Green Key International signs UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge

By signing the UNESCO and Expedia Group’s Sustainable Pledge, Green Key further strengthens its mission of promoting sustainable travel, community resilience and heritage conservation globally.

©Eddy Billard

Green Key’s endorsement of the UNESCO Pledge means a further 3,200 properties across more than 60 countries will become part of the UNESCO Pledge, taking the total to more than 9,000 properties worldwide. The Green Key eco-label initiative is overseen by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and its national member organisations. Its priorities include increasing the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods and technology to reduce resource waste and helping to create sustainable behavioural change in the hospitality and tourism industry. It rigorously audits the high environmental standards expected of its sites, which include hotels, hostels, and holiday parks and other categories in the hospitality sector.

Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact travel can have on local environments, economies and individuals. A recent survey from Expedia Group revealed that nearly two in three (59%)1 travelers are willing to pay more to make their trip more sustainable. The willingness to spend extra on sustainability shows that the environment is top of mind for many travelers.

Since its creation in 2019, the UNESCO Pledge has expanded, with major hotel groups and independent hotels signing up and committing to concrete, transparent and achievable action. Participating hotels support the reduction and elimination of single-use plastics and waste, the conservation of energy and water, and promote sustainable community engagement. They receive a ‘We signed the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge’ certificate, renew their commitment every year, and report on progress achieved. They also receive increased visibility with a badge on multiple travel booking sites across the Expedia Group marketplace.

Jean-Philippe Monod, SVP Government and Corporate Affairs, Expedia Group, said: “The number of organisations, hotels and properties signing up to the UNESCO Pledge is increasing at an astonishing pace, with more than 9,000 properties now committed to the cause. We are delighted to partner with Green Key - a champion of sustainable tourism - and this announcement demonstrates that more and more travel businesses are willing to make concrete and transparent commitments to sustainability as the threat of climate change becomes more real by the day.”

Ernesto Ottone R., Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, said: “The UNESCO Pledge provides a framework for action on the ground to improve livelihoods and chart a path to a more sustainable future for travel. The commitment from Green Key International represents a significant milestone, and we are pleased to welcome more than 3,000 new properties as advocates of the UNESCO Pledge. We urge others to sign up to the Pledge and commit to progress around these essential sustainable tourism priorities, from reducing single-use plastic to saving water and energy usage, and strengthening the engagement, benefit and resiliency of local communities.”

Finn Bolding Thomsen, Green Key International Director, said: “With Green Key being a leading standard of environmental and sustainable operations within the tourism industry, we are happy to enter a partnership with UNESCO and Expedia Group to support that thousands of properties across the world implement sustainable and resourceful practices to reduce the industry's overall environmental footprint."

The UNESCO Pledge is available on the Expedia Group and UNESCO global site.

First boutique Hotel to receive Green Key certification in Malta

The 19 Rooms hotel is one of the most recent establishments to join the Green Key network of certified accommodations.

© 19 Rooms

With a long and interesting history that goes back to the 18th century, the 19 Rooms is located at an old palace in the heart of the capital city of Valetta. Before being converted to a boutique hotel four years ago, the building was once a private residence purchased by a Maltese philanthropist and later used for housing unprivileged families living in Valetta. In 1994, the building had to be closed down under the risk of becoming an unsafe place for tenants to live in. It opened again in 2016, at the hands of the current owners, who transformed the building into a stylish boutique hotel.

Considering that sustainability is at the core of its brand values, the 19 Rooms hotel has recently optimised its internal practices to comply with the Green Key eco-label standards. On the importance of receiving the Green Key certification, Managing Director Michael Xuereb has said:

“We are very focused on having an eco-friendly and sustainable operation, where we recognise the realities of climate change and focus on reducing our footprint and being a responsible part of our community. Obtaining Green Key certification was important for us because it demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and also gives us a rigorous standard to adhere to and build processes around. We also hope that, by making this commitment, we will encourage other hotels and hospitality establishments in Malta to pursue a stronger sustainability strategy.”

As part of its sustainability strategy, the boutique hotel is implementing several practices, which include:

• Waste separation bins in all guest rooms and the restaurant (all waste is separated and daily weight)

• Equipping guest rooms with soap, shampoo and moisturiser dispensers to avoid single-use plastic

• Rejecting single-use plastic for drinking water consumption in the hotel, and instead of using glass bottles which are refilled regularly

• Sourcing and buying local ingredients when possible

• Providing guests with clear instructions (in their rooms) on reducing laundry changes, separating their waste, and being mindful of consumption when using the heating and cooling system

• Offsetting the carbon emissions yearly.

Green Key International congratulates the 19 Rooms Boutique Hotel for their efforts towards a more sustainable tourism industry!

Green Key certified hotel receives Best New Sustainable Hotel award

Three establishments with the eco-label were nominated in the Sustainable Hotel category of the New Hotel Awards, held in Belgium, last week.

The Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels won the Best New Sustainable Hotel award.

It is undeniable that the last two years have been particularly challenging for the hotel industry. While some hotels endured the difficult years by reinventing themselves and adopting new practices to attract guests, others were opening their doors and starting from zero amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To recognise the effort and persistence of new hotels inaugurated in 2020 and 2021, the New Hotel Awards were created in Belgium.

The first edition of the awards show took place in the city of Antwerp, on March 14, where a panel of jury, consisting of industry experts, chose winners from seven categories: Best New Hotel Concept, Best New Hotel Restaurant, Best New Hotel Design, Best New Hotel Bar, Best Price Guarantee, Publieksprijs (Audience awards), and Best New Sustainable Hotel.

"The main purpose of this edition was to showcase new hotels and to give a boost after these unpleasant corona years. We can proudly say that the first edition was successful and that we discovered a lot of new gems. We are already looking forward to all the beautiful things that we will see in the next edition," explained the jury president Rachel Persoon, after the ceremony.

In the category that showcases leading establishments in the field of sustainability, three Green Key certified establishments were amongst the four nominees, including the Hotel Nhow Brussels Bloom, the Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels, and the Mercure Antwerp City Centre. The Radisson Grand Place Collection Brussels, which was first certified by Green Key in 2010 and still holds a valid certification, won the Best New Sustainable Hotel award.

Green Key International congratulates the winner and also Nhow Brussels Bloom and Mercure Antwerp for their work towards achieving a more sustainable tourism industry.

Read more about the New Hotel Awards here.

Green Key launches series of biodiversity webinars

As part of the Foundation for Environmental Education’s strategy for the next decade, Green Key is hosting four webinars on the importance of biodiversity to the tourism industry.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. These critical environmental threats are the focus of the Foundation for Environmental Education’s (FEE) strategy for the next decade. Named GAIA 20:30, the strategy encompasses several actions and campaigns which aim to bring more awareness about environmental problems while contributing to a more sustainable world.

In 2022, the GAIA 20:30 focuses on biodiversity loss through different actions: promoting sustainable management of the coastal zone, combating pollinator and insect loss, preserving existing and creating new natural areas, and finally raising awareness of efforts to remove invasive alien species.

The biodiversity campaign is running across all five FEE programmes through different actions and initiatives, including a biodiversity quiz and a course that will be available from March 21. Within the Green Key programme, a series of webinars are being held in collaboration with Blue Flag, focused on the importance of biodiversity to the tourism industry. The first introductory webinar on April 5 is already open for registration (here) and will address the following key questions:

- Why is biodiversity important to the tourism industry?
- How does tourism contribute to biodiversity loss?
- How can tourism contribute to the protection of biodiversity?

Our speakers Mr Nikos Petrou, Naturalist, Nature Photographer and Author, and Mr Arnau Teixidor-Costa, Programme Officer - Ecosystem Resilience & Spatial Planning at IUCN Med will reflect on these questions and provide practical examples related to the topic.

See below our schedule for the upcoming Biodiversity webinars:

1. The importance of biodiversity to the tourism industry (April 5)
2. Welcoming nature as your guest - biophilic design in the hotel industry (April 25)
3. My establishment in action - how to support biodiversity in the tourism industry (May 12)
4. Tourism - a force for good for biodiversity (end of May - date to be confirmed)

Sign up to the first webinar event here!

"The ecolabel has paid off" – The example of DGI Byen in Denmark

The ecolabel contributed to cost reduction of the hotel and conference venue and improved its environmental strategy, according to the DGI Byen CCO (Chief Commercial Officer).

DGI Byen hotel and conference centre

As one of the 21 hotels that received the Green Key certificate in 2021 in Denmark, the DGI Byen hotel and conference centre is already benefiting from its decision of becoming a greener establishment. That is the opinion of Jesper Bremholm, the CCO of DGI Byen, who participated in the last of four Energitrim workshops organised by Sustain in January 2022. The last Energitrim workshop focused mainly on the importance of the Green Key certificate for hospitality businesses and the necessary steps for obtaining the eco-label.

Reflecting on the first year of DGI Byen with the Green Key certificate, the hotel and conference venue CCO Jesper Bremholm acknowledged that the company is already experiencing the advantages of being certified by Green Key. DGI Byen´s CCO explained that the ecolabel has not only helped the company to improve its environmental standards but also allowed DGI Byen to sell more.

To Green Key International, Jesper Bremholm clarified: “The ecolabel has paid off and brought advantages to our business as more customers today are concerned about environmental sustainability and therefore requires the ecolabel when they book location for meetings, conferences and so on. Also, our hotel guests are concerned about environmental sustainability, and we believe that having the Green Key label gets our hotel to appear in more online searches. In the economic perspective, it means that we gain customers who would not have chosen DGI Byen if we did not have the Green Key label.”

Moreover, Jesper Bremholm considers that the environmental work initiated through the Green Key certificate has allowed the hotel to better include both guests and employees in this new green strategy.

Sustainable journey of a Green Key certified restaurant featured on CNN

The Michelin awarded restaurant Grič in Slovenia has been a Green Key certified establishment since 2021.

Grič is the Slovenian word for hill. ©Suzan Gabrijan

Located in the green village of Šentjošt, a few kilometres away from Ljubljana, the Grič restaurant has made it on the Slovenian gastronomy map since becoming a Michelin star awarded restaurant in September of 2021. Young chef Luka Košir’s cuisine has been praised in the last couple of years due to his choice of local and seasonal products, some of which are produced by Grič’s team at their own farm.

Sustainability has been part of the Slovenian chef’s motto even before joining the Michelin starlight sky. In August 2021, one month before being featured in the restaurant’s prestigious red-coloured guide, Grič received its first Green Key certification, solidifying its commitment towards a greener and more sustainable hospitality industry. To become a Green Key certified establishment, Grič’s practices were assessed against a rigorous set of standards, requiring restaurants to increase the share of organic, eco or fair-trade labelled products yearly, for example. On the restaurant’s sustainable actions, Luka Košir said to the Michelin Guide: “We are 80% self-supporting with vegetables, 50% with fruits, and we also grow mushrooms. Foraging is an everyday task even in wintertime and is a big part of the restaurant's identity. We have a zero-waste policy when it comes to garden produce; we use the hard parts of the vegetables for compost and some vegetables and fruits as an extra treat for our animals. We have the first certified ecological duck farm”.

Slovenian Luka Košir is the current chef of the restaurant. ©Suzan Gabrijan

Grič has its own duck farm. ©Suzan Gabrijan

More recently, Grič’s sustainable efforts have also caught the attention of CNN, which featured the Green Key certified restaurant on their website. In the article, journalist Megan Alldrige describes the chef’s work as “blazing a trail for a more sustainable restaurant industry”. Moreover, the CNN story highlights how the surrounding forests and hills of Slovenia inspire the process of creating a dish, from the gardens to Grič’s table.

Read more about this Green Key’s certified restaurant here.

First Hilton Hotel in England to receive Green Key certificate

The Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow has become one of the three hotels in the airport vicinity to hold the Green Key certification.

Representatives from Keep Britain Tidy presented Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow General Manager Richard Lee with the international Green Key Award last week.

Located near the Heathrow airport in London, the Hilton Garden Inn is joining the list of over 3,000 establishments across more than 60 countries that have the leading sustainability certification. Furthermore, the hotel is the first one from the Hilton chain in England to become a Green Key certified establishment.

To receive the certification, the Hilton Garden Inn was submitted to a rigorous assessment to verify that the establishment was complying with the Green Key standards. These standards, set by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, cover areas such as staff involvement, guest information and sustainable management of energy, waste, water, cleaning and food and drinks.

On the choice of the Green Key certification for the Hilton Garden Inn, the General Manager of the hotel Richard Lee has said:

“Sustainability is a core part of our purpose, so Green Key fits perfectly alongside the Hilton Travel with Purpose programme and our owner’s commitment to operating sustainable buildings & businesses. Sustainable and purposeful travel are becoming ever more important to our guests so having a Green Key Award demonstrates our commitment and will give our guests the assurance that they are making a sustainable choice when they stay with us”.

As part of its sustainability strategy, the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow has recently implemented several initiatives to reduce the ecological footprint of operations. According to the environmental organisation Keep Britain Tidy, responsible for managing the Green Key programme in England, some of the initiatives from the Hilton hotel focused on:

• Installing solar panels which generate approximately 3% of the hotels’ annual energy use;

• Making use of cutting edge technologies such as the Granuldisk Dishwasher, which uses small pellets and UV light to clean pots, thereby lowering the overall water consumption in the pot wash area by on average 70%, compared to manual pot washing;

• Using EnozoPRO Spray Bottles which utilise tap water, diamond plates, and a small electrical charge to create Ozone Water, a safe and effective multipurpose cleaner, which replaces the need for synthetic chemicals that contribute to chemical pollution.

To learn more about the hotel, please visit their website

Green Key International congratulates the Hilton Garden Inn on its certification and is pleased to see the hotel among its certified establishments.