Retreat Insider

Depending on your location and facilities, competition for group business has become fierce! In the last decade, small retreat and mini-conference centers have popped up like corks on a lake. There are an abundance of choices for groups from 10 to 75 guests, especially in California! Do you want to know how to be a stand out facility and attract the business to your place?

Are green values at a hospitality center more attractive and more marketable?

I did a little digging to find out. Independent of my own values and choices, I had to know the answer and I also wanted to know if green meetings are practical enough to encourage you to get green:

Green Meetings ARE GOOD for your Business!

Green meeting hospitality makes good business sense. Your center will:

• save money by conserving resources
• create and enhance competitive advantage and reputation
• open up new or niche markets
• present positive opportunities for marketing, improve public relations and demonstrate a commitment to corporate responsibility

Visit Green Meetings website for Ten Tips to get you going!
According to Green Meetings.com:

• There is a market for green meetings. Between May 2003 & December 2004 fourteen environmental or sustainable conferences met in Portland Oregon, representing an estimated income of $10.5 million (Business Journal, 2004).
• Local and regional governments are educating and compelling meeting facilities to reduce their waste stream or face steep disposal costs. San Francisco’s Moscone Center has cut hauling costs by $500,000 per year since beginning a recycling and donations program (Meetings & Conventions, 2004).
• Corporations and associations are feeling pressure from shareholders and members to demonstrate environmental responsiveness and corporate responsibility in their activities, including meetings. According to a 2002 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers 90% of the US’s 140 largest companies indicate enhancing or protecting reputation was their primary reason for adopting environmentally responsible practices and 89% believe sustainability will grow in importance as a business issue over the next 5 years.
• Organizations are being increasingly pressured to tighten meeting spending. This is causing meeting professionals to consider all options to reduce waste and increase efficiency. Energy efficient lighting in Seattle’s Washington State Convention & Trade Centre has saved almost $200,000 in the last year (Meetings & Conventions, 2004).”

Green Meetings are Good for the Earth

To continue to enjoy the quality of life we treasure we all need to work and live in a more sustainable manner. For the meeting industry this involves making a concerted effort to reduce our use of resources and the amount of waste that results from meeting activities. Find out how you can join Green Meetings in reducing the environmental impact of your meetings.

One quick note: Okay, so your center may operate on a smaller scale, but consider the cumulative effect of changing your practices … or not!

The Green Big Pic

According to the Green Meeting Industry Council a green meeting incorporates environmental considerations throughout all stages of the meeting in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment.

“By the year 2020 the Green Meeting Industry Council envisions a green meeting as an activity that:

• has zero net environmental effect.
• is an accepted and standard industry practice, while ‘brown’ meetings are a thing of the past.
• achieves economic and strategic business goals and minimizes and eliminates environmental impacts and positively contributes to the environment and host communities.
• meets minimum green meeting practices as set out by the GMIC.
• achieves full integration of environmental responsibility into return on investment analysis for the global meetings industry.

The Green Decision, may not be yours to make:

Green Meetings  as an org isn’t just educating meeting venues, they are also targeting Meeting Planners (see our article Let’s Dispel the Myths about Green Meetings) and  thereby planting seeds to grow their green awareness and create a demand for green meetings.

What that means to your business is: NOW is the time to get your green act in gear! And remember, the All About Retreats Green Retreat Award will become an important distinguishing factor for you and the meeting planners or group facilitators who could choose your center for their retreat, workshop, conference or meeting!