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Marriott Hotels and Sustainability

Written by Walker Lunn

Monday, 14 January 2008

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System has named the Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

Marriott (MAR - $33.26) is making small steps in the right direction. Energy star, Audobon, and LEED certified Marriott hotels are emerging throughout the country. We have yet to see a unified approach to this frontier, which indicates that the company is still feeling out the options. It inevitably needs to weigh guest awareness, certification and greening program cost and effect, as well as fitting a greening program into the franchise and brand standards. Most likely, high visibility brands like this resort or higher-end Marriott products will be the first to move. It will surely be a long time before Marriott is able to implement programs across its many product lines.

Still, we are seeing good movement. Marriott is beginning to recognize that sustainability programs will contribute to property performance. Will Marriott be the brand of choice for the environmentally conscious? Time will tell.

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