Holiday Inn 2009 Annual Report Download - page 28

26 IHG Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009
Business review continued
Corporate responsibility
Corporate responsibility (CR) is integral to the way we conduct our
business and is at the core of our strategy. As well as helping us
to create value for the business and build competitive advantage,
acting responsibly is playing a key role in our efforts to manage
costs and drive revenue more effectively.
With over 4,400 hotels worldwide and a new hotel opening every
day, we have a considerable responsibility and opportunity to
ensure our operations make a positive difference. Responsible
tourism also makes good business sense – it reduces our costs,
particularly in energy, and shows our guests that we are acting on
issues that concern them, such as the environment and supporting
the communities in which we operate.
Our approach
In February 2009 the IHG Board established a Corporate
Responsibility Committee to set out and deliver the strategic
priorities of the responsible business objectives of Great Hotels
Guest Love, and to make sure we have the right policies,
management and measurement systems in place. The Committee
is chaired by Jennifer Laing, a Non-Executive Director. It met twice
in 2009, focusing on developing our carbon strategy, defining the
role of hotels in society and improving our CR communications.
Our CR strategy is concentrated on two main areas:
• the environment, including reducing our carbon footprint.
We are aiming to make a night’s stay with IHG more carbon
efficient; and
• our communities, particularly the creation of local economic
opportunities and charitable work.
We engage with stakeholders to help us identify and tackle our
priorities. Our stakeholders include guests and corporate clients,
hotel owners and franchise holders, local communities, employees,
shareholders, suppliers, academic institutions, non-government
organisations, governments, and institutional stakeholders. We
elicit their views through a range of processes including forums,
meetings, individual interviews, surveys and our award-winning
online virtual Innovation Hotel where guests and members of the
public can access our latest thinking and share ideas for creating
a green hotel. Visitor comments inform the development of our
strategy and any future green products and services.
Stakeholders also help us improve our performance through
feedback on our current programme and communications. In 2009,
we responded to their comments by revisiting the community
aspect of our strategy and being more proactive in our CR
communications, making them more relevant for specific
stakeholder groups. For instance, we held a Green Day for
employees at our UK head office, which we plan to follow up with
a CR section in our online Leaders Lounge and a green forum to
provide staff with a more formal platform through which to share
CR learning.
In 2010, we will update elements of our online CR report on
a quarterly basis, with a more comprehensive annual update
available at the end of the year. We will continue to explore ways
of improving how we engage with stakeholders and seek more
opportunities to share learning on CR through, for example,
round-table events.
Review of 2009
Our CR strategy is based on innovation and collaboration. We look
for creative solutions to the environmental and social challenges
we face and work in partnership with our stakeholders to
implement them.
Over the past two years we have been building a solid foundation
of policy, management and measurement on which to base our
CR strategy and activities. This has involved putting systems in
place and working closely with our stakeholders to identify the
areas that have the highest impact for them and our business.
We have also made good progress on initiatives that help us
address two of our industry’s biggest challenges – climate change
and the recent economic downturn, particularly its impact on local
communities. Through key initiatives such as Green Engage, our
online sustainability programme, the IHG Academies and the
Innovation Hotel we are measuring and managing our
environmental impacts, and providing jobs and training
opportunities in our communities.
We aim to make a night with IHG more carbon efficient
Tourism is an important source of wealth for many countries,
particularly developing countries where tourism may be the
primary force driving economic prosperity. At the same time
the industry faces increasing pressure to balance its economic
performance with its social and environmental impacts.
We believe the tension between tourism and the environment can
be creative, providing an opportunity to innovate. We have chosen
to tackle carbon emissions by seeking new ways to reduce and
manage emissions across our hotel estate rather than through
purchasing carbon offsets. This provides an opportunity to work
closely with our business partners, such as hotel owners and
suppliers, to identify and implement practical, cost-efficient
measures that are both sustainable and responsible.
Online Innovation Hotel