The Short-Term Rental Industry has announced the launch of a new initiative to promote responsible hospitality and continued sustainable best practice growth across the industry.
The Global Short-Term Rental Sustainability Research Project has been created to develop a ‘united voice’ and will assist the industry in determining where they are at in terms of sustainability best practice. Associations involved in the project include APAR, ASTRA, ASTRHO, ASSC, European Holiday Home Association, Short Term Accommodation Association and VRMA. Each association, which is made up of short-term rental property owners, managers, and hosts working together to advocate for fair and effective regulations and licensing for short term rentals, will leverage industry insight collated via a survey to help establish a robust set of objectives and guidance, to be used as the go to resource for short term rental business owners for sustainability benchmarking.
Historically, the hospitality sector has had a dramatic environmental impact through energy and water consumption, use of consumable and durable goods, and solid and hazardous waste creation. As the threat of climate change looms ever larger, businesses face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact and cut carbon emissions.
Viktorija Molnar, Interim Secretary General of the European Holiday Home Association, said:
“European Holiday Home Association fully supports this initiative. Together with the short-term rental (STR) market leaders we aim to understand the global awareness on sustainability aspects in the short-term rental market and what collective outputs are needed to accelerate the already existing and new sustainable practices.
The short-term rental ecosystem is made of diverse market players of different sizes and shapes: individual owners, nano, micro STR property managers, entrepreneurs, property managers (SMEs), online platforms, and other business owners who cater to the STR sector. All of them contribute to providing short-term rental accommodation offerings that are widely dispersed across European towns and regions, and to funneling the economic benefits of travel into wider communities by encouraging local spending and contributing income to STR providers.
European Holiday Home Association encourages and invites all short-term rental accommodation players to respond to the short questionnaire. Your response will contribute and support the STR industry’s sustainable way forward.”
Project Facilitator Diane Lloyd, Associate Director of Quality International Assessment Services, the project’s sponsor, said:
“Working with resources already available to achieve exciting new opportunities, different ways of doing things and offering more choices are in the DNA of anyone working in the short-term rentals industry. The leading global Short Term Rental associations coming together to offer one place where the industry can gain information, guidance and work towards shared goals is what is driving this initiative. It is about having a united voice to help guide the industry to a more sustainable future.”
Tim Rosolio, VP Partner Success, Vrbo, part of Expedia Group, supporters of this global initiative to drive industry best practice for sustainability, said:
“Expedia Group recognizes the environmental toll that today’s travel industry often has on the planet and is committed to mobilizing its vast network of travelers, partners, and peers to innovate more sustainable business models and empower travelers to make more responsible choices.
According to our data, we know a growing number of travelers are also looking to minimize their impact to the environment – even when doing so requires extra investment. Three in five travelers want environmentally friendly lodging and will pay 38% more for sustainable options and our vacation rental partners can play a part in this effort.
We encourage our vacation rental partners to consider sustainable practices in their businesses including switching to renewable energy, invest in smart home technology, landscaping that reduces water usage, offer recycling and composting options and sustainable cleaning products.”
The project is starting with a global questionnaire to understand where the industry is at, this is for Property Owners, Property Managers and Suppliers to the industry to share their current views.
Complete the questionnaire in your preferred language below to give your feedback…
The deadline for completion of the questionnaire is 12th December 2022.