Marriott Launches New Sustainability Tool for Planners

Marriott International is doubling down on sustainability with the launch of “Connect Responsibly.” The new initiative is aimed at planners who want to reduce their events’ environmental footprint. It will offer planners detailed reports to track their events' carbon and water impacts.

Connect Responsibly will be available across the global Marriott Bonvoy portfolio — including both managed and franchised properties— by the end of October. The heart of the initiative is the Meeting Impact Report, a tool Marriott is positioning as a game-changer for event sustainability reporting.

Following an event, the report captures the property-specific sustainability practices implemented for the event. This includes the event's carbon and water footprints using the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) methodology. The reports will be available in 11 languages, based on event location.

Marriott International's chief global officer of global operations, Erika Alexander, emphasized the growing importance of eco-conscious meeting solutions. “We are giving our meetings and events customers options to understand the impacts of their meetings better as we collectively strive to create a more resilient future for travel."

Marriott's Sustainability Goals

The drive for this program isn’t happening in a vacuum. Marriott is seeing growing demand from corporate clients looking to align their events with broader sustainability goals. Research from a global pilot program informed the development of Connect Responsibly and suggested that sustainability in events is becoming a must-have.

The program also includes a partnership with carbon offset developer South Pole. To mitigate the environmental toll of their event, planners can select verified carbon offset projects directly from South Pole’s platform. Tammy Routh, Marriott’s senior vice president of global sales, noted that the company’s customers are “eager to participate in sustainability efforts.”

Marriott’s Serve 360 initiative highlights its responsibility to be a force for good. In the initiative, the company shares its 2025 sustainability and social impact goals. In April, Marriott received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative for both near- and long-term emissions reduction targets.