Crowne Plaza Auckland has introduced a paperless check-in and check-out system as a sustainable movement to reduce the hotel's footprint.
The 352-room hotel launched the new technology yesterday, which will change the traditional check-in and check-out process, allowing all information relating to guests' reservations to be displayed on a mounted iPad at the hotel front desk.
Guests check reservation details and sign on the tablet using a stylus, then receive billing statements and receipts electronically via their preferred e-mail address, a move which Crowne Plaza Auckland Operations Manager, Kahlia O’Shea says is a “no brainer.”
“We’re on a journey, and this is a great way for us to continue to operate efficiently whilst reducing our environmental impact. The new system significantly reduces our paper usage, and we're expecting to save approximately 500,000 sheets of A4 paper annually.”
The hotel is the first IHG property in Australasia and Japan to pioneer the technology, which is set to save the equivalent of two tones worth of paper per year.
Mounted iPads have replaced the traditional printed forms during check-in and check-out
“Guest experience is our number one priority; the new system ticks that box as well as being green. The goal is that this will provide a seamless and more efficient process for our guests” said Ms. O’Shea.
Crowne Plaza Auckland General Manager, Tim Pollock is proud that the hotel is one of the pioneers of the technology in New Zealand.
“With the amount on focus sustainable tourism practices, I feel many hotels will be adopting a paperless system in the near future” said Mr. Pollock.
The investment into the technology comes off the back of IHG's’ global initiative, aiming to reduce carbon per occupied room by 6-7% by 2020.
The move to paperless aligns with previous green initiatives the hotel has adopted.
In 2018, Crowne Plaza Auckland, along with all IHG hotels in New Zealand removed the use of plastic straws. The ‘Greener Stay’ programme was also adopted earlier in the year, where guests can choose to opt-out of housekeeping in exchange for bonus IHG Rewards Club points.
The hotel is currently trialing multi-use bathroom amenities in selected rooms to reduce single-use plastic wastage.
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