Omni Hotels puts telephone directories on hold

In a move toward Earth-friendliness, Omni Hotels has announced it will no longer stock its guest rooms with phone books and plans to recycle its current supply of about 30,000 directories.

“Saying goodbye to phone books means Omni Hotels will preserve approximately 217,200 pounds of paper each year,” said Richard Maxfield, senior vice president of operations for Omni Hotels. “Our goal is to preserve more than 18,000 trees over the next decade. We feel good about the impact this initiative will have on the environment.”

Irving, Texas-based Omni Hotels runs 39 properties throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico − typically luxury hotels with 350-500 rooms. The hotels receive approximately 60,000 phone books each year for its guest rooms.

According to Omni, elimination of these phone directories annually will save 217 barrels of oil, 760,200 gallons of water and 445,260 kilowatts of energy.

Omni says that travelers today are likely to seek information online or by asking a knowledgeable person. Also, phone books will be made available upon request at hotel concierge desks and business centers. Lastly, to compensate for the removal of the directories, Omni will provide guests complimentary calls to local directory assistance.


| Other Headlines for August 14, 2008

Hilton shifts meeting bookings to Internet (Hotel Interactive)

Convention promotional items going green (Ecopreneurist)

Virginia Governor honor's state's first 'green destination' (Pilot Online)

Grand Hyatt NYC converts to biodegradable trash bags (news release)