Report Overview

In 2021 we spent a considerable amount of time weeding through CDP and company filings, to report on the state of sustainability at the largest hotel companies, the largest airlines, and to provide analysis of the environmental impact of hotel and airline loyalty programs.

In this report we will revisit the hotel analysis and dive deeper into the targets and performance of the largest hotel companies.

To do this we once again use CDP filings. The report covers the largest hotel companies by room portfolio: Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Accor, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. We would have liked to include Choice Hotels in this analysis, but as was the case in 2021, the company still does not report extensively on its sustainability efforts, and does not file any reports with the CDP.

We found that most of the largest hotel companies have now set or submitted science-based targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This is an improvement over just a few years ago, which is a positive sign, although there are still some laggards.

Our analysis found that the Covid pandemic has been a major distorter of performance, but on the whole companies seem on target for their emissions reduction in scopes 1 and 2. Reporting on scope 3 emissions is improving, but inconsistencies remain. As franchises fall under this scope, it becomes increasingly important that companies have good targets and reporting.

In this report we will dive deep into the different scopes and targets, and provide a comparison of performance per occupied room.

What You'll Learn From This Report

  • Prevalence of science-based targets in the travel and hospitality industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  • What targets the largest hotel companies have set, and if they are meeting these targets
  • Emissions per occupied room for largest 5 hotel companies, and how this has evolved over time
  • How scope 3 reporting has improved, but how a continued focus is needed