WASHINGTON (Sept. 19, 2023) – Today, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) have signed a Letter of Intent to form a joint venture company that will own and operate the Green Key Global certification program in the United States and Canada. The announcement, made at the Lodging Conference in Phoenix, represents a pivotal moment for environmental action in the hotel industry.

Green Key Global is a North American environmental certification body for the hotel and lodging industry. Green Key’s certification criteria are recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and aligned with all 17 of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Properties receive an eco-rating through a rigorous assessment and audit process that measures hotel performance in a number of key areas including energy and water conservation, land use, hazardous and solid waste management, air quality and more.

The program and resources offered by Green Key Global leverage an organization’s sustainability initiatives across properties and brands to increase occupancy, provide cost savings, and reduce its carbon footprint – as well as align with corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Pending all necessary approvals, AHLA and HAC will form a joint-venture company in early 2024 that will operate under the name Green Key Global to expand the success of the program in Canada into the U.S. hotel market. This will build upon on AHLA’s Responsible Stay initiative, launched in December 2022, which aligned AHLA member companies’ commitment around four key pillars of sustainability: energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and responsible sourcing.

HAC created the Green Key Global initiative in 1994 as a certifying body for hotels in Canada and abroad. The Green Key Eco-Rating Program has since achieved wide adoption across Canada, due to its ease of use and its tailored approach to improving the sustainability of hotel operations.

“Increasingly, business, group and leisure travelers want to know they’re staying in a hotel that shares their commitment to protecting the environment, and AHLA is excited to enable and support its members’ ability to meet guest expectations by bringing Green Key Global certifications to branded and independent hotels across the U.S. and Cananda,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers. “The Hotel Association of Canada is a pioneer in this field, and we are excited to partner with them to empower hoteliers and guests while making hospitality more sustainable.”

"Through this partnership, Green Key Global will unite the hotel industry behind a North American standard of sustainable certification," said Susie Grynol, President & CEO of the Hotel Association of Canada. "Our best-in-class program will allow hotels to exceed the expectations of their eco-conscious travelers through a third-party validation of their sustainable practices. There is much to celebrate here.”

The global travel and tourism industry experienced a notable decline in deal activity during January-August 2023, marking a substantial year-on-year (YoY) decrease of 36.2% compared to the same period in 2022. This decline spanned various deal types, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and venture financing, with economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions playing a significant role in shaping this trend, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that a total of 482 deals* were announced in the global travel and tourism industry compared to 756 deals announced during January-August 2022. The volume of M&A deals declined by 37.8% while the number of private equity and venture financing deals declined by 38.1% and 30.8% YoY, respectively.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments:“Economic uncertainties including interest rates hikes, rising inflation, looming recession fears coupled with geopolitical tensions seem to have made investors cautious, which led to the significant decline in T&T deal activity across many countries.”

In fact, several key markets witnessed double-digit decline in deals volume during January-August 2022 compared to the same period in 2022. For instance, the US, the UK, Australia, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and Canada witnessed deals volume decline by 47.2%, 45.3%,20.8%, 13.6%, 62.5%, 31.3% and 33.3% YoY, respectively, during January-August 2023.

India and China too registered 6.3% and 3.3% decline in deals volume during January-August 2022 compared to the same period in 2022.

Bose concludes: “Despite the challenges, its ability to adapt and recover has been a hallmark of the travel and tourism industry, and this resilience is likely to drive a resurgence in deal activity when the global landscape stabilizes.”

*Comprising mergers & acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing deals.

(Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain).

The Canadian vehicle market is changing at a rapid pace. While most cars on the road are still gasoline-powered, projected sales for electric vehicles (EVs) are forecast to rise dramatically to align with Canada’s goal of reaching 60 per cent zero emission light-duty vehicle sales by 2030. Currently, 8.2 per cent of new vehicles sold in Canada are plug-in electric vehicles, with British Columbia leading the way. To prepare for the anticipated growth in sales, multi-residential property owners are advised to take steps now to ensure their buildings are EV-ready.

Understanding EV infrastructure

A typical EV requires around 80kWh of power to charge up depending on the vehicle. Charging stations come in three standard types categorized by the power level they supply. Level 3 chargers deliver power at 480 volts, providing the fastest vehicle charging available today. These chargers can take a battery from nearly empty to 80 per cent capacity sometimes in under 10 minutes. Meanwhile, level 2 chargers deliver power at 208/240 volts for a charge time in the range of 7 hours, and Level 1 chargers supply power at j120 volts using the rated capacity of a typical wall outlet.

In some Canadian jurisdictions, the requirements for EV infrastructure in apartment buildings are starting to change. For instance, under the City of Toronto’s Toronto Green Standard Version 4, developers of new mid- to high-rise multi-unit residential buildings (four storeys or higher) are directed to provide an energized outlet capable of providing Level 2 charging or higher EVCS for at least 25 per cent of the parking spaces. While there appears to be no mandated requirement for retrofitting existing apartments with EV chargers in parking stalls yet, this is likely to change as more tenants begin to demand it.

Engineering challenges

Installing a single or small number of EV charging stations in a typical apartment garage can be accomplished easily given the power required is a tiny fraction of the power used in the building. Installing several EV charging stations is another story. Unless mandated by government, the building owner must determine how many stations and which types of chargers to install, preferably with guidance from a qualified consulting engineer.

The next challenge is to determine where to put the stations and who gets access to this vital service. Since each charging station needs to be individually wired back for its power supply, and in some cases for EV system control communication, there is a need for an experienced designer to map out and coordinate the installation of both the charging stations and the EV infrastructure. This infrastructure will include dedicated panels, transformers, and the distribution network to serve the new EVCS.

The last challenge involves overcoming the electrical capacity restriction for buildings. Apartment buildings are supplied by their utility with a transformer designed for specified amount of power demand. Exceeding that number to accommodate many charging stations will likely require a system upgrade. The amount of power required for the EVCS can be mitigated using sophisticated EVCS management systems that can schedule the network of charging stations so that the power demand is distributed in a more balanced way over the course of a day or night.

Changes in power demand

Over the past decade, apartment owners have been investing heavily in conservation measures to help reduce power consumption at their buildings. From swapping inefficient incandescent lights for compact fluorescent and LEDs, to deeper energy retrofits and HVAC system optimization, all these measures have been beneficial in terms of lowering utility costs and conserving energy. Today, building owners can also have a hand in increasing their building’s power capacity to accommodate tenants’ needs for electric vehicle infrastructure.

On the other side of the power ledger, some additional demands have been imposed on the power supply of apartments thanks to today’s larger television screens, air purifiers, and power-hungry air conditioning units. Because of this complex web of changes in power demand, it is essential to begin any EVCS project with a hard-nosed assessment of the building’s power consumption and demand trends.

Designing a successful EVCS requires using a systematic, engineered approach to anticipate and address all the issues that are likely to arise during a project. Part of this process will involve a regulatory review to determine the EV requirements that apply to an apartment, if any. Following this, a phased structured approach is required to determine the building’s projected EV charging demand. The power required to meet this demand must be metered to monitor this major new use of electricity in the building. Finally, if necessary, the power supply to the building may even have to be expanded either through microgrid onsite generation, or through a costly transformer service upgrade from the utility.

Cost implications

Like any major building retrofit, initiating an EVCS project will involve capital costs beginning with the need to assess and engineer the specific system requirements. Building owners should also anticipate costs associated with modifications to the core building’s electrical system. Following this, there is the cost to install supporting EVCS infrastructure, as well as the cost of supplying and installing the EV charging stations themselves. It is important to budget for all the elements of a project to avoid an unwelcome surprise and project deferment.

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – September 7, 2023 - Keith Henry, President and CEO of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) and tourism leaders from Westjet, Airbnb and Rocky Mountaineer, announced today the launch of the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund (ITDF).

The ITDF is expected to be a game changer for Indigenous tourism in Canada — both as a way to invest in the continued growth of the industry and as a model for the development of Indigenous tourism, Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs worldwide. It will also bring ITAC one step closer to its ambitious goal of Canada becoming a world leader in Indigenous tourism, seeking to raise $2.6 billion over seven years, and to accelerate the growth of Indigenous tourism in Canada by tripling the direct GDP contributions from approximately $1.9 billion in 2019 to $6.0 billion by 2030.

The new funding model invites the entire tourism industry to participate and support progress towards realizing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action #92: by ensuring Indigenous communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic activities taking place on their lands.

The ITDF program will offer a new way for travellers, Indigenous businesses, and non-Indigenous tourism companies to participate and support Indigenous tourism by providing an optional fee to guests to support the fund, similar to the destination marketing fees hotels use to support their local visitor Destination Marketing Organizations across Canada. Early adopters, such as Rocky Mountaineer, Airbnb, WestJet, Coast to Coast Experiences and other Indigenous tourism businesses will support ITAC’s ambitious goals of having Canada become the world leader in Indigenous tourism by 2030.

ITAC has created an internal investment strategy to support the creation of 800 new Indigenous tourism businesses and increasing employment by 21,000 jobs with targets for every Province and Territory. Participating partners and consumers will ensure Indigenous tourism can grow through:

• Infrastructure and Destination Development Fund
• Sustainable Tourism Workforce Fund
• Develop and Promote Tourism Assets Fund
• Market Indigenous Tourism for Major Sporting Events Fund

Already, seven Indigenous tourism businesses have onboarded with the program including: Mahikan Trails, AB; Cape Croker Park, ON; Red Bank Lodge, NB; Metepenagiag Heritage Park, NB; Aqsarniit Hotel, NU; Wapusk Adventures, MB and Bastien Industries, QC

For more information on the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund (ITDF), please visit https://indigenoustourism.ca/indigenous-tourism-destination-fund/