Survey Says Green Practices and Tech Offerings Top Concerns for Hotels

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) 2012 Lodging Survey polled more than 52,000 U.S. hotel properties regarding in-room amenities, security and technology features, food and beverage options, guest services, sustainability, property offerings, and much more.  Funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF) and conducted by STR, the survey is conducted every two years to give hoteliers a detailed analysis of the industry at large.

Among the findings, the survey revealed the following:

Eco-friendly practices remain important: 

76 percent have a linen/towel reuse program; 

Water savings programs have been implemented in 75 percent of properties; 

 

Properties are offering more technology resources: 

Although most of the positive responses are from upper-tier hotels, 23 percent of respondents already offer a mobile app for hotel services; 

 

Showing the prominence of OTAs in the hotel industry, 95 percent of participants admitted to using a third-party Internet source for bookings; 

 

Hotels are health conscious: 

Properties that offer an exercise/health/fitness facility reached a new peak at 84 percent; 

Non-smoking policies at hotels are gaining momentum as 63 percent of participants said they are comprised of 100 percent non-smoking rooms.

 

AH&LA members can download a copy of the 2012 Lodging Survey via the Members Only section of the AH&LA Website.