Urbn Hotels Shanghai, a carbon neutral hotel, has had quite a lot of guests since its opening last year, but it has not had a single client who is willing to spend money on purchasing carbon credits to write-off the carbon emissions from their journey.
According to local media, though the price of purchasing the carbon credits is not high compared with the hotel's 26 rooms, no client has expressed their intention of purchasing the item, as the service is not mandatory.
A representative from Urbn reportedly stated that the reason that no one has purchased the carbon credits is that this environmental concept is not well recognized by the public. And since most of the clients of the hotel are business clients and they are on a tight schedule while they stay in the hotel, there is no time for them to learn about the hotel's green initiative.
According to Chinese media, it is not only the hotel guests, but also the staff of the hotel, who have an inadequate understanding of the service. If the staff at the hotel can better understand the true value carbon credits, they can better sell this idea to guests. If the staff fail to sell the service, but they continually pitch themselves as a carbon neutral hotel, they run the risk of being called out for greenwashing.
