Tourism on planet Earth

Sustainable tourism has become a priority for the hotel industry in recent decades. With increasing awareness of climate change and the need to reduce the environmental footprint, hotels are increasingly turning to renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, to address these challenges. In this article, we will explore how hotels are implementing solar energy systems to reduce their environmental impact and improve their sustainability.

Benefits of Solar Energy for Hotels

Solar energy offers several significant advantages for hotels in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency. Here are some key benefits:

Long-Term Cost Reduction: Although the initial installation of solar panels may be costly, hotels can save on energy costs in the long run by generating their own electricity.
Renewable Energy Source: Solar energy is a renewable and inexhaustible energy source, allowing hotels to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and decrease their carbon footprint.
Brand Endorsement: Hotels that invest in solar energy can enhance their reputation as sustainable businesses and attract environmentally conscious guests.

Some Hotels with Solar Energy Systems

Several renowned hotels have successfully implemented solar energy systems in their operations. Here are some examples:

Hotel Bambu, Costa Rica: This boutique hotel in Costa Rica is entirely powered by solar energy and uses recycled water systems to minimize its environmental impact.

Hotel Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers: located in Denmark, is a prominent example of sustainability in the hotel industry. This hotel has implemented various initiatives to reduce its environmental footprint, including extensive use of solar energy. With a surface area of solar panels on its roof, the hotel generates a significant portion of its energy from renewable sources, allowing it to operate more sustainably and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In addition to its commitment to solar energy, the Hotel Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers has also implemented other sustainable practices, such as efficient water and waste management systems, making it a leader in environmental responsibility in the hotel industry.

Six Senses Yao Noi, Thailand: This luxury resort in Thailand utilizes solar panels to heat water and generate electricity, significantly reducing its conventional energy consumption.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite the benefits, the adoption of solar energy in the hotel industry also faces some challenges. Some important considerations include:

Initial Costs: The initial installation of solar systems can be expensive and requires a significant investment by hotels.
Space Limitations: Some hotels may face space limitations for the installation of solar panels, especially in densely populated urban areas.
Maintenance and Durability: Solar systems require regular maintenance to ensure long-term efficiency, which may add additional costs for hotels.

Future of Solar Energy in Hospitality

As solar technology continues to advance and installation costs decrease, more hotels are expected to adopt solar energy systems in the future. With a renewed focus on sustainability, solar energy will play a crucial role in reducing the environmental footprint of the hotel industry and promoting more responsible business practices.

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The concept of sustainability has currently become one of the main axes of management in tourism, with this paradigm shift being the result of awareness about the impact that tourism brings to the environment, society, and destinations. In this context, the emergence of sustainable lifehubs has garnered significant attention, signifying a holistic approach to sustainability within the tourism industry.

According to the "Ecological and Sustainable Tourism: Profiles and Trends" report, 66% of tourists are willing to pay more for sustainable brands. The data confirms that the tourism sector is responsible for around 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions, of which 1% corresponds to the accommodation sector. Therefore, today at Discorp, we will talk about hotels and sustainable design through the brand Mockuproom, a brand dedicated to conceptualization, design, and hotel furnishing, contributing to the vision of sustainable lifehubs.

Until recently, little importance was given to the architectural component within sustainable tourism; however, as buildings become more visible within the tourism landscape, the need to apply environmental criteria in their construction becomes more evident.

In addition, various initiatives have been launched to align the tourism sector with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); among them, the declaration of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations.

Given their large size and high impact on the environment, sustainable hotels are a fundamental element to address within sustainable architecture. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and the Hotel Technology Institute (ITH), 90% of surveyed travelers would choose a sustainable hotel to stay in, and 34% of them were willing to pay more for this type of accommodation.

Taking into account this interest, we will now talk about some of the most important topics surrounding sustainable hospitality, what elements make a hotel considered sustainable.

What is a Sustainable Hotel?

A sustainable hotel is one that is designed respecting the environment and whose operation does not have a negative impact on the place where it is built or its surroundings. Likewise, it actively participates with the local community, using its resources respectfully and promoting the economic and social development of the locality.

Like sustainability in general, a sustainable hotel not only brings benefits to the environment but also helps society and the communities with which it interacts.

What Elements Make a Hotel Considered Sustainable?

For a hotel to be considered sustainable, it must meet at least one of these characteristics:

Environment, culture, and society of the site where it was built at the time of its design. This means that the hotel will be part of the local landscape, harmonizing with natural elements and, above all, with the people in the place and their culture.
Respect for the surroundings, both from the natural and social points of view. This includes preserving the biodiversity of the local environment, reducing non-recyclable waste generated, and avoiding the use of non-renewable energy sources that consume local elements and deplete them.
Contribute to the development of the community and promote local businesses. In this sense, sustainable hotels function as job-generating sources since, on the one hand, the community finds work in the hotel, and on the other hand, the hotel refers travelers to use the community's services.
Promote the consumption of local products, which brings economic benefits and, in turn, favors the development of the local identity of the destination and enhances the elements that differentiate it from other places.
Use renewable energy sources to supply most of the hotel's energy requirements. This includes the use of solar energy, wind energy, or the construction of the building with bioclimatic principles.
Use organic and recycled materials, including construction materials, cleaning materials, hotel consumables, among others.
Respect the principles of bioclimatic construction so that the use of air conditioning and heating systems can be completely reduced.

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Iceland, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Norway are four countries that can already boast of generating all their energy with renewable sources. Although it is true that 100% has not yet been reached during each and every one of the 365 days of the year, it is true that dirty energy sources are already something marginal in these countries. They are the example to follow for the rest of the planet.

There are four nations that constitute the spearhead in the energy transition towards renewable sources. In reality, they have practically completed that transition and have left fossil fuels behind. How has it been possible? In all cases, they are processes that began many years ago and, furthermore, they always had their governments as staunch defenders of this transformation.

Iceland

Iceland is a country that, above all, consumes a lot of energy per capita, which is quite understandable if you take into account the low temperatures that are recorded throughout the year. Furthermore, it has been a historically poor nation. In fact, until the 1970s it was included in the category of developing countries by the United Nations.

Its economy was always based on agriculture and fishing. And, as for the sources to generate energy, they have always been fossil fuels, fundamentally imported. Therefore, it did not seem like an example of sustainability. And yet, the Icelandic political authorities decided to change course around 1980.

This is how Iceland, with 360,000 inhabitants, radically transformed its conventional energy mix for one based on domestic renewable sources. Renewable energies surpassed 99% of energy production in the 1980s and have continued to do so ever since. Today, all of Iceland's electrical power is generated by hydroelectric and geothermal power.

Without realizing it, the energy was on the island itself and, moreover, free and clean. Volcanoes provide geothermal energy in abundant amounts. And, on the other hand, hydroelectric power is the other most important source of supply.

In Iceland, geothermal energy is used, in addition to generating electricity through large steam turbines, to provide heating for entire cities through centralized urban systems, to melt snow on sidewalks, to heat swimming pools, to supply energy for fish farming, greenhouses and food or cosmetics processing. 95% of the houses in the country are heated with this energy, recalls the Ph.D. in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid, Ignacio Mártil.

Keep in mind that Iceland is the first country in the world in energy consumption per capita, with 194.2 megawatts per hour. And the first on the planet in electricity consumption per capita, with 54.7.

Uruguay

Uruguay is a country of 3.4 million inhabitants that is setting an example to the world on how to take advantage of clean energy sources. Above all, it takes advantage of the potential of its rivers for hydroelectric generation and, in addition, makes a significant investment effort in this matter, because it dedicates 3% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually to a global plan to reorient energy towards renewable sources.

As a result of all this, already in 2016, it exceeded 90% of renewable generation and in 2018, it was the first country in South America in electricity production from renewable sources, with 97%. The latest known data from the State Electricity of Uruguay, UTE, are very encouraging as they indicate that 98% of the electricity consumed in the country during the year 2019 came from renewable sources. 55.6% comes from hydroelectric plants, another 33.6% from wind installations, 6% comes from biomass, 2.8% from photovoltaic energy and 2% from solar thermal.

According to UTE, 2019, in addition to being a record year for renewables, was also a record year for total electricity generation (14,000 GWh) and that exported.

Regarding energy exports, almost 3,000 GWh were sold to Brazil and Argentina during the year that has just ended, the equivalent of 21% of Uruguayan electricity demand, a percentage never reached before. Of the total exported, 80% went to Argentina, and the remaining 20% to Brazil.

In 2019, the Government and the UTE company developed all kinds of energy efficiency projects and programs, efficient and sustainable mobility, waste recovery, circular economy and energy communes.

Rural households that did not have access to the electricity grid were also reached. Five pilot electrification projects with off-grid solutions are currently being implemented. These houses, which until now had no electricity, have substantially improved their quality of life.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica, a heavenly country blessed by nature, has 5.5 million inhabitants. Currently, it generates more than 99% of its electricity through five different renewable sources: hydroelectric power (78%), wind power (10%), geothermal power (10%), biomass and solar power (1%).

The main one is, as in the previous case, the hydraulics that, according to the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity, ICE, generates 78% of the electricity. This is because its privileged location in the middle of the Caribbean Sea allows it to take advantage of this resource.

Costa Rica has promoted the use of renewable energies since the middle of the last century in order to conserve the environment and free itself from dependence on oil-producing countries.

According to Tabaré Arroyo, author of the study 'Leaders in Clean Energy', this long history has been successful thanks to two key mechanisms that have facilitated the penetration of renewable energies into the energy mix. The first, a specific system of auctions by technology that allowed to increase the contracting of additional capacity. The second, a program that encourages consumers to produce energy by selling excess energy to the grid.

Likewise, Costa Rica has chosen to encourage the purchase of electric cars by eliminating the taxes associated with them. It will also promote the creation of an infrastructure of charging stations throughout the country, trusting that the development of more autonomous and cheaper batteries will do the rest. In addition to optimizing the public transport service thanks to the adoption of an electric train with a capacity for 250,000 people, almost 74 kilometers long and three lines and 42 stations in 15 cantons of the country.

Norway

Norway (5 million inhabitants) is the great European benchmark in terms of sustainable energy sources. Since 2018, Norway has approached 100% renewable production throughout the year, and its main source is hydroelectric energy, responsible for more than 96% of the total generated. It was the Norwegian fjords and the energy obtained from the force of the water that started Norway on its successful clean energy path already at the end of the 19th century.

The rest of the supply comes from wind, solar and biofuels, although to a much lesser extent.

Norway is also leading green transport, not only by land, but also by sea (some of the first electric boats operate there) and in less than a decade it has proposed to turn its mobility around, betting on the electric vehicle.

Paradoxically, Norway has achieved a high standard of living thanks to the hydrocarbon industry, a fuel that it tries to bury in the past.

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Sustainable tourism is tourism that follows the principles of sustainability, minimizing the impact on the environment and local culture, while contributing to generate income and employment for the local population.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines sustainable tourism as tourism that fully takes into account the current and future economic, social and environmental impacts to meet the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and the host communities.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is an international organization created in 1975 that aims to promote tourism. Formally linked to the United Nations since 1976, when it became an executive agency of UNDP. In 1977 an agreement was signed that formalized the collaboration with the United Nations, being a specialized agency of the United Nations system since 2003. It has its headquarters in Madrid (Spain) and has 156 member states.

According to UNWTO, the principles that define sustainable tourism are:

The natural and cultural resources are conserved for their continued use in the future, while they report benefits;
Tourism development is planned and managed in a way that does not cause serious environmental or socio-cultural problems;
The environmental quality is maintained and improved;
It seeks to maintain a high level of satisfaction of visitors and the destination retains its prestige and commercial potential; Y
The benefits of tourism are widely distributed throughout society.

These characteristics make sustainable tourism a strategic tool in local and national economic development. On the one hand, tourism is a great opportunity in some urban and rural areas, where there are no other alternatives for economic activity. At the same time, as part of the services sector, it offers more opportunities for the emergence of local companies (we must bear in mind that even in the most developed countries, this sector is mainly made up of SMEs). And despite being a sector that requires heavy investments in infrastructure and equipment, it also uses labor intensively, thus offering numerous job and business opportunities, without distinction for men, women and young people.

This trend of tourism called Sustainable Tourism is also supported by UNESCO, who argues that "The development of sustainable tourism must be ecologically sustainable in the long term, economically viable, as well as ethically and socially equitable" (BRESCE, 2009).

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Surely you know that sustainability has become an added value in any type of trip. You should also know that there are hotels that, in an effort not to be left behind, are described as 'green' when they are not. But do you know how to detect if the hotel you visit passes the basic standards to be sustainable?

If you want to determine how responsible you are when it comes to environmental responsibility, here are some criteria to determine your credibility.

Its construction is sustainable

Look at the architecture of the place. Many of the new hotels use recycled materials for their construction, such as wood or cotton for interior decoration. Others concentrate on not damaging the space in which they stand, transplanting trees or creating protected spaces. In addition, there are increasingly more structures to absorb natural energy evident in the properties, from solar panels to rainwater collection systems.

It has a system of saving resources

Maintaining the consumption of resources to a minimum is a decisive step in the search for sustainability. For this, hotels often install lights with sensor controls that turn off completely when there is no one in the room. Another tool is to install showers with little pressure to reduce water consumption.

Help the community or the surrounding environment

A sustainable hotel will do everything possible to return something to the environment in which it is located. Some support the local community with jobs or financial assistance to an organization, while others support environmental conservation initiatives. This information is something that you can easily find on the website, or else, of any staff member.

Use ethical products

Another indicator that you should look for is the supply chain that the products used in the hotel follow, from the room amenities to the food. The vast majority of sustainable hotels have adopted the 'farm to table' philosophy, with seasonal menus based on local farming, organic farms and sustainable fishing cycles.

It has an eco-friendly certification

The last indicator, and perhaps the most forceful, is the certification of sustainability, validated by experts in the field who have studied all aspects of the space to evaluate it. Symbol of pride, this is usually announced on the website, as well as at the hotel reception. Look for stamps like Green Key, LEED, Green Leaf or Earth Check among many others.

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Several WorldHotels establishments are working in the line of sustainability and energy efficiency. With their good practices, they contribute to creating unique, locally relevant experiences that are capable of generating benefits in the environment in which they operate.

Sustainable tourism experiences, friendly to the environment, are already part of travelers' expectations, and hotels are no strangers to this reality. In addition, travelers understand sustainability from a more global perspective, which not only covers energy efficiency, respectful practices with the environment, but also integration with the community and the local environment, capable of enhancing the character and authenticity of a destination.

The high-end hotels have been working in this line for years, including the establishments that form part of the WorldHotels network, they have developed innovative ideas and strategies to increase their sustainable practices and to add this commitment to the guests with an original, relevant and memorable approach. .

Urban beekeeping

Beekeeping is finding spaces in urban environments to grow. Bees are more comfortable in cities since higher temperatures ensure a longer flowering period than in the field, which lengthens the feeding period and the production of honey by each bee.

In cities with low levels of pollution, the bees of the city have several alternatives for feeding and are healthier than the colonies in the countryside, weakened by monocultures. For this reason, several hotels recreate natural environments in the city, also getting local products that incorporate the experience of the guests.

The Atrium Hotel Mainz, in Mainz, Germany is home to two colonies of "dark bees", a species declared extinct in Germany in 1975. In this way they not only contribute to the conservation of this species, they also produce homegrown honey that It is part of the culinary offer of the hotel and, in addition, the surrounding farmers are delighted with the pollination of their fruit trees.

Le Plaza Brussels, in Brussels, Belgium has installed three hives on its terrace. The first crop of the hotel weighed 20 kilograms and, since then, it is offered to the clients and members of the hotel team; similar proposal to Hotel Daniel Vienna, in Vienna, Austria, which also has beehives on the seventh floor.

On the roof of the Nordic Hotel Forum in Tallinn, Estonia, there are six beehives of more than 60,000 bees that guests can visit virtually through the web camera that shows the hidden life of bees.

Local and proximity products

The demand for local foods and fresh products continues to rise and hotels are no strangers to this trend: many opt for urban gardens or gardens dedicated to vegetables and herbs that are used in the kitchen of the hotel, or agreements with farms or nearby crops for other raw materials, which allows to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the purchase and distribution of raw materials for the kitchen, using fresher products, and in many cases organic and ecological.

Practices of this type are standardized and recognized through entities such as Green Chefs, to which the head chef of the Hotel Atrium Mainz belongs. This organization is dedicated to promoting the respectful use of food, good management of waste, local purchases and products of proximity. They also defend environmental awareness, low energy consumption, reduction in CO2 emissions and fair working conditions.

Environmentally friendly materials and design

Integrating exteriors and interiors through the design of spaces and the use of local materials is the response of hotel interior architecture to sustainability. The panoramic views, interior waterfalls, vertical gardens and natural light techniques are just some examples that allow guests to get close to nature from the comfort of an interior space, preserving the feeling of being in the middle of nature.

This philosophy has inspired the design of Dorsett Shanghai, in Shanghai, China, a certified ecological hotel located just across from Century Park, the largest park in Shanghai. More than 60% of the rooms have views of the park and, in the interior spaces, plants and local vegetation have a great role.

Another hotel that takes nature within its facilities is the Carlton City Hotel in Singapore, which has green walls and vertical gardens in various parts of the building.

Sustainability was also the most important criterion that guided the Anam project, in Nha Trang, Vietnam. In its design, wood from sustainably cultivated forests was used, and it is the main thread of interior design, which fuses the hotel's facilities with the natural environment that surrounds it.

SMART hotels and energy reduction

Technology not only contributes to enrich the guest experience, it is also an indispensable ally to increase the efficiency of supplies. In addition, many establishments incorporate good practices in the maintenance of their water and air management systems, the monitoring of consumption or the use of more efficient, alternative and renewable energy sources.

The Leopold Hotel Antwerp, in Antwerp, the Netherlands the hotel works with Nanogrid, a system that allows to map the energy consumption of different parts of the hotel, controlling and optimizing the system continuously in order to reduce costs and its environmental impact. In addition, it has incorporated good practices such as efficient lighting and ignition patterns associated with natural light, use of biodegradable cleaning products, among others.

The Caravelle Saigon in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam is the first and only hotel in the country able to recycle its 40,000 cubic meters a year of treated wastewater for use in cooling towers and flushing toilets since 2010. They have also updated its elevators, installing high efficiency motors, have incorporated efficient lighting and digital temperature control systems in all rooms.

The Stamford Plaza Airport Hotel, in Sydney, Australia, produces energy through solar panels and efficient lighting systems, has incorporated more efficient refrigeration and air conditioning systems with less environmental impact.

Waste management

Luxury is no longer synonymous with waste, but a conscious use of resources to achieve a unique and special experience. It is about recycling, reusing, reducing costs and environmental impact without sacrificing the quality of the experience.

Like many Spanish hotels, El Anam, in Vietnam, has put a brake on the use of plastic by phasing out its use and incorporating glass and bamboo as substitutes, a philosophy that they seek to extend beyond the hotel. In addition, its staff contributes to the cleanliness of the beach, uses recycled water to irrigate the gardens of the complex, and works with suppliers to reduce waste and encourage the rational use of environmental resources throughout the value chain.

Commitment of the guest

The success of sustainable initiatives in hotels is greater when guests are part of their implementation, not only explaining the scope of the measures but also inviting them to actively participate in the process.

For example, the Carlton City Hotel in Singapore invites its guests to reduce their ecological footprint and be part of their environmental practices; a similar strategy to the hotels of Marmara Antalya, Marmara Pera, Marmara Sisli, and Marmara Taksim, in Turkey, which also have energy control systems for areas and rooms that are not being used.

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The company Orion Span, based in Houston (USA) hopes to launch the "first luxury hotel in space", baptized as 'Aurora Station' in 2021 and have its first guests already in 2022.

The first luxury space hotel will measure about 13 meters long X 4 meters wide and the wealthiest tourists will have a new orbital destination within a few years if the plans of this startup go as they wish.

"We will launch the first affordable luxury space hotel," said Orion Span founder and CEO Frank Bunger, who presented the Aurora Station idea at the Space 2.0 Summit in San Jose, California.

Of course, 'affordable' is a relative term. A 12-day stay aboard the Aurora Station could cost from 9.5 million dollars. However, it is true that it is far less than what orbital tourists have paid in the past.

From 2001 to 2009, seven citizens made a total of 8 trips to the International Space Station (ISS), paying an estimated price of between 20-40 million dollars each time. Not suitable for any pocket.

"There has been innovation around architecture to make it more modular and simpler to use and have more automation, so it is not necessary to have EVA [extravehicular activities] or spacewalks," Bunger said of the luxury space hotel .

Some of the leading engineering experts involved in the construction of the Aurora Station space hotel have helped in the past to design the International Space Station; They are manufacturing the hotel in Houston and developing the necessary software to operate it in the Bay Area.

Aurora Station will be about the size of a large private jet cabin. Measures 13.3x 4.3 meters) and presents a pressurized volume of 160 cubic meters. For comparison, the ISS measures 109 meters long and has a pressurized internal volume of 916 cubic meters.

The private outpost will orbit at an altitude of 320 kilometers, a little lower than the ISS, which is about 400 km above the Earth on average.

Aurora Station will have capacity for four guests and two crew members; In all probability, the expert staff will be made up of former astronauts, according to the company. Most of the guests will be private space tourists, at least initially, but Orion Span will be available to a variety of clients, including government space agencies.

The space hotel hopes to grow with time, if everything goes according to plan. As the demand grows, Orion Span will launch additional modules to link up with the original outpost.

"Our long-term vision is to sell real space in these new modules, which is what we call a spatial condominium, so whether it's for living or subletting, that's the vision of the future: creating a long-term sustainable human habitation in the orbit. goes down from Earth, "says Bunger.

More competition

Orion Span is not the only company to follow this path. Other companies, such as Axiom Space and Bigelow Aerospace, also aim to launch commercial space stations in low Earth orbit in the coming years to meet the anticipated demand of space tourists, national governments, researchers and private industry. Other private players, such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, will start commercial operations soon.

People wishing to become space tenants will undergo a three-month training program, which will culminate on board the space hotel.

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The democratization of technology has radically modified many aspects of our daily life, including the way we travel.

What until many years ago seemed impossible, today is within our reach without much effort. One of the sectors that has evolved, due to the almost unlimited possibilities offered by new technologies, is tourism.

Our way of traveling has changed markedly. When we proposed a trip a few years ago, the planning was much more expensive. Currently we have at our disposal countless specialized travel blogs that clarify even the slightest doubt that arises, and that are replacing the well-known guides on paper. That anxiety before the unknown dissipates before an almost complete knowledge of the place to which we decided to move.

Travel agencies have been relegated almost to the background due to the rise of online agencies, in which the consumer can organize the trip to suit you, choosing the options that best suit your situation and all this sitting, without need to move from the armchair of his house.

Buying a plane ticket is no longer an odyssey, there are many search engines that offer price comparisons, and to acquire one simply follow a few simple steps. Therefore, currently eight out of ten flights are purchased through the Internet. Depending on the characteristics of our flight, there is no longer a need to go to the airline's counter, but we can check in from the company's website and download the boarding cards directly to our mobile phone in the form of a QR code. This supposes a considerable saving of time. In addition, with the proliferation in recent years of low cost companies, the cost of tickets is available to many more people.

We can say then, that we are before a tourist 3.0, who does not have the need to buy several guides before embarking on his trip, but has an infinite number of possibilities offered by travel apps available for all types of Smartphones. Simply with being accompanied by our phone or smart watch we have at our disposal everything that is essential to move around the world:

- The heavy cameras of photos are replaced by the objectives of our mobiles of last generation, or by sport cameras with objectives of 360º to not miss any detail.

- The old maps on paper, so complex to understand sometimes, are replaced by the simple GPS applications on our smartphone, which give us clear instructions.

- Simultaneous translators convert past paper language dictionaries into preterit.

We speak of a fully informed traveler who reads a huge amount of opinions. Nothing remains in the hands of chance but the choice of a destination, accommodation, restaurant or visit is based on the valuation that other travelers have previously left. Undoubtedly, today, the avatars of the charismatic character of Jules Verne, Phileas Fogg, in Around the World in Eighty Days, would be much easier to cope with a Smartphone or a smart watch. Of course, letting go of the adventure continues to have its charm.

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While a few years ago, the quantity of quality of tourist accommodation prevailed (there is no more to see the large cities built from nothing on the Mediterranean coast), it seems that in recent years this trend has been reversed. Now both hoteliers and clients seek and offer special, different accommodations, as is the case of ecological and sustainable hotels.

The increase in concern for the environment and its conservation has led the hospitality industry to offer innovative places to spend their vacations. From rural houses in the middle of natural places of high biological interest, to hotels that feed the heating burning the bones of the olives. Everything is valid if the ultimate goal is the environment.

In many cases the rural factor is combined with the interior design, architecture and respect for the environment, are known as ecological and sustainable hotels. This type of accommodation has two clear objectives: on the one hand to collaborate with the environment maintaining and promoting the biodiversity of the area where they are located and on the other that the guests feel comfortable.

The new forms of tourism have also generated that the search engines and Internet companies have been adapted. This is the case of Expedia, which has decided to join this ecological trend by incorporating a new advanced search filter to facilitate the choice of this type of accommodation on its website.

Responsable tourism

As the director of online marketing of the travel agency, Llibert Argerich, explains, "responsible tourism is a new form of tourist behavior", which has made the agency has improved the resources available to "provide ecological awareness to our users "points.

When choosing the accommodation, the agency itself recommends taking into account several aspects of ecological accommodation, which in the end differentiate one from the other. Among these differences is harmony with the environment, renewable energy, food, distance to large urban centers and leisure opportunities.

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Lately, I've been reflecting on the long process of obtaining my current position at Brilliant University. Only the last step of the process involved the physical interview. I actually wasn't too worried about the interview, because as a graduate student, I had witnessed more than my fair share of idiots interviewing for postdoc positions.

My grad lab usually had 2-3 postdocs at any given time, but it seemed like we were constantly interviewing to fill vacancies. We had really bad luck with the people we interviewed. These candidates would look great on paper, but when they showed up, we were the lucky recipients of lesson after lesson on what NOT to do during a postdoc interview. I thought it would be fun to count down some of the worst offenses I saw during my time as a grad student.

5. Candidate is immobilized by fear and refuses to speak except during his seminar. No one has any idea who the hell this person is, because he is mute.
4. Candidate severely criticizes work done previously and currently in the lab in which he is interviewing.
3. Candidate wears a very nice navy pinstripe suit, complimented by 4-inch gold stilettos, an enormous gold belt that jingles during movement, hoop earrings with a diameter sufficient for small mammals to jump through, and enough perfume to anesthetize everyone in the conference room. Moral of the story: If you're going to dress professionally, go all the way. Buy yourself some tasteful accessories.
2. Candidate seems very concerned about appearing to have accomplished a lot as a graduate student. Candidate gives a very long talk packed with many, many different kinds of data that she says she has collected. One of the group members is particularly interested in Graph #57, because it is very relevant to that group member's work. The group member asks a number of questions to the candidate about the graph. The candidate seems to know nothing about the graph, then admits to stealing the graph from one of her labmates! Moral of the story: Don't engage in academic dishonesty during an interview.
1. Candidate is out to lunch at a nice restaurant with several group members. Candidate is completely obnoxious and laughs uncontrollably. Candidate tells a 'hilarious' story about how he once met a black homosexual in a Cadillac on the way to church, and now he thinks all black people are gay, and he's decided he hates gay people! Moral of the story: Don't be an asshole during your interview, esp. during lunch.

So, after seeing a lot of these crazies parade through my grad lab, I felt fully confident that I could nail my postdoc interview. All I had to do was dress in a professional outfit, be willing to talk to people, avoid insulting the PI, only take credit for the work I've done, and not make any bold statements regarding race, religion, or sexual orientation! The job was mine!

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