Government urged to support hotels cut their GHG emissions
Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch) revealed on Wednesday that hotels in Thailand are emitting higher levels of greenhouse gases than elsewhere in Asia and the rest of the world and urged the government to support hotel operators in making their businesses more environmentally friendly.
Citing statistics from Cornell Hotel Sustainability for February 2024, KResearch said Thai hotels emit greenhouse gases equivalent to 0.064 tonnes of carbon per guest/night, while the average in Asia is 0.057 tonnes and the world’s average is 0.019 tonnes.
KResearch said hotel operators worldwide are adopting sustainable business operations despite the tourism industry being responsible for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, less than 1% of which comes from hotels, which is relatively low compared to other key industries
The centre said many hotels are going all out to cater to the needs of customers, especially business travellers, who tend to choose destinations that have been certified under international environmental standards, such as Green Key, Green Globe, and GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council). This trend has also driven up the competition among rival hotels to focus on sustainable practices to attract customers.
Another factor is the available modern technology in energy conservation, recycling and upcycling systems that come bundled with newly built hotels, enabling the establishments to easily adapt to the sustainability trend, said KResearch.
As for Thailand, KResearch found that while more hotel operators have become interested in sustainability practices, many are still lacking the measurement system for greenhouse gas emissions, and less than 4% of hotels have been preparing sustainability reports.
From its survey, the centre found that most hotel operators in Thailand are still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore tended to focus on less costly practices.
The survey found that 52.8% of Thai operators are implementing changes towards sustainability, including switching to energy-saving lighting, installing solar panels, using water-saving equipment, practising waste separation to facilitate recycling and the production of fertiliser from food waste, and reducing the use of single-use plastics.
These changes, however, are often found in large operators or those that are part of international chains.
43.8% of operators said they planned to overhaul their systems in the next 1-2 years to be more environmentally friendly, while more than half said they have no such plan due to budget constraints, as well as lack of understandings in sustainability practices and measurement.
KResearch urged the government to play a more active role in educating hotel operators about the importance of greenhouse gas emission measurement and management, as well as in attracting operators to adjust their business using tax breaks or investment promotion measures.
