The Danish hospitality sector goes green

In Denmark, an increasing number of hotels and conference facilities become eco-labelled and most establishments choose the Green Key label.

In connection with the international climate conference, COP15, in Copenhagen in 2009, many hotels and conference facilities were certified with an eco-label. This development has continued since then, so that Denmark today has 138 eco-labelled hotel compared with 52 hotels in 2008. This means that 26% of the hotels and conference facilities in Denmark now are eco-labelled. Both the Danish and the International hotel business has embraced the Green Key programme, which was in fact invented in Denmark in the mid-1990s.

One of the partners that assisted in starting the development was the Copenhagen hotel chain, Arp-Hansen. Managing Director from Arp-Hansen, Malene Friis, says: “Arp-Hansen chose to join Green Key ahead of the COP15 event in Copenhagen where environmentally labelled hotels were preferred. Since then, we have experienced an increasing request for a green profile of our hotels”. 

Claus Hansen from the hotel and conference centre, Nyborg Strand, says: “As a centrally located place for business meetings in Denmark, Green Key makes a difference for us. We use the certification to attract new customers and as an active part of our PR activities. At the same time, it is our aim to show our customers that we take responsibility in relation to sustainability issues.

In Denmark, an increasing number of larger companies (e.g. Maersk, Danisco, Novozymes and Nykredit) are looking for the green profile when choosing hotel and meeting facilities. Maersk had 88,000 overnight stays in Denmark in 2013, and the company has focus on e.g. environmental and working conditions of the hotels and conference centres that used by checking the correlation with their Responsible Procurement Programme.

Source: Kursuslex.

Top bed and breakfast on Pembrokeshire’s iconic coast in Wales gains Green Key accreditation

Katherine Henderson Bowen of Manorbier Bed and Breakfast

Manorbier Bed and Breakfast in Pembrokeshire has received national acclaim in Wales for its spectacular garden. Following on from this acclaim the Bed and Breakfast, which takes in spectacular views of Manorbier Castle and beach, has now achieved international recognition for implementing environmentally sustainable methods within the business.

Katherine Henderson Bowen, owner of Manorbier Bed and Breakfast has always been interested in operating sustainably, paying particular attention to carefully sourcing local products, introducing the use of solar energy to generate hot water and electricity, as well as maintaining a beautiful garden which provides a rich and diverse habitat for a range of wildlife. Katherine said:

‘I have recently been included in Alistair Sawday’s Ethical Collections and I wanted to follow this recognition by achieving a Welsh accreditation which has the environment and sustainability at the heart of its ethos. As Green Key is run in Wales by leading environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy, I knew that I was supporting the charity as well as gaining an internationally recognised environmental accreditation’.

Green key Assessor, Simon Preddy said:

‘It is great to find environmentally innovative processes in place within an independent B&B. Katherine has been operating in an environmentally responsible manner for some time now, but she is also open to new ideas on how she can make further, positive environmental changes.’

Green Key accreditation guides hospitality providers through the process of making their businesses more sustainable, ultimately making commercial as well as environmental savings. Areas of focus for the accreditation include energy, water, waste, green activities and guest engagement.

For more information about Green Key in Wales contact greenkey@keepwalestidy.org.uk or www.greenkey.org.uk @GreenKeyWales.

Green Key Hotels in Madeira support reforestation initiative

The Four Views Hotels Group and the Madeira Natural Park together with students from Caniço School joined hands and set up a reforestation project.

3 November 2015 was marked by an Environmental initiative, the Reforestation in Cais do Sardinha, an area set in the protected zone of the Natural Park in Ponta de São Lourenço, the area more to the east of our island of Madeira, Portugal.

It was a joint activity between the Four Views Hotels Group and the Madeira Natural Park, with the partnership of students of Caniço School and with the special support of Hotel Quinta do Lorde, which provided an area to organise a barbecue offered to those involved in this initiative.  The Travel agency Mbtravel, provide the entire transportation logistics to the site of Reforestation.

This was undoubtedly an activity marked by noble sentiment of everyone wanting to contribute with something positive to the ecosystem of the Island and it engaged young people to take responsibility to protect what belongs to us and what surrounds us ... Nature!

The success of this activity increased the desire between the organisations involved, to engage in more initiatives for the sake of the good ecological health and nature of the Island.

First Green Key award in Chelyabinsk, Russia

On 5 November 2015, Radisson Blu Hotel Chelyabinsk passed the certification procedure and received the Green Key Award.

The certificate demonstrates a high social and environmental responsibility of the hotel. During the Green Key audit, special attention was paid to various aspects including the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products, energy-saving technologies, rational use of water, eco-trainings for staff. 

The Green Key audit revealed an impressive level of activities done by the hotel in involving the general public and the hotel guests in environmental protection activities, such as Сlean-up days, Earth Hour, Blu Planet, etc.

Radisson Blu Hotel Chelyabinsk is very proud to be the first and the only hotel in Chelyabinsk awarded this prestigious environmental certificate.

Green Key establishment Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge in Morocco wins international tourism award

Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge from Morocco won the attractive 2015 World Responsible Tourism Awards in the category “best hotel for local sourcing” during an international tourism fair in London.

The 2015 World Responsible Tourism Awards were handed out on 4 November 2015 during the World Travel Market in London.

The Green Key establishment Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge in Morocco won the gold award in the category “Best Hotel for Local Sourcing”. The establishment won the award with the following motivation: "This eco-Kasbah was built from scratch in 2009 in the Argan Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO site to protect the endemic argan tree. This Kasbah was built with a view to protecting and proud-sharing the Berber heritage, that of the owner, Hassan Aboutayeb. Pride, protection and pristine beauty oozes from every hand crafted corner of this 11 bedroom Kasbah, just twenty minutes from Agadir in the High Atlas Mountains."

Green Key International would like to warmly congratulate Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge with the prestigious award! We are very proud to have the establishment taking part in the Green Key programme.

Green Key attending the World Travel Market

On 2-5 November 2015, Green Key is attending one of the largest tourism fairs worldwide, the World Travel Market in London, England. 

The annual international tourism fair, the World Travel Market is taking place on 2-5 November 2015 in London. The fair has a range of events related to the trends in sustainable tourism. Among other issues, there will this year be workshops discussing good practices on carbon resource efficiency and whether the tourism industry is doing enough to address climate change. There will also be sessions dealing with corporate social responsibility in the hospitality sector, e.g. how to increase local economic benefits of tourism, child protection and gender equality.  

Green Key’s International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, is attending workshops of relevance for the Green Key programme as well as using the opportunity to meet and network with a number of Green Key’s international partners attending the World Travel Market.  

Launch of new Green Key website

Green Key International is happy to announce the launch of the new Green Key website at www.greenkey.global.

The new website has a new look and feel. Important elements from the previous website are also found in the new website: the map with the Green Key awarded establishments as well as information about the Green Key criteria, main partners, national and international contacts, etc.

The news section will continue to be an important source of information about the developments in Green Key and examples of best practices from Green Key awarded establishments.

Other features have been improved, such as step-by-step information about the application process and how to join the Green Key programme.

The new website is built to be user friendly when seen on smaller devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Green Key Director, says: “We are proud to announce the launch of the new website, an important tool in our communication and PR efforts. It has been our intention that the new website should be useful both for customers searching for Green Key awarded establishments and for businesses looking to join a certification scheme such as Green Key.”

The new website has two new features: an online self-assessment form to quickly assess the readiness of a hotel in relation to joining Green Key as well as an online application form for hotels in countries without national operators to easily apply for Green Key. Finn Bolding Thomsen adds: “We hope that the new features will be helpful for hotels considering joining Green Key. In the near future, we are planning to launch other new features on the Green Key website. We would be happy to receive any comments or suggestions for the new website”, concludes Finn Bolding Thomsen.

Radisson Blu Bucharest engages the community through Green Activities

In 2015, Radisson Blu Bucharest organised a series of Green Activities to get the community and staff involved in their sustainable Action Plan. 

Earth Hour @ Radisson Blu Bucharest 2015

28th of March – Earth Hour Celebration - The worldwide movement for the planet organized by the World Wild Found for Nature (WWF). The event is held worldwide annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March, as a symbol for their commitment to the planet. It was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide. Today, Earth Hour engages a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues. The one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement. In this year Radisson Blu Bucharest Hotel was, as in previous years, part of this event turned off the interior/exterior lights without affect hotel activities or safety of guests/employees. The guests were informed about event with letter sent to their room and on the hotel lobby screens. 

26th of September – Let’s Do It Romania! – Yearly event with the main purpose to clean of the garbage from the surrounding forests of the big cities. Radisson BLU hotel employees joined again to this ecologic initiative as in the previous years and with our company logistic support they will demonstrate once again their green attitude towards the environment.

October 2015– Tree planting campaign – Annual event with participation of Radisson BLU employees and with materials support from our suppliers, coordinated with the local authorities to improve the area covered with trees from different types of species in Izvor Park.

If you would like to learn more about the Radisson Blu Bucharest please visit their website

Efficient recycling at GLO Hotel Sello as an example for others at Sello Shopping Centre

Green Key awarded GLO Hotel Sello is located at the Sello Shopping Centre in Espoo, Finland. They implemented a new recycling process in the GLO Hotel restaurant (GLO Grill Kitchen) which became an an example for other businesses in the Shopping Centre. 

Lotta Toivonen, GLO Hotels

GLO Grill Kitchen has worked hard to increase the amount of recyclable waste. The kitchen is busy and serves several hundreds of customers every day. When the recycling started, it initially felt like an extra task in the hectic daily work. The kitchen appointed  a recycling ambassador among them whose task was to help everybody keep in mind the importance and effects of recycling. Recycling gradually became an inherent part of the daily routines: the glass jars and metal cans are rinsed or soaked, and recycled immediately and not as an extra task. Now the staff feels that recycling is easy and a natural part of their daily work. They sort all bio and energy waste, glass, cardboard and metal. Also porcelain waste is separated. As a result the mixed waste container in the kitchen has become obsolete.

Restaurant Manager Liisa Tiussa is very proud of the results and especially for the fact that their kitchen now works very efficiently and benefits the environment. Great work GLO Hotel Sello!