Guest Management

Map these touchpoints, for example:

Before their Stay

• Pre-arrival emails

• Social media

• Reservation confirmations

During their Stay:

• Check-in conversations

• In-room materials

• On-site activities, 

• Hotel App and Totems

• Public area signage

After their Stay:

• Information on invoices

• Post-stay surveys

• Responses to comments on feedback sites

Choose the right channel for each touchpoint: A friendly verbal reminder at reception, concise printed prompts in bathrooms, interactive suggestions in your hotel app, or inspirational stories on your in-house noticeboards. 

Every communication should have a simple, positive call to action that requests guest support.  Linking actions to specific local outcomes, such as preserving nearby rivers or easing pressure on island desalination plants, is often much more meaningful than relying on broad messages like 'saving the planet.

Keep messages short and simple, and make sure that everyone on your team, from front-desk staff to housekeeping, HR to animation understands their role in reinforcing these actions. 

OPERATIONS

It is vital that potential campaigns and actions that are good for communications are actually possible in reality.  Promoting a “reuse your towels” scheme to cut laundry is pointless if there’s no in-room signage explaining how and where to hang towels, or if housekeeping staff aren’t trained in implementing the procedure. Any guest-facing call to action on water reduction must be backed up by the right fixtures, clear instructions for guests and operational staff who know exactly how to support it.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Whilst many operational members of the team may not directly communicate with guests,  their actions do visually communicate with guests.  Expectations of behaviour that upholds sustainability commitments need to be included in staff handbooks so that they become part of business as usual (e.g. don’t leave taps running whilst cleaning guest rooms).

In order for operational changes to work, there may need to be adjustments to roles and responsibilities and such things usually require support and insight from HR.

FRONT DESK / GUEST RELATIONS

Your teams on the front desk and/or guest relations are often the first people guests come into contact with, they are a valuable source of information and need to know about everything that is going on inside and outside of the hotel. 

If guests have a query about a sustainability issue, about shower pressure, about why there is a pool towel exchange programme etc, your staff need to feel confident in responding and to explain the sustainability reasoning, and not simply put it down to a management policy

ANIMATION

Whether it's entertainment for young, old or everyone in between, the entertainment programme is a great way to incorporate sustainability activities.  Ideas include:

Behind-the-Scenes Water Tour

Lead a short guided walk to your boiler room, greywater system or rain-harvesting tanks. Use simple infographics or live demos to show exactly how much water you collect, treat, and reuse, and tell guests how they can support water reduction. 

Interactive Quiz Nights

Host a short, fun quiz on water trivia (e.g. “How much water does one cotton T-shirt require?”). Use mobile voting or paper buzzers, reward winners with eco-friendly prizes, and slip in quick tips between questions.

Interactive Feedback Wall

Install a magnetic board in the lobby or near the pool where guests can post quick sticky-notes about water-saving ideas they’ve tried or spotted. Animate the board daily, celebrating the most creative suggestions and feeding them back into your ongoing campaigns.

The added benefit of multilingual teams also makes it easier for all guests to be included in the action.

With this foundation in place, you’ll be ready to develop targeted engagement tactics that match your brand identity and that truly resonate with your guests, therefore driving real reductions in water use.

The latest research by Booking.com, Accor and the University of Surrey shows that over half of guests (55%) felt very skeptical about assertive messages such as “limit your water usage” and respond more positively to empowering messages which could be something more like “85% of our guests reuse their towels - join them”  

For more TOP TIPS on engaging guests, click here.