The Energy & Environment Alliance (EEA) has announced a strategic partnership with Valpas, which sets a new globally recognised standard certifying hotels in real time as bed bug-safe – across 30,000+ rooms in 25 countries, independently verified by Bureau Veritas.
The partnership responds to a commercial signal that is now impossible to ignore. Research published by Phocuswright across 1,082 travellers in the US, UK and France finds pests like bed bugs is the #1 booking concern – ahead of cleanliness, value and staff friendliness. 79-84% of travellers would choose an independently bed bug-safe certified four-star hotel over an uncertified five-star, at the same price. Seven in ten would pay more for it.
For hotel owners and investors, the implications go beyond guest needs. Bed bug risk is no longer a transient operational issue – it is a physical asset risk. Infestations are becoming structural in hospitality real estate, affecting operational performance and long-term asset value. At the same time, the chemical pesticides the industry has relied on are being phased out under tightening environmental regulation. The gap between legacy approaches and what the market now expects is widening.
Valpas closes that gap with permanent safety infrastructure. Certified hotels are equipped with proprietary guest room technology that verifies a bed bug-safe stay every day – continuous, per-room, and machine-readable – and puts the proof where bookings are made, as an attribute from OTAs to AI systems. It replaces invisible indoor biocides with a structural solution – measurable carbon reduction, biodiversity benefit, and the preservation of pollinator populations near hospitality real estate. Bureau Veritas independently verifies that certified hotels meet the Valpas key criteria.
As part of the collaboration, Valpas will serve as the EEA’s Strategic Partner on health and wellbeing and pesticide removal, bringing the Valpas certification directly to the network of hotel investors, owners, asset managers and operators that shapes the future of hospitality real estate.
Martim Gois, Chief Executive of Valpas, said:
”Our industry has seen this before. Every decade, hospitality discovers a guest concern it had been quietly mispricing. Smoking in the 1990s. Wi-Fi in the 2000s. Sustainability in the 2010s. Each began as a back-office issue and became a bookable attribute, a standard. Bed bug safety is next."
For decades, hotels stayed silent about bed bugs – and that was rational. Why talk about something you couldn’t structurally solve? But guests learned to be silent too. The Phocuswright data shows they were never passive – many scan reviews, check the bed on arrival, take precautions when they get home. They just rarely tell the hotel. The demand was always there – it was invisible because there was no way to meet it.
Now there is. And the data says the opposite of what the industry feared: verified safety doesn’t draw attention to a problem – it shapes choice, rates and loyalty. Our partnership with the EEA brings that opportunity directly to the owners and investors who can act on it.
Ufi Ibrahim, Founder and Chief Executive of the Energy & Environment Alliance, said:
“Investors are increasingly focused on the operational factors that influence resilience, performance and long-term value creation.
What makes Valpas particularly interesting is that it addresses a challenge that has traditionally been viewed as an unavoidable operating cost and transforms it into a preventable risk. This has implications not only for guest experience and brand reputation, but also for operational efficiency, environmental performance and asset stewardship.
The hospitality sector is becoming increasingly sophisticated in its approach to risk management. We believe preventative solutions such as those developed by Valpas have an important role to play in supporting stronger asset performance across hotel portfolios.”
Through the partnership, the EEA and Valpas will collaborate on thought leadership, industry engagement, educational programmes, case studies and market intelligence focused on health and wellbeing, pesticide removal, biodiversity stewardship and long-term asset value creation within the hospitality sector.
The Energy & Environment Alliance is a global coalition of hotel investors, asset owners, asset managers and operators working to strengthen the resilience, performance and long-term value of hospitality assets through better data, standards and decision-making.
Valpas makes safe, sustainable, bed bug-free travel a reality. The Valpas certification is the new globally recognised standard for bed bug safety in hospitality – across 350 member hotels in 80+ destinations and 25 countries, from independent properties to Marriott. Bureau Veritas independently verifies that certified hotels meet the Valpas key criteria. Recognised by GSTC and WSHA.
Phocuswright, “The Silent Booking Signal: How Bed Bug Safety Reshapes Hotel Choice” (2026). Commissioned by Valpas. 1,082 travellers surveyed across the United States, United Kingdom and France.
