AH&LA creates eco-initiative

McInerney AH&LA

WASHINGTON–Joe McInerney left his position as president and c.e.o. of the Pacific Asia Travel Assn. and returned to the U.S. to serve as the president and c.e.o. of the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. The first thing he asked his new colleagues was their plans for a sustainable tourism industry. He wanted to know what plans were in place for conserving water and energy and for managing waste.

"People looked at me like I had three heads," McInerney said. "They looked at me like, 'That's something other people are doing. It doesn't pertain to us.'

"For the past decade, the U.S. lodging industry has struggled with terms like green, sustainable and eco-friendly. Many hoteliers wanted to go green, but they didn't know exactly how to do it or what it would cost."

Because of the ambiguity, McInerney thought it appropriate for the national association representing the voice of the lodging industry to make a move. In January 2007 at the Americas Lodging Industry Summit, he gathered 22 c.e.o.s and Lyndall De Marco, executive director of the International Tourism Partnership in London, to discuss sustainable tourism construction standards De Marco helped develop.

HOTEL & MOTEL MANAGEMENT spoke with McInerney to learn what the AH&LA has done since that meeting.

Q: Why is going green important for the hospitality industry?

McInerney: First, it is the right thing to do: to protect the environment and make sure there is sustainability as we move forward within our industry and to make sure we have environmentally friendly hotels. People around the world have been looking at this for years. It's become a phenomenon in the U.S. in the last 12 months.

Q: What has the AH&LA done so far?

McInerney: During the [New York University] conference in the first week of June, we brought Lyndall back because we've got a partnering program called Growing Green, which really gives you an outline of how you can develop a business case for looking at energy, water and waste management.

AH&LA's green initiatives at a glance

In September, we formed a task force to take a look at it. We have the people from Green Seal on it and Dave Stipanuk, [an associate professor] from Cornell University, along with the people from Energy Star.

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