152,2kg of CO2

The necessity

Over 1% of all CO2 emission on our planet is caused by the hotel industry and the travel, services and deliveries that are linked to it (source). More specifically, 2023 research has shown that an overnight stay in a hotel can produce as much as 152,2kg of CO2, depending on the country you visit (source).

Fortunately, there is a growing number of hotels that offers their guests an easy and transparent way to compensate (a part of) their CO2 impact. This is a great development, since in a post-COVID-19 world there is an ever-increasing demand for more sustainable ways of travelling.

31 countries

257 hotels

43 projects

We are active worldwide

Hotels for Trees actively supports the transition towards a more sustainable hotel industry worldwide.

Our goal

Hotels for Trees aims to make the hotel industry more sustainable by converting room cleaning cost savings into newly planted trees.

Our goal is to expand our operation across the globe in the years to come, whereby we aim to plant at least 1 million trees per year as of 2026, together with our partners.

At this moment

Working on our goal

How it all started

… Of course each guests pays for this service and for many it is part of the luxury aexperience of travelling. The main question however is, do all guests really need their room cleaned every single day? Or whether, if offered in an easy and attractive way, they would be willing to skip a day of room cleaning in exchange for something green and something good? With this question in mind a new win-win-win initiative was developed. An initiative, which first of all enables hotel guests to compensate a part of the CO2 impact of their journey by contributing to the (re-)forestation projects of Hotels for Trees. Secondly, the initiative helps hotels strengthen their sustainable efforts while saving some cleaning cost as well. Finally, but definitely also most importantly, it creates a win for our planet, which through each tree that is planted becomes just a tiny bit greener.

The idea for Hotels for Trees stems from founder Floris Licht, who has been working in the (international) hotel industry since 2003 and has so far worked for Hilton and Accor across 5 different countries.
Amazed about the fact that when at home, we are used to cleaning our house every few weeks, whereas when we stay at hotels for multiple nights we find it very normal that someone cleans our bedside cabinet and wash basin every single day. …

Floris Licht

Founder

The Start

Hotels for Trees is based on a concept that is “easy” for both hotel guests as well as hotels. Hotel guests only need to hang the unique door hanger on the outside of their door during their multiple day stay in order to participate. Joining this movement is easy for hotels, because there is no registration fee and the hotels only donate money when savings are achieved. Furthermore, all hotel brands from all different quality levels can participate.

Hotel guests who choose to take part in this initiative can already see the impact of their action on the website the next day. This website also shows how many trees each hotel has planted per day, week, month or year and how much impact this initiative has already made in total.

The finance behind this concept is not a secret. Hotels that participate pay Hotels for Trees a set fee for each room that is not cleaned. Out of this amount 80% is used by (re-)forestation partners to plant a (certified) tree. The remaining is used to run and further grow Hotels for Trees.