Last week Marriott International, Bethesda, Maryland, released its second sustainability report, set forth by the Global Reporting Initiative.
In it, Marriott announced US$2.5 million invested in its environmental portfolio over the past three years, and contributions to workforce development for disadvantaged youth around the world to help them gain skills and jobs.
In the report, Marriott captures results from 2011 in the areas of environmental, economic and social responsibility performance. Highlights from the report include:
- A 12% reduction in water consumption per occupied room and a 4% reduction in energy consumption per square meter since 2007
- The launch of a Green Hotel Global, an online tool giving guests and business customers access to a list of environmental metrics and practices for each hotel in the Marriott portfolio
- Investing in sustainable development with the announcement of plans to open the company’s first hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Hiring nearly 36,000 associates in 2011 with plans to hire approximately 100,000 more people around the world over the next two years
- Delivering “Human Rights and the Protection of Children” training to all associates worldwide and participating in the International Tourism Partnership’s Human Trafficking Working Group that created an Industry Position Statement on Human Trafficking
- Securing a US$200,000 grant for YCI from the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in order to include rehabilitated survivors of human trafficking into the YCI program in Mexico, Vietnam and Brazil
- Marking the three-year anniversary of the company’s US$2 million commitment to the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve in Amazonas, Brazil to protect 1.4 million acres (566,000 hectares) of rainforest
- Helping to protect the source of fresh water in southwestern China’s Sichuan province through the company’s Nobility of Nature program in partnership with Conservation International to promote sustainable jobs such as beekeeping and honey production
“Our success depends on providing the information and transparency that our stakeholders increasingly expect,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott International president and CEO.“It also depends on being true to this purpose: to provide the opportunity for rewarding travel experiences for our guests, the opportunity for personal and professional growth for our associates, and the opportunity for a better and more sustainable future in the communities where we live and work.”
Click here to download a PDF of the full report.