How Guldsmeden Hotels successfully built a green community

A sustainable booking engine for eco-friendly hotels

We’ve been keeping a close eye on I Love Eco Hotels for a while now — a sustainable booking engine empowered by Guldsmeden Hotels, a Green Globe certified hotel chain originating in Denmark. The site allows the user to book the most wonderful eco hotels all over the world. This week we caught up with the man who is at the helm of this innovative concept, Claus Strawbridge, eCommerce Marketing Director at Guldsmeden Hotels. Read on to find out why Claus strongly believes that I Love Eco Hotels has significant potential to “grow large, wide and deep enough to make a difference for sustainable hoteliers all over the world” and why, according to him, it is necessary “to be part of a sustainable development.”

Standing together to improve the sustainable mindset

I Love Eco Hotels provides a booking site based on fair trade principles for the sustainability-conscious traveler who values commitment and responsible actions as much as a good experience and a comfortable stay. As Claus commented, “the idea is to stand together and improve the sustainable mindset. Sharing ideas and thoughts is valuable for both small and big operators to be more sustainable.” The booking site aims to help hotel owners who have to face today’s challenge of trying to maintain their financial health in a world dominated by huge OTAs and search engines. The goal of I Love Eco Hotels is to reduce the environmental impact associated with external booking sites. According to Claus, the idea for this innovative concept was sparked by a combination of “the frustration with the dominance of the large OTAs and their brutal commissions and the dream of creating a community for like-minded hotels.”

Launched in September 2016, the booking engine now partners with 23 hotel operators from around the world. Its website offers users the possibility to filter hotels by sustainable initiatives, such as renewable energy, organic or local food, ecological cleaning products, waste recycling, energy saving light bulbs, to name but a few. Users can make a risk-free choice when booking a hotel through I Love Eco Hotels because all the hotels are eco certified. The eco-friendly booking engine only accepts to partner with hotels who meet clearly defined criteria and have one of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s approved certifications. Strawbridge commented, “to ensure our credibility, this has to be a very thorough and transparent system and it is still work-in-progress.”

I Love Eco Hotels also supports The Travel Foundation, an independent charity whose objective is to ensure that tourism benefits people as well as the environment in different destinations all over the world, by donating 10% of their commission to the charity.

Spreading the word around the hotel industry

Strawbridge continued by explaining how I Love Eco Hotels goes about gaining presence in the market: “Our strategy is to grow organically. We participate at conferences and exhibitions attended by like-minded people. The book direct shout out is a good starting point to flag the sustainable profile and make guests aware of the luxury of travelling and living sustainably. We operate below the line with the certification organisations and they love the concept and mindset of the community. Just last week, seven new properties decided to sign up thanks to the FAIR TRADE TOURISM organisation. We are extremely thankful for the recommendations we get from these partners.”

The bigger picture

The growing trend and transition towards a more sustainable economy encourages companies to step up to reduce the footprint of their platforms. By doing so, websites such as I Love Eco Hotels are also empowering its users to reduce emissions by booking eco hotels on its site. Companies are just starting to show that they are serious about sustainability. According to Strawbridge, I Love Eco Hotels hope to be part of a sustainable development “that will turn the climate challenges around and make the world a safer place for future generations”. The fact is that companies today have the power (and responsibility…) to make lives easier, while reducing the impact on the planet. The reality is, unfortunately, far too often very different.

From industry to industry, company to company, it requires finding a solution that is unique to the business. We are seeing that companies faced with today’s challenges are forced to breed innovation and creativity. By developing a sustainable business, the first eco-friendly booking engine, I Love Eco Hotels, is a front runner in the hospitality industry, identifying a sustainability trend that every business leader in the hospitality industry should be watching.

Since sustainability efforts is a never ending circle, there will always be room for improvement. I Love Eco Hotels welcomes all hotels with a shared green mindset into their family. Do you want to work towards a brighter and more sustainable future while building a strong community to disrupt the current hotel industry? If the answer is yes, you are very welcome to join the movement!