I just spent the last 2 days traveling and speaking at the Maine Inn Keeper’s Lodging Management Institute workshop on green marketing for their inns. It was a whirlwind trip and well worth it.
While I was conducting my two-day workshop about green marketing, I mentioned to them that they could create an in-room guide book teaching people how to maintain their healthy, ecological (environmentally friendly) lifestyle while on the go.
You see, the most challenging thing for the eco-traveler is how to help them keep that consistent lifestyle and not have to compromise it while traveling. It is something very hard to do. We all know how we often abandon certain lifestyle habits while on the road—whether it is to indulge in that steak or eat a dessert.
Yet, it really would be much easier for the green consumer (eco-traveler) to not have to make these sacrifices at all—to have healthy, organic food options, “experience” vacations, and products that they could use that meet their lifestyle (soap, shampoo, etc.)
As a business it is important to address this consumer’s lifestyle choices through your offerings whether you’re an inn or any other type of business. You address them through your company literature, website, signage, emails, direct communication, etc.
I often see businesses that really get it, others who are “trying” to get it and even others who really don’t want to get it at all. In Maine, the inns with which I spoke are either green or striving to incorporate green in some way and quite passionate about it.
I assume the ones who really don’t want to get it, probably wouldn’t have attended my workshop anyways. Be in the company of the first two groups—the ones who get it and are “trying” to get it and you’ll be more successful in reaching green consumers. Tell consumers how to maintain their ecological, healthy lifestyle on the go—while traveling, commuting in the car, etc., by providing them resources and tips on how to do this. This could be in the form of healthy living tips, traveling tips, and green resources.
In my next post, we’ll be further discussing this green healthy lifestyle and how to understand it.
Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends
Colette Chandler
