Choice Hotels Boosts Environmental Reporting But Overlooks Key Pieces

25.08.2023 - 13:50 / skift.com / Patrick Pacious / Wouter Geerts

Choice Hotels International released its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report earlier this week, but emissions from the vast majority of its properties — franchised hotels — are missing. 

It is the first time the company has reported on its environmental and social efforts at this scale. While other hotel companies of Choice’s size have done so for many years, the owner of brands like Comfort, Quality Inn, Clarion, and EconoLodge is coming late to the party. It probably didn’t have an option as scrutiny of hotel groups intensifies.

The report provides some emissions data for the company, as well as achievements and targets to improve further over the coming years.

Skift Research recently released its Progress in Sustainability report, investigating the environmental reporting and performance of six of the largest hotel companies. Choice Hotels was not included as the company had no reporting at the time of research. That has now changed, although its reporting remains less thorough than that of its competitors.

The company now reports on scope 1 and 2 emissions, which is an important step forward, but it offered no insight into scope 3 emissions yet. 

Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pacious writes in the report that the company is “in the process of implementing a systemwide automated utility tracking dashboard that will make it easier for franchised hotels to identify opportunities for energy and water reduction. The dashboard will also provide us with the high-quality data we need to begin understanding Scope 3 emissions.”

In scope 3, Choice is missing an important piece of the puzzle because emissions from franchised hotels fall under scope 3. 

According to Capital IQ, Choice Hotels had nine hotels under operational control in 2022 (which fall under scope 1 and 2 emissions), while a whopping 7,388 properties were franchised and therefore not measured.   

Some other key points we would like to see from Choice to improve its reporting further:

All in all an important first step, but we hope there’s more to come. For context, subscribers can read Skift Research’s Progress in Sustainability report.