RCI Supports Taiwan’s Hospitality Industry through EarthCheck, Featured in the Taipei Times
- Li Melissa
- May 21
- 2 min read
As global ESG expectations rise and climate urgency intensifies, Taiwan’s hotel industry finds itself navigating a delicate balance between guest comfort and environmental responsibility. On May 21, 2025, the Taipei Times published a feature titled “Environmental Impact Assessment: The tightrope walk for Taiwan’s hotels”, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in hospitality.
Shaun Bettinson, Solutions Director at RCI Sustainability Group, was quoted in the article explaining that many hotel operators fear that sustainability compromises service quality — a perception that needs to change. “They don’t want to have to use the same towel two days’ running,” he noted, reflecting common guest expectations at luxury properties.
Since 2023, RCI has worked with the 538-room Regent Taipei to become Taiwan’s first hotel to join the EarthCheck certification program. Based in Brisbane, EarthCheck provides hotels with data benchmarking, annual audits, and tools to track emissions, energy, and waste in ways specifically adapted for tourism businesses.
Shaun emphasized that EarthCheck not only overlaps significantly with ESG reporting (up to 70%), but also benefits from available government subsidies and a relatively low implementation cost. “It’s a practical step for hotels looking to take meaningful sustainability action without a major financial burden,” he said.
Despite this, the greatest hurdle remains internal: collecting accurate data and overcoming workforce shortages. “Sustainability has to be implemented from the boardroom to the staff changing the sheets,” Shaun stated.
Currently, only 154 of Taiwan’s 14,000 hotels and homestays have environmental certifications — a statistic cited in the Taipei Times as a warning sign. A lack of certified green hotels, particularly in Taipei, could hinder the country’s efforts to attract MICE events and international conferences, which increasingly require ESG-aligned venues and accommodations.
