And How Green Key Hotels Are Winning Business Because of It
It’s RFP Season and the Pressure Is On
It’s officially RFP season in the hospitality industry, a critical window when corporate buyers and travel managers assess and shortlist hotel partners for the year ahead.
As companies continue to prioritize ESG efforts, hotels are facing heightened scrutiny during RFP season especially around sustainability credentials.¹ According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), nearly 70% of global companies now have formal sustainability objectives that include working exclusively with environmentally responsible suppliers. It further reports that up to 30% of corporate buyers now select suppliers based on their sustainability certifications, and of these, 80% rank certifications as a key procurement criterion.²
Sustainability Isn’t a Bonus, It’s a Requirement
Demand is clear: travel buyers and event planners increasingly require quantifiable, verified sustainability data in RFPs. ³ To compete, hotels must deliver credible, ESG-aligned metrics.
That’s where Green Key Global’s Eco-Rating Certification comes in. As the leading certification program in North America, it provides rigorously validated ratings and reports tailored to hotel operations. Properties gain real value by:
- Enhancing RFP success with verifiable sustainability claims
- Attracting eco-conscious corporate bookings and loyalty
- Driving operational savings through energy, water, and waste efficiencies
What Hoteliers Are Saying About RFP Pressure
Green Key Global member Holloway Lodging Corporation knows this reality well. “It’s probably a slew of 100 questions you have to answer,” said COO Michael Seiler. “Almost 90% of big companies have a sustainability component to their RFPs. If you can’t show what you are doing to be sustainable, they won’t give you their business.”
As per David Mcquinn, General Manager at Coast Bastion Nanaimo, “Every RFP for groups & conventions meetings has a listing of “tell us about your sustainability initiatives”. They will no longer book with your hotel unless you’ve some form of certification. So, its not kind of important, its wildly important.”
- Read Holloway’s full case study here
- Read Coast Bastion’s story here
What Are Travel Managers Asking Hotels to Prove?
These are some of the real questions from an RFP that hotels must now be ready to answer:
- What sustainability certifications does your hotel hold?
- Do you use renewable energy sources such as solar or geothermal?
- Do you have refillable shampoo, conditioner & body wash instead of mini bottles?
- Do you have refillable water stations and eliminate single-use plastics?
- Do you compost food waste or donate unused food?
- Does your hotel have a green team that meets monthly?
- Can you provide a Green Meetings impact report post-conference?
- What are you doing to limit your carbon footprint?
For hoteliers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Properties that are proactive in documenting and verifying their sustainability efforts are more likely to be shortlisted not just this year, but in the years to come, as sustainability expectations continue to grow.
Certification is becoming a passport to participation in the business travel economy. And as travel managers and procurement teams navigate complex ESG goals, they’re looking for partners who can deliver trust, transparency, and tangible action.
Without third-party certification, answering these questions credibly becomes challenging. But with Green Key’s Eco-Rating Certification, hotels can back up their answers with audited, standardized, and globally aligned sustainability performance. If you’re Green Key certified, you would either have answers to all the above questions or at least said “Yes” to the majority of them.
The Bottom Line
Hotels that are certified are being selected. Those that aren’t risk being passed over. Ensure your property checks the right boxes during procurement and positions you ahead of competition. Get certified now.
But, if your property is not yet ready for full certification, or you find it overwhelming, Green Key Ready offers a fast-track entry point delivering sustainability status and preparing you for full compliance within 12 months. Explore Green Key Ready.
Don’t let your property be disqualified before the conversation even starts. Certification shows you’re serious and ready to do business sustainably!