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Green Key Global announced that with the registration of Alaska’s Motel 6 Anchorage Midtown the Green Key Eco-Rating Program has now established its presence in all 50 States and currently has more than 2,100 hotels actively engaged in the program in the Canada the U.S. and 13 other countries throughout the world.

“Green Key Global is committed to perpetuating sustainable lodging throughout North America and beyond,” said Tony Pollard, Managing Director of Green Key Global. “The Program provides hotels with the tools to reduce operating costs and gives them the marketing edge to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.”

The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is a graduated rating system designed to recognize hotels, motels and resorts that are committed to improving their environmental and fiscal performance. Based on the results of a comprehensive environmental self-assessment, hoteliers are awarded a 1-5 Green Key rating and provided with guidance on how to “unlock” opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and operating costs through reduced utility consumption, employee training, and supply chain management.

“We are excited to help Green Key reach this milestone. For us it is a win- win situation, “ said Renee Swoger, Director of Energy & Environment Services, Accor North America. “ We are helping Green Key penetrate the US market and become a leader in green certification and at the same time we are able to educate our hotels on environmental issues through the certification process and hopefully win the business of environmentally conscious consumers to Motel 6/ Studio 6.”

Upon completion of the program and being awarded a Green Key Rating, an on-site inspection is conducted to confirm the rating. Green Key is the only program of its kind to conduct on-site inspection and validation of ratings in Canada and the United States. In the United States Green Key is a joint undertaking between the Hotel Association of Canada and LRA Worldwide.

“This is an exciting day for the Green Key program and a real indicator of its growing status as the sustainable lodging certification program of choice in the United States. More importantly, greenkeyglobal.com becomes an even more valuable resource for the majority of travelers who indicate they use a hotel’s environmental program as a decision-making factor in where they stay” said Zachary Conen  VP Sales& Marketing – U.S Region.

The growth of Green Key in the U.S. was fueled by the commitment of several hotel company partners at the brand level; Accor North America (Motel 6, Studio 6), Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Carlson Hotels, MGM Resorts International, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Destination Hotels & Resorts have all committed their portfolios (or a portion) to Green Key certification.  In terms of state participation, California leads the way, with 208 certified properties.

Green Key member properties are listed on greenkeyglobal.com, a valuable resource for environmentally conscious travelers. Green Key rankings are recognized by major travel services including CAA/AAA, Travelocity and Expedia.

Expedia, Inc. shared new data showing an increase of more than 500% in the number of bookings made to Gambia hotels on the more than 90 Expedia and Hotels.com travel booking sites so far this year. The majority of these bookings are coming from travelers in the U.K., the U.S., and the Netherlands.

Expedia first began working with hotels in Gambia in April of 2010. Since then, the number of Gambia hotels that have signed up to work with the online travel company has grown 170%, and Expedia expects that number will continue to grow as more local hotels learn about the benefits of becoming a part of Expedia’s global online travel marketplace. When a hotel partners with Expedia, they gain access to the more than 50 million travel shoppers that visit Expedia and Hotels.com sites in more than 60 countries worldwide each month. Expedia today partners with more than 130,000 hotels across the globe, and handles more hotel bookings than any other travel agency in the world.

“We’re very excited to give hotels in Gambia the opportunity to expand their business by offering their properties on Expedia’s global travel sites, allowing them to attract millions of travelers they otherwise may not have been able to reach,” said Diego Lofeudo, Director of Market Management for Expedia in Africa. “Together with our local travel partner, Gambia Tours, we have formed a local team to work with hotels to help them effectively offer their properties around the world online.” 

U.S.-based Expedia has operations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as in Asia-Pacific, and South America. Its team includes hundreds of hotel relationship managers and revenue management specialists based in local markets to assist hotel partners in developing online distribution strategies. Members of Expedia’s local hotel relationship team, in collaboration with the Gambia Hotel Association, are hosting an educational e-commerce seminar at the Kairaba Beach Hotel on Wednesday, April 27th at 10am. Nearly 70 members of the Gambia hospitality community are expected to attend the event, where Expedia will present hoteliers with tips for offering their property online.