillion, reinforcing that doing good for the planet is also good business.
Companies without efficient sustainability data management technology, however, risk being left behind. With mounting sustainability disclosure rules, the investment environment has the most potential to help push the adoption and development of modern sustainability data management platforms.
When it comes to sustainable technology, we admit that data management might not seem like the most glamorous innovation. However, without an efficient and cost-effective way to understand and predict the impact of a business’s activities on the planet, it can be difficult for companies to find the resources required to invest in initiatives that will lessen their carbon footprint and satisfy their stakeholders. In this case, sustainability data management technology is the horse pulling the cart, and that’s a role we are very happy to play.
With an alarming number of extreme weather events dominating the headlines over the past few years and major reports sounding the warning bells about global warming, the effects of climate change have become impossible to ignore. While governments are responding with more aggressive policies to curb carbon emissions, consumers are increasingly looking to corporations to play their part and do good for people and the planet. According to the Harvard Business Review, companies that invest sufficiently in sustainability will outperform those that do not, particularly among younger consumers.
Travel is one major industry where consumers recognize the need to be more sustainable. In Booking.com’s 2022 Sustainable Travel Report, 71% of global travelers hoped to travel more sustainably in the upcoming year, marking a 10% increase from 2021. This trend intensified, with the 2023 survey showing a 5% increase—reflecting a growing commitment to eco-friendly travel choices.
This commitment is expected to pay significant dividends. The global demand for sustainable tourism is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of 23.8% between now and 2034, with net revenue estimated to reach a value of nearly US$12,815,005 million (about $39,000 per person in the US) by the end of this period.
And yet, despite these numbers, there is some evidence that consumer interest in sustainable travel has plateaued at 75%, based on Booking.com’s most recent Sustainable Travel Report. While this stagnation doesn’t diminish the importance of sustainability in travel (three-quarters of the population is not insignificant!), the leveling off can be attributed to the challenges consumers face in finding and booking sustainable travel options.
Chief among these challenges is choice and trust. Though the availability of eco-accommodations is on the rise, identifying sustainable accommodations outside of this category is less obvious. How can you be sure the hotel you’ve booked for a weekend in London prioritizes sustainability and is not engaging in greenwashing activities? Furthermore, how can hotels in the same group maintain a consistent level of sustainability across different locations to ensure that guests are not disappointed from one booking to the next?
Overall, consumers tend not to trust brand sustainability claims, and that’s certainly the case in travel.
According to Booking.com’s 2023 survey, nearly 40% of consumers said they don’t trust the sustainability of available travel options. About 50% think they are too expensive, likely because these options tend to cater to the luxury market. And yet, 45% of consumers in the 2024 poll say they find it appealing when they come across an accommodation with sustainability labeling, with 67% agreeing that all travel booking sites should use the same sustainable certifications or labels.
The message to companies is clear: to meet the demand for sustainable stays and ensure the trustworthiness of their claims, hospitality brands must be ready to prove that their actions towards the environment are genuine.
Recognized certifications from organizations like Green Key are the best way hotels can substantiate their green policies to the public. What those certifications mean must be clearly communicated via different booking partners using consistent terms. Laid out in this way, the mission seems rather straightforward, and yet anyone involved in quantifying, analyzing and communicating sustainability within the hotel space knows this is far from true. Let’s explore why.
The path to sustainability: An inconsistent, rocky and obstacle-filled road
Establishing standardized reporting and certifications across the hospitality and travel industries is essential for scaling sustainability practices. Data is central to creating these standards, but the existing sustainability data management practices don’t allow it. Many hotels, even ones that are part of large hospitality groups, still collect and communicate their sustainability data manually—in other words, through email and spreadsheets. It’s a decentralized, time-consuming process prone to human error that results in inconsistent experiences across different properties. It’s also expensive.
According to our estimates, hotels spend nearly $8 million annually on sustainability reporting using these complex fragmented and manual approaches without much to show. And because each eco-certification standard asks for data based on its own parameters, data can’t easily be re-used, creating a significant hurdle across the industry towards sustainability innovation and initiative expansion.
The challenges are similar for booking partners like online travel agencies (OTAs). To communicate a hotel’s sustainability credentials to its customers, OTAs often receive an exported list of hotels via a spreadsheet from the different certifiers and then must manually (and individually) match them to hotels in their database before being able to create a category for sustainability within their booking channels. As a result, it’s near impossible for OTAs to process information in real-time, fueling consumer skepticism about the validity of a travel provider’s sustainability claims and discouraging some platforms from including sustainability as a search parameter.
In 2024, no hotel or booking partner should manually manage its sustainability data. This practice causes them to miss out on revenue from the growing eco-conscious traveler market and puts them at serious risk of not meeting sustainability reporting and compliance requirements. Governments worldwide, such as the European Union, have begun implementing these standards for all businesses operating within their borders.
Removing the obstacles to more responsible tourism
If siloed and outdated practices are the problem, combining a hotel’s sustainability data and data requirements from eco-certifiers and government regulators into a centralized, interconnected database is the modern-day answer. While sustainability data management software has existed for many years, no system has ever addressed hotels' specific needs.
With the introduction of the BeCause sustainability data management hub, hotels and the broader travel industry now have a streamlined way to handle sustainability data. This hub acts as an intermediary, efficiently funneling data between all relevant parties within and outside the organization. But what does this mean in practical terms?
Individual hotels, large chains, booking engines, industry organizations, and eco-standards certifiers can be on the BeCause platform. For instance, the Sustainable Hotel Alliance and World Travel and Tourism Council have made their frameworks for calculating and evaluating a hotel’s sustainability impact available on BeCause.
Today, hotels can use those tools directly within the hub. In the near future, they can map their existing and new data to these frameworks automatically, easily allowing them to identify gaps or missed opportunities in their sustainability data collection. The same idea applies to certifications like Green Key or government regulations like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive—those frameworks already exist in BeCause, and thanks to the magic of machine learning and artificial intelligence, hotels can upcycle their data to different standards at the press of a button.
This streamlined process matters as it means hotels can be more ambitious and apply for more certifications without doing more work. At the corporate level, it can help hotel sustainability managers see which individual properties are falling behind so they can offer their support. Booking platforms plugged into the BeCause platform can also automatically update their database of sustainable hotels on a rolling basis, offering their customers a broader, more extensive selection of sustainable accommodations with verifiable and easily explained eco-labeling at almost every price point. For example, hotels can use the ESRS framework to collect the necessary data and comply with CSRD requirements.
The demand for sustainable travel options remains strong, but consumer weariness has started to creep in. To quell that weariness, hospitality providers must double down on their efforts to build trust through accurate and consistent sustainability reporting that leverages recognized certifications to instill confidence in travelers looking to reduce the carbon footprint of their travels.
Aside from the revenue gains, investing in a more automated, centralized, and intuitive sustainability data management system like BeCause will help hotels save on operational costs, meet compliance and reporting obligations despite increasing regulations, and gain an undeniable competitive advantage.
Most importantly, these actions enable more responsible tourism by providing travelers with trustworthy, sustainable choices and ensuring their travel experiences positively contribute to the environment and local communities.
About the Author
Alina Arnelle, Chief Sustainability Officer at BeCause
As the Chief Sustainability Officer, Alina’s main responsibility is to contribute and devise the company’s strategy with the aim of incorporating the latest sustainability trends and ensuring the company is up to speed with the relevant industry-specific developments. Additionally, Alina’s key role is to proactively develop specifications and direct the development of the BeCause platform within sustainability-related topics.
Combining d2o's PMI GoGreen environmental management tool and BeCause's sustainability reporting platform offers hotels the only CSRD compliance solution rooted in efficiency and profitability.
NICE, France, May 22, 2024 - BeCause, the Danish start-up transforming how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, has partnered with d2o, a leading forecasting and resourcement management technology provider for the hospitality industry, to create a comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD) solution for hotels. The collaboration unites the BeCause Sustainability Hub with d2o's PMI GoGreen suite of prediction, targeting, tracking, and allocation tools to create an auditable CSRD reporting solution that goes beyond compliance to boost efficiency and profits. The partnership was announced yesterday at the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance Spring Summit in Nice, France.
By joining forces, BeCause and d2o have taken a giant leap toward building a viable, valuable ecosystem between the hotel industry and technology providers that leverages the power and potential of daily sustainability data management. CSRD compliance is just the starting point; BeCause and d2o are demonstrating that with the right technology, sustainability initiatives can drive operational efficiency and profitability for hotels around the world.
"As an inventor and entrepreneur, it is a dream come true to have a product that fully meets the needs of our customers' stakeholders, including owners, guests, staff, authorities, and local communities," says d2o CEO Young Nguyen. "The partnership between d2o and BeCause will enhance the hotel industry's ability to transform a costly compliance challenge into a business opportunity. We call this partnership PMI GoGreen BeCause… because the hotel industry and the planet require a comprehensive solution to address a complex issue."
Going Beyond CSRD Reporting and Compliance
As a result of this partnership, the PMI GoGreen tools will be seamlessly integrated into the BeCause platform. This integration, facilitated by an API, allows for the sharing and mapping of data, making it reusable for CSRD reporting. This not only simplifies the compliance process for hotels but also ensures accuracy and auditability at the activity level, meeting financial-grade CSRD reporting standards.
However, the joint solution goes beyond compliance and reporting. By centralizing data within the BeCause platform and applying the integrated PMI GoGreen tools, hotel chains gain visibility into which individual properties are meeting their targets for reducing CO2 emissions, energy consumption, water usage chemicals, waste, towels & linens, and food waste. The combined solution also utilizes machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to identify those targets and help properties optimize resource usage to meet them amidst daily fluctuating demand. System integration service ensures seamless interoperability between the BeCause Sustainability Hub, PMI GoGreen tools, and various internal hotel systems, including property management, point-of-sale, table reservations, sales and catering, timekeeping, and more.
These combined capabilities allow hotels to increase efficiency—hotels are projected to reap 12-15% in resource savings—cultivate ownership among frontline managers, showcase their sustainability efforts to travelers, and, of course, meet their CSRD compliance obligations.
"We believe in the power of ecosystems, and by partnering with d2o, we've built a particularly effective one," says BeCause CEO and Co-founder Frederik Steensgaard. "Not just in terms of helping hotels reach CSRD compliance, but by using the combined capabilities of our solutions to address everyday issues that impact their margins and organizational effectiveness. Why should compliance and reporting be a cost-heavy headache for hotels when it could be driving profitability and operational efficiency?"
An Efficient Solution Specifically Designed for Hospitality
BeCause is a purpose-built, AI-powered hub that centralizes a hotel's sustainability data and automates the transmission of that data amongst different stakeholders, such as travel and accommodation booking marketplaces and industry certifications. Additionally, once a hotel enters its data into the BeCause platform, it can be upcycled and automatically mapped to multiple frameworks, making qualifying for voluntary green certifications faster and more efficient while ensuring regulatory compliance.
The PMI GoGreen suite of tools developed by d2o enables hospitality groups to achieve their long-term environmental goals by breaking them down into monthly targets tailored to each property's attributes and seasonal variations. Each hotel's future targets are dynamically adjusted based on progress, ensuring the consistency of the group's end goal. Individual hotels and hotel chains can track their progress with forward looking data-based indicators and utilize predictive analytics to optimize resource allocation, minimize waste, and cut operating costs.
The combined PMI GoGreen BeCause solution leverages these capabilities to deliver at least 100% ROI for hotels that implement it. The solution will undergo a phased roll-out through the summer of 2024 before formally launching in September.
For more information about BeCause, d2o or the partnership, or to request an interview, please contact: Vanessa Horwell at vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com for BeCause CEO and Co-founder, Frederik Steensgaard or Young Nguyen young@d2o.com for d2o, Founder and CEO.
About BeCause
BeCause is an enterprise software company that streamlines the flow of sustainability data and creates synergies between different stakeholders in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries, empowering them to make decisions that result in positive, responsible change for people, the planet, and their profits. BeCause works with over 25,000 hotels, including brands like Radisson, certification entities like GreenKey, industry partners like the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the SHA, and marketplaces like Booking.com. For more information, visit because.eco.
About d2o and PMI GoGreen
Founded in Norway and built on Scandinavia's legacy of employee well-being and sustainability, d2o has over 20 years of experience helping clients optimize resources for maximum profit while navigating high-cost environments. The company's PMI GoGreen Environmental Management System (EMS) empowers hotel managers to surpass compliance and achieve true sustainability. Leveraging auditable data, predictive analytics, and hotel demand, PMI GoGreen reduces CO2 emissions and the usage of critical resources like energy, water, and food and transforms hotel sustainability obligations into a profitable, cross-functional endeavor. For more information, please visit www.d2o.com/sustainability-gogreen-with-pmi-by-d2o/.
On the Smarter Path to Green: What Small and Mid-Size Hotel Chains Need to Know About Managing Their Sustainability Data in 2024
Concern over the environment is rapidly changing consumer behavior in every corner of the globe. According to a 2023 Booking.com report, 76% of consumers want to travel more sustainably soon, a 16% increase from the company’s 2021 survey and 5% higher than in 2022. As many as 81% of travelers also say they would choose sustainable accommodations over properties without eco-friendly certifications.
At the same time, hotel operators with properties in European Union properties are navigating new waters. The recent introduction of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and compliance regulations requires those companies to pay meticulous attention to evolving sustainability trends—and mandatory reporting requirements. While the United States hasn’t adopted these practices as rapidly as the EU, it is making strides toward incorporating the assessment, disclosure, and mitigation of climate-related risks into sustainability frameworks, signaling a growing commitment to environmental stewardship.
Considering the commercial and regulatory imperatives, and not just in Europe, prioritizing sustainability is no longer optional for hotels, resorts, and other hospitality-focused businesses, regardless of size. The reality is that most smaller and medium-sized hotel chains often struggle to embed ESG principles deeply into their operations. This challenge stems from limited resources, such as specialized teams dedicated to developing, implementing, and promoting sustainable practices across properties.
For those who have embarked on this journey, the path has been fraught with obstacles, including the significant cost and time required to record, analyze, and interpret sustainability metrics. Additionally, the effort to utilize this data to obtain third-party eco certifications like Green Key presents its own set of challenges.
The Sustainability Data Dichotomy
These challenges become pronounced when considering the current sustainability data processes you are probably using. Whether your hotel chain encompasses 10, 50 or 500 properties, chances are you've relied on manual methods for collecting and transmitting sustainability data— ranging from ad-hoc surveys, emailed reports and analyses, and siloed spreadsheets and have no connection to any other systems. The same piece of data is likely recorded multiple times by different individuals under differing conditions, leading to inaccuracies, outdated figures, and, ultimately, unreliable information.
But without reliable and real-time data, how can you institute effective operational strategies to address growing client concerns and responsibilities… and meet regulatory reporting requirements?
Fortunately, embracing a sustainability reporting software designed specifically to meet hotels’ needs offers a level playing field, provided you know the key features to look for.
The 123’s of Managing Your Sustainability Data
Like any technology investment, there are critical questions to consider when choosing a solution to make sense of and maximize your hotel's sustainability data:
- Does the solution consolidate all your metrics into a centralized hub? If not, you’ll have a siloed, scattered, and disorganized data environment. Your sustainability data management platform should become your single “source of truth” for all sustainability matters, ensuring your data is easily accessible, up-to-date, and reliable.
- Next, check if the platform lets you repurpose your data. Collecting sustainability information is just the start; what matters is how you use that data. Imagine you’re aiming for a green certificate on water usage, but you also need to report water stats for something like the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The right platform should allow you to use the exact data for both tasks, making your efforts streamlined and efficient
- Does the sustainability data management platform transmit information in real-time? Before moving to the BeCause platform, Booking.com struggled to verify hotels’ green credentials instantly. This lag made it challenging to label and promote properties as eco-friendly choices to customers confidently. As your hotels ramp up their sustainable practices, these achievements must be quickly acknowledged and showcased. Immediate data sharing ensures your hotels' green efforts are promptly recognized and rewarded, aligning with consumer expectations and enhancing your brand's eco-conscious image.
Putting sustainability first doesn’t have to weigh down your hotels. With the right data and digital tools that help you streamline and understand sustainability metrics, including carbon footprint and water usage, you're enabling each property to exceed environmental standards and gain key insights into your operations' impact. Two of these tools are free when you sign up for the BeCause platform: the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) and Hotel Water Measurement Initiative (HWMI)
Ultimately, you are equipping your hotels with a competitive edge to rival the big global names this year and beyond.
Get started on your journey to better sustainability management.
Learn how a sustainability data management platform can help small and mid-size hotel chains like yours boost profits, reduce costs and help guide transformative ESG policies.
WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics Framework will be available through the BeCause sustainability data management platform.
STOCKHOLM, APRIL 24, 2024 – BeCause, the Danish start-up transforming how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, is simplifying the sustainability journey for members by integrating the industry association’s Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) framework into its platform.
The partnership will enable WTTC to scale its Hotel Sustainability Basics more effectively, broadening its reach and impact within the hospitality industry. By centralizing relevant data within the BeCause platform, the global association will have greater visibility into which hotels have completed the framework and which ones are lagging, empowering it to advocate for more sustainable hotel operations globally. Similarly, hotel management at the chain level can check on the progress of individual properties and provide the necessary support to help them in their sustainability journeys.
“Sustainability is a priority for Travel & Tourism. Through the Hotel Sustainability Basics, the global hotel industry has come together to define 12 fundamental, globally aligned sustainability criteria that all hotels can and should implement as a bare minimum,” says WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson.“Our goal is to have a globally recognized trademark that shows customers at a glance that a hotel is taking measures to improve its environmental performance while also supporting its local community. By joining forces with BeCause we are increasing the transparency of that process and giving hotel groups an effective and efficient way to put that tool into the hands of their properties.”
Hotels’ Sustainable Path to Green
Hotels that adopt the HSB framework have three years to meet its 12 criteria, which include sustainability indicators such as energy measurement and linen reuse. They can apply for Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) verification annually through one of WTTC’s partners, Green Key and SGS. Successful verification grants them a badge that can be used across their branding to appeal to the growing number of environmentally conscious guests.
In the future, BeCause will simplify this process further by automatically transmitting data from its platform directly to the verification partners. Hotels already using BeCause to manage their sustainability data can reuse their existing and overlapping data points for the HSB framework, removing the need for duplicative and manual tasks.
“Like any endeavor, the first step is always the hardest. While many hotels might have sustainability initiatives in place, they don’t necessarily track their data – or do so efficiently. By completing the HSB framework through BeCause and gaining greater insight into how their business activities impact the planet, we hope they will be encouraged to pursue even more ambitious sustainability measures in the future,” says BeCause CEO and Co-founder Frederik Steensgaard.
An Industry-Specific Platform Based on Efficiency
BeCause is a purpose-built, AI-powered hub that centralizes a hotel’s sustainability data and automates the transmission of that data amongst different stakeholders, such as travel and accommodation booking marketplaces and industry certifications. Additionally, once a hotel enters its data into the BeCause platform, it can be upcycled and automatically mapped to multiple frameworks, making qualifying for voluntary green certifications faster and more efficient while ensuring regulatory compliance.
For instance, hotels in Europe can meet their reporting obligations under the EU’s Corporate Social Responsibility Directive by leveraging the industry-specific components of the ESRS reporting framework that BeCause is currently integrating into its platform, saving significant resources and reducing costs.
“For a long time, hotels have lacked an efficient way to manage their sustainability data. They were constrained by manual processes that produced unreliable results, making it difficult to get buy-in from stakeholders on sustainability-focused projects,” Steensgaard adds. “We’re here to change that, whether you are a hotel just starting out and using Hotel Sustainability Basics as your guide or you already have several eco-certifications granted.”
For more information about BeCause or to speak with CEO and Co-founder Frederik Steensgaard, please contact Vanessa Horwell at vhorwell@thinkinkpr.com.
For more information about WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics, please visit WTTC.org.
About BeCause
BeCause is an enterprise software company that streamlines the flow of sustainability data and creates synergies between different stakeholders in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries, empowering them to make decisions that result in positive, responsible change for people, the planet, and their profits. BeCause works with over 25,000 hotels, including brands like Radisson, certification entities like GreenKey, industry partners like the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the SHA, and marketplaces like Booking.com. For more information, visit because.eco.
About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to maximising the inclusive and sustainable growth potential of the Travel & Tourism sector by partnering with governments, destinations, communities, and other stakeholders to drive economic development, create jobs, reduce poverty and foster peace, security, and understanding in our world. For more information, visit wttc.org.
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