The pressure is on for hotels to prove their commitment to sustainability—without compromising guest experience. Whether you're managing a boutique escape or a global chain, there’s one metric creeping its way into every RFP, booking platform, and investor deck: your hotel carbon footprint.
If you’re feeling the squeeze, you’re not alone. From new EU regulations like the CSRD to rising energy prices and eco-conscious travelers, the hotel industry is facing a sustainability reckoning. And while the instinct might be to pull back on premium touches, the smartest hotels are doing the opposite; streamlining behind the scenes and using their sustainability data to stand out.
Here’s how you can cut emissions and operational costs, without cutting comfort.
Sustainability is no longer a side dish, it’s the main course. In fact, 81% of travelers say sustainable travel is important to them, and 50% say they’d be willing to pay more for it, according to Booking.com’s 2024 Sustainable Travel Report.
But guests aren’t just looking for solar panels on the roof—they’re scrutinizing everything from room service to conference catering. The focus is shifting to Scope 3 emissions; those hard-to-track, indirect emissions that include food, supplier practices, and more.
And this is where things get real for hotel operators: food and beverage can account for up to 25% of a hotel’s total emissions. That’s not just a climate problem, it’s a margin opportunity.
Many hotels still rely on generic benchmarks or yearly estimates to report emissions, especially when it comes to food-related impact. But to truly lead on hotel environmental sustainability, you need tools that let you go deeper, faster.
A hotel carbon footprint calculator or a hotel carbon footprint tool should give you real-time, dish-level emissions tracking—not just energy and travel stats. This is where tools like Klimato come in: by integrating with your POS and supplier data, you can break down emissions per meal, event, or menu, then automate reports for internal and external stakeholders.
This unlocks three key wins:
1. Reduce food waste by understanding which dishes have the highest impact and lowest profitability.
2. Win tenders and corporate clients by backing up your sustainability claims with transparent reporting.
3. Enhance guest experience with branded, science-backed carbon emission labels on menus and buffets.
Sustainability looks different depending on your brand. A sustainable boutique hotel might lean into hyper-local produce and seasonal menus, while a five-star conference hotel may focus on carbon-labelled catering and waste-efficient banqueting.
But the goal is the same: show leadership in hotel sustainability without watering down the guest experience.
Take The Hoxton, Poblenou in Barcelona. By using Klimato to track and reduce emissions across their food offerings, they managed to cut their food-related carbon footprint by 42% without compromising on culinary quality. Read the full case study here.
Whether you’re targeting corporate clients or conscious travelers, having a clear sustainability strategy isn’t just ethical—it’s good business.
Carbon labeling isn’t just for the granola crowd anymore. Adding a carbon emission label to your à la carte, buffet, or event menus helps guests make informed, planet-friendly choices. It also shows your commitment to sustainability in hotels, visibly and measurably.
With a smart hotel carbon footprint tool, you can identify high-emission, low-margin ingredients and swap them for more efficient (and often cheaper) alternatives. This is where sustainability meets profitability.
Stop spending weeks gathering data. A digital solution that automates your hotel sustainability report not only saves time—it ensures accuracy and builds trust with guests, investors, and regulators alike.
The hotels winning tenders, bookings, and brand loyalty aren’t waiting for regulations to kick in—they’re taking the lead. Start reducing food-related emissions and costs in just weeks, not months. Book a demo to see how Klimato can turn your sustainability goals into measurable wins.
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