Tampa Green Hotel: Our "Go Green" Initiatives

Tourism is one of the leading growth sectors of the global economy, bringing in billions of dollars annually in developing countries and transporting millions of people internationally. But the tourism industry's growth through the years has created an increasing amount of stress on the environment. For example, as a result of increasing tourism in Goa, India, developers built several hotels. The hotels soon drew up to 66,000 gallons of water per day from wells and other local sources. Many of the wells and rivers the community had relied on went dry. This is a common problem in many areas where tourism runs into the limits of natural resources.

Today ecotourism—tourism that is nature-oriented and environmentally focused—is growing rapidly. In the United States alone, 43 million tourists consider themselves to be ecotourists. This represents a growing market for environmentally friendly options in the tourism industry.

Ecotourism aside, many in the hotel industry have recognized the negative impact their business activities have on the environment and have taken action to alleviate those impacts. Environmentally responsible business practices dovetail well with the newfound popularity of ecotourism. They harmonize tourism and environmental sustainability.

The term "green hotels" describes hotels that strive to be more environmentally friendly through the efficient use of energy, water, and materials while providing quality services. Green hotels conserve and preserve by saving water, reducing energy use, and reducing solid waste. They have seen benefits such as reduced costs and liabilities, high return and low-risk investments, increased profits, and positive cash flows. Identifying these benefits and incentives has allowed the popularity of green hotels to grow.

Hotels are consistently becoming greener. The most costly and wasteful use of resources in hotels are usually in the consumption of nonrenewable energy, excessive water use, and the generation of waste.