Marriott has launched Connect Responsibly with Marriott Bonvoy Events, a program designed to help meeting planners embed sustainability into their events at participating hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio. Connect Responsibly plans to offer meetings and events customers access to detailed Meeting Impact Reports to measure the environmental impact of their events and select options to purchase carbon credits.
“There is nothing like connecting in person, and doing so responsibly makes it that much better. With the Connect Responsibly program, we are giving our meetings and events customers options to better understand the impacts of their meetings as we collectively strive to create a more resilient future for travel,” said Erika Alexander, chief global officer, Global Operations, Marriott International.
Fueled by growing demand for meeting solutions that address sustainability and informed by research and consumer insights from its global pilot program, Marriott is focused on offering a Meeting Impact Report through the Connect Responsibly program. Available following an event, the user-friendly Meeting Impact Report is intended to capture event details, property-specific sustainability practices implemented for the event, and the event’s carbon and water footprints, calculated through established hospitality industry methodologies. Marriott expects the Meeting Impact Report to be available in 11 different languages based on location.
In collaboration with South Pole, a carbon asset developer and climate consultancy, Marriott plans to offer meetings and events customers the ability to access select carbon offset projects. Through the report, these customers will have the option to utilize the South Pole online shop to choose from a range of carbon offset projects – verified by independent third-party organizations – that can be purchased as part of their event.
