Sustainability for the taste buds

The Green Key awarded restaurant Smakbyn built its business around bringing back the local taste of the Åland Islands.

On the small Åland Islands, an autonomous part of Finland, sea and nature have always dictated the life of the population. Although modern lifestyles created some distance between the island inhabitants and nature, Ålanders try to reconnect to their heritage – through local food.

One of the restaurants that built its business around this demand is Smakbyn. The chef Michael Björklund and his wife Jenny who run the restaurant together put high emphasis on local ingredients and sustainable practices in the restaurant.

“It is important for us to work with good ingredients, clean flavours, work sustainably and according to season, says Nora Rosenström, environmental manager at Smakbyn.”

The focus on sustainability, however, is not only visible in the menu, where dishes with local fish and handpicked mushrooms and berries from the forests around the restaurant are offered, but also in the building itself. During the construction and furnishing of the restaurant, considerations were taken to reduce the water and energy consumption, and to use local products and design to give the restaurant a local touch.

The step to be Green Key awarded therefore seemed obvious to the team of Smakbyn.

 “We are already working with a lot of the issues Green Key touches upon. We care about sustainability and would like to make our work more visible. Green Key is a good tool in our undertakings. The programme’s strength is that the important parts are documented and followed-up on, but Green Key also gives us tips on what we can improve so that our own sustainability efforts are constantly up to date.”

Green Key for restaurants is on its first year on the Åland islands and the local Green Key coordinator Karin Rosenberg is very optimistic about the programme:

“We have a great opportunity on the Åland islands. The restaurants are generally of high quality and the participants in the programme are in many ways flagships for our entire local food culture. Through Green Key, restaurants get the opportunity to gain recognition for their work and take further steps towards a business in harmony with the environment”

Eco-Schools celebrations held in two Green Key awarded hotels in Jordan

In Jordan, the Green Key awarded hotels Sheraton Al Nabil in Amman and the Mövenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba hosted memorable Eco-Schools award ceremonies.

Eco-Schools celebration at the Sheraton Al Nabil Hotel in Amman

During the Eco-Schools award ceremonies, schools that are enrolled in the Eco-Schools programme and have successfully achieved its Seven Steps are awarded the Green Flag…and what location could be more appropriate for celebrating the Eco-Schools' achievements than Green Key awarded hotels? 

Under the patronage of HRH Princess Basma bint Ali, the Chairperson for the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS) and in corporation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Green Flags were awarded to a total of 23 Eco-Schools in Jordan. The Flag is the reward for the environmental and social efforts the schools undertake in the frame of the Eco-Schools programme which is, just as with Green Key, a programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education. 

Sheraton Al Nabil Hotel in Amman (Green Key awarded hotel since March 2014), and Mövenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba (Green Key awarded hotel since March 2010) offered to host the ceremonies as part of their responsibility programmes.

Eco-Schools celebration at the Mövenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba

Organic Fest held in the Maison Blanche Hotel, Ukraine

On 16 July 2016 the Maison Blanche Hotel in Ukraine hostet the "Organic Fest", a day full of activities related to healthy lifestyle and well-being.

Symbolic of its dedication to detail and commitment to Green Key,  the  hotel Maison Blanche offers activities to their guests and staff that exemplify how a healthier and more sustainable life can be lead.   

Among other things, the hotel organises visits to organic farms and to enterprises that manufacture organic products as well as offering classes about well-being and how to lead a healthy lifestyle throughout the year. This summer, the establishment hosted a whole day of events dedicated to health and well-being. The day started with yoga classes, followed by a pottery class, a healthy cocktail class and a tasting of organic products.  Furthermore, the hotel offered lectures on healthy diet, organic products and ecological management.  After lunch a discussion about the necessity of biodiversity conservation was held. The day was rounded off with the screening of the movie "Seeds of Time".

If you would like to learn more about the hotel, you can visit their website here

Free water footprint tool available on Green Key's website

Green Key International is proud to present their new free water footprint tool for hotels on the Green Key website. 

The water footprint tool allows hotels to measure the total water usage, the water usage per occupied room, as well as the water usage per area of meeting space on an hourly basis. The methodology has been adopted from the Hotel Water Measurement Initiative Tool developed by the International Tourism Partnership. Eighteen global hotel groups and several technical consultants and global water experts have worked together to create the industry’s first consistent water measurement methodology.

The measurement of water consumption is part of a hotels' business operations, but each establishment or hotel group has its own way to do so, and includes different water sources and uses into the calculation. The new tool provides an industry-wide standardisation of measuring the consumption of water and the possibility to compare the results with other establishments. 

The original tool was launched during the SIWI World Water Week on 30 August in Stockholm. Green Key's adoption of the tool was kindly supported by the Radisson Hotel Group. 

Try our new tool here!

TravGanic and Green Key entering into a collaboration agreement

The green travel web database TravGanic highlights Green Key awarded establishments on its website.

At TravGanic it is believed that travel can be a bridge to mend our world, showing people the joy of other places, people and cultures. It is often more destructive than it should, which is why TravGanic has put together one of the largest hotel booking platforms based solely on reputable green certified hotels. Their tours page while still in the growth phase will furthermore offer the largest selection of eco-tours in the world.

TravGanic's customer driven site gives people the ability to book hotels and tours in almost every country around the world. They offer great prices, great selection and great information on the sustainability initiatives of every property.  

Green Key Slovenia present at Global Green Destinations Day in Ljubljana

Green Key Slovenia celebrated the World Tourism Day on 27 September at the "Global Green Destination Day" hosted in Ljubljana, European Green Capital 2016.

More than 350 experts and stakeholders in the field of sustainable tourism gathered at the event to learn about State-of-the Art "green solutions" for tourism destinations and to celebrate the World Tourism Day. The main topics of the two-day international event addressed key aspects of sustainable development in tourism, such as the development of smart cities and local communities, green transportation, social change, sustainable management and education for sustainable tourism. 

Slovenia's National Green Key Coordinator Milena Lukić attended the event to present the Green Key programme to national and international tourism providers. 

Radisson Hotel Group asks young stakeholders for INNovative ideas

Park Inn by Radisson held a unique event in September inviting young people to share their ideas to improve guest experiences.

Young INNovators at the Park Inn event

Bringing together nine leading hotel management schools to Manchester, England, the event launched an international campaign from Park Inn® by Radisson that aims to drive innovation around the company’s guest experience whilst supporting ITP’s Youth Career Initiative (YCI) an employability programme for disadvantaged young people around the world.

The ‘INNovation Room’ is a ground-breaking new programme designed to unlock and nurture creativity among hotel management school students. The initiative is part of Radisson Hotel Group’s ongoing commitment to cultivate talent in the hospitality sector which includes support for YCI, a programme which works with hotels and local NGOs to identify motivated young people with limited opportunities to raise themselves out of unemployment and poverty by supporting them through a six month education and training programme in full service hotels.

The INNovation Room is a competition for groups of students to pitch ideas to a panel of judges, with the aim of creating a more innovative guest experience at the Park Inn by Radisson hotels. Top hotel management schools are representing countries including the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, UK, United Arab Emirates, and the USA.

The company flew in the student teams for a three-day brainstorm and brand immersion session. Each team pitched three ideas to the INNovation Room panel, comprising senior management from Radisson Hotel Group and Siri Gomnæs Børsum, Industry Leader at Google, who has worked at the company for nine years in a travel-related capacity. The panel then selected one idea that each team must develop into a full concept document by mid-November. The five strongest ideas will be put to public vote on 21 November at www.parkinn.com/innovationroom. A shortlist of two will then be pitched to the panel to identify the final winner.

Rose Anderson, Vice President Branding Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Blu and Quorvus Collection said, “Guests are at the heart of everything we do as a brand and we are constantly looking to enhance the guest experience. Our INNovation Room campaign will work with some of the brightest minds from the world’s most prestigious hospitality schools to further our commitment to creating unique and memorable guest experiences.”

For each public vote, a donation of $1 USD up to a maximum total of $25,000 USD will be made to YCI, the hotel industry’s global solution to youth unemployment, of which Radisson Hotel Group is a lead partner. This is in line with the brand’s responsible business programme, Adding Color To Lives, that aims to build long term relationships with local youth at risk groups, with a focus on developing work and personal skills and on organising joint community projects.

Fran Hughes, Director, International Tourism Partnership, said, “We are really excited about the INNovation Room initiative from Park Inn by Radisson and delighted that the company has chosen to support our Youth Career Initiative (YCI) programme.

“It is through the support of hotel partners like Park Inn by Radisson that we are able to help hundreds of disadvantaged young people every year build the skills and self-confidence they need to embark on their careers in hospitality.”

You can watch the INNovation Room launch video here.

The Schools

The nine schools taking part in the inaugural INNovation Room are:

1. School of Hospitality Administration, Boston University, USA

2. School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, USA

3. École hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland

4. Hotelschool The Hague, Netherlands

5. Hotel Management School Maastricht, Netherlands

6. International Hotel School, South Africa

7. Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, Switzerland

8. Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Oxford Brookes University, UK

9. The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, United Arab Emirates

The Panel

Javier Rosenberg – Chief Operating Officer, Americas, Radisson Hotel Group
Rose Anderson – Vice President Branding Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Blu and Quorvus Collection, Radisson Hotel Group
Richard Biggs – Senior Vice President Revenue Optimization and Distribution, EMEA, Radisson Hotel Group
Edward Pinchard – Vice President Sales, EMEA, Radisson Hotel Group
Susan McIlveen – Human Resources Manager & Senior Master Trainer, Radisson Hotel Group
Lionel van den Haute – General Manager Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Midi
Siri Gomnæs Børsum – Industry Leader at Google

Source and acknowledgement Green Hotelier.

Coastal Cleaning Day arranged by the Hotel & Beach Club Villa Pescadores, Mexico

The Green Key certified Hotel & Beach Club Villa Pescadores organised a coastal cleaning day in the Tulum National Park for its employees as well as for representatives of the municipality and of the local tourism industry.

The coastal cleaning day was arranged to educate participants about the conservation of biodiversity through the correct management of solid waste. 41 volunteers took part in the cleaning day, among them employees of the hotel, representatives of the municipality, Caribbean tourism providers, as well as employees from the hotel Zazil-Kin. 

In total, the participants collected 70 kg of glass, 6.5 kg of plastic and 220 kg of other solid waste. After the clean-up a recycling company took care of the proper disposal of the collected waste. 

New Cooperation between Green Key and Safe Escape Concepts (SEC)

Safe Escape Concepts is an ISO certified consultancy in the field of safety and orientation in buildings, on ships, on off-shore platforms, for events and in the navy. Their main goal is to promote tourism for all by improving safety and accessibility for people travelling – either for leisure or for work. 

In cooperation with InformMii Evacu8mii DirectMii , SEC has put three systems into one app that provides information about directions from and to a building, accessibility information for people with disabilities, as well as evacuation routes within a building. In the hospitality industry, hotels could benefit from this app by offering their guests easy access to information about safety and services in and around their establishment. SEC’s app provides a valuable tool for standardised safety communication that can be used internationally. The app incorporates safety standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

If you would like to learn more about Safe Escape Concepts, please visit their website