Supporting accommodations on their sustainability journey
Booking.com heard from accommodation providers that a barrier to implementing more sustainable practices was simply a lack of knowledge on where to begin. Booking.com decided to partner with UN Tourism with the goal of helping accommodation providers overcome this challenge. As a result, Booking.com collaborated with ERM to create a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to educate professionals in the hospitality industry on key sustainability topics in the areas of local community engagement, energy management and greenhouse gases, food management and water management.
Specific technical expertise
The courses needed to be practical and easy to understand, which required Booking.com to find a partner with a high level of specific technical expertise on the key sustainability topics mentioned earlier. They were looking for experts who understood the hospitality industry’s challenges and opportunities and who could offer them practical support. After considering multiple different consultancies, Booking.com concluded that ERM was the ideal partner for this project. Previously, Booking.com had a very positive experience working with Sustainalize, which is now part of ERM.
Photo credit: Booking.com
Developing the MOOCs
For each MOOC, Booking.com, UN Tourism, ERM and creative & digital agency Torpedo developed syllabi, case studies, and video modules presented by experts, all tailored to various types of accommodations and different levels of understanding globally. This approach made the sustainability topics more accessible while providing industry professionals with the resources to explore further. Collectively, a lesson plan, including the structure and content for each topic, was determined. This was followed by the creation of scripts and videos, finally resulting in sixteen videos covering the four key topics, each of which was supported by an ERM subject matter expert.
I believe we had a great collaboration and connection. I want to thank the team at ERM for their flexibility and hard work; it’s been really a pleasure to work with such a lovely and passionate group of people!
Upskilling the tourism industry
The MOOCs are part of Booking.com’s efforts to support sustainability upskilling in the industry, particularly for accommodation providers. The courses aren’t restricted to Booking.com partners but are open to all interested in driving sustainability in the tourism sector. The MOOCs are freely available on both the Booking.com Partner Hub and the Tourism Online Academy of UN Tourism, and they have garnered positive feedback from across the industry. Booking.com and UN Tourism have also been awarded the Corporate Engagement Awards for their partnership, celebrating its positive impact across the industry. As for the next steps, Booking.com plans to continue working on its commitment to its partners, supporting them on their sustainability journey.
