Environmental focus for HAC Annual Conference

TORONTO - Environmental issues came to the fore at the Hotel Association of Canada’s Annual Conference held Feb. 25-26 at the Hilton downtown Toronto. Attendance was up over last year, with 400 delegates taking in the meetings, seminars and trade show.

While the environment was by no means the only topic discussed at the two-day event, there was a distinctly green tinge to the proceedings.

Well-known pollster Allan Gregg of Harris/ Decima Research moderated two panels at the conference on Tuesday, one of which was titled, "How big is your carbon footprint and who really cares?" A separate "green room" at the Trade Show recognized some of HAC’s partners in its Green Key Eco-Rating program including Association of Corporate Travel Executives, Earth Day Canada, Green Lodging News, Green Meeting Guide/Innovolve Group, Natural Resources Canada and Ontario Power Authority. The association’s anual Travel Intentions Survey incorporated results of new questions on environmental travel, and Environment & Energy awards were among those presented at the Tuesday night gala.

In his introduction to the environmental panel, Gregg pointed quoted Alberta premier Ed Stelmach as saying that the environment comes before the economy. He said that while in the past the environment has been a "pop-up" issue that is quickly supplanted by other concerns, there is a quantitative difference now because the environmental issue has not gone away. For young people and Quebecers in particular, it is more important than ever before.

There’s a qualitative difference too - research shows that 79 per cent of Canadians believe that climate change is happening right now. People have internalized this conflict - 70 per cent say that climate change has affected them personally. And while there are no emerging solutions, 83 per cent of those polled believe there is something they can do about climate change and global warming.

The panel featured two hospitality industry speakers - Michelle White, who is in charge of environmental affairs at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, and Vince Quattrociocchi, who has been honoured for environmental stewardship at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The other three speakers, who offered suppliers’ perspectives were: Bruce Cords from Ecolab, John Lambert of Direct Energy Business Services, and Ted Manziaris of Turtle Island Recycling.

This year’s HAC/Fleishman-Hillard Travel Intentions survey found that the environment is a major concern to Canadian travellers, and that they will pay to stay in an environmentally friendly hotel room. Gail Haarsma, senior VP at Fleishman-Hillard delivered the findings in the final seminar of the conference. The study found that 41 per cent of leisure and 51 per cent of business travellers would add a percentage of room cost to their hotel bill to make their stay more environmentally friendly. The study also found that the environment is the top issue in Canada today, beating out healthcare, which was of equal concern last year.

The two Environment and Energy award-winners came from BC this year They were Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa on Vancouver Island and Delta Sun Peaks Resort.