The Sustainability Question With Four Right Answers

Let me set the scene.

The RFP lands. Rates, dates, cancellation terms, the usual. Then, near the bottom, a section that wasn't there five years ago: Sustainability & ESG Compliance.

Do you have a recognized green certification? Give a checkbox. Do you track energy consumption per room-night? Give a checkbox. Do you have a food waste reduction program? Give a checkbox, or a line for "please describe."

Some forms are kinder than others. They don't just ask the question - they hand you the acceptable answers. A dropdown. A multiple choice. Pick the option that gets you through the round.

I have filled in more of these than I can count. Nobody has ever called to check. Nobody has ever asked for the underlying data behind the box I ticked. Nobody has ever visited the property to confirm the certificate on the wall matches the one in the form. The form gets submitted, the RFP moves to round two, and the sustainability section becomes a permanent, unexamined fact about my hotel - because I said so. If the rebid comes, it's always about the rates or the cancellation policy. Never about the sustainability bit.

Because nobody is actually interested in mandating sustainability. Procurement's job is to get the best rate, not to make sure the sustainability box was ticked honestly. And nobody is ever going to check - because what happens if they do?

They'd need to hire more people into procurement, just to verify every supplier's claims. They'd need to walk away from the cheaper accommodation supplier whose kitchen still runs on diesel, and pay more for the one with a genuine certification. Now multiply that across every country a global corporate account contracts in. That's millions in additional spend. Not going to happen.

So we tick the box, and we ask no questions - so we never have to hear an answer we don't like. That's the approach. That's sustainability in hospitality in a nutshell.

Happy RFP season, everyone.

xoxo, Bored Hotelier 😉