Green Hotelier Award 2018 - apply now!

The Green Hotelier Awards, which seek to discover the world's most sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible hotels, has launched for 2018. Will a Green Key awarded establishment be the winner this year?

This year the Awards unveil a new look which changes the winning categories. In previous years hotels have been grouped geographically. This year hotels across the world will compete to win in categories which examine their carbon footprint, their water stewardship, their waste reduction, their community impact and their role as a responsible employer.

The move aims to align the awards with the industry call to action of the International Tourism Partnership(ITP) for hotels to focus their sustainable, environmental and socially responsible actions on the United Nations’ Global Goals also called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Green Hotelier Editor Siobhan O'Neill said, "The Green Hotelier Awards have been growing in popularity year on year and we expect record numbers of hotels to share their sustainability stories with us in 2018. Although the form hoteliers will complete is essentially the same as previous years, the new approach allows us to focus on the winners' actions and impacts, rather than their geographical location. In addition it means there will be more winners and hotels named Highly Commended because we've increased the number of categories we're awarding in.

"We wanted to reflect ITP's call to action to the hotel industry to work together to achieve the Global Goals, and we can use the Green Hotelier Awards to show hoteliers how their sustainability actions and initiatives are doing just that. The application process is still free and deliberately designed to be quick and easy. The scoring on each section is simple and transparent, and hotels will need to complete every section to be in with a chance of winning, but we'd like them to indicate which category they think they're a strong contender in. It doesn't mean they won't be considered as a winner in other categories as well.

"We're really excited to be launching our new look and we're looking forward to reading all the amazing sustainable and responsible business actions we know so many hotels around the world are actioning for a fairer future for all."

The new look Awards means that no hotel is excluded from entering. Previous winners can apply this year. The Awards are open to hotels, resorts, eco-lodges and B&Bs of any size, anywhere in the world. Entrants should read all the rules and tips for applying before completing the form to make sure they maximise their chances of winning. The closing date for entries is Friday 23rd March 2018, and the winners will be announced in April during Responsible Business Week.

Download the form as a pdf here or as a Word document. Completed forms should be emailed to info@greenhotelier.org.

The judges look forward to receiving the Awards and showcasing the winners' actions in support of the Global Goals.

Source and acknowledgement: Green Hotelier

Green Key wishes all Green Key awarded establishments that participate good luck!

BookDifferent wins the Dutch Sustainable Travel Award 2018

The hotel booking site BookDifferent wins the Dutch Sustainable Travel Award 2018 for its contribution on making the tourism industry more sustainable!

BookDifferent.com is a hotel booking site with a mission to make the tourism industry more sustainable. Their mission is to make travel more green and fair and give tourism the opportunity to commit to a better and more sustainable world. BookDifferent is a social enterprise that places impact higher than profit.

When showing accommodations, BookDifferent.com not only shows pricing but also the level of sustainability of the listed accommodations - making it possible for consumers to actively choose accommodation where sustainability is strongly implemented. Green Key has been a partner to BookDifferent since 2014, and Green Key awarded establishments are proudly featured on BookDifferent.com. 

Green Key would like to congratulate BookDifferent.com on the achievement!

Green Key International at Stichting KMVK's annual Green Key event

On 8 February Green Key International participated in this years’ Green Key award ceremony in the Netherlands. The event was held in the prestigious NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam.

Every year, the organisation Stichting KMVK - responsible for the Green Key programme in the Netherlands - organises a Green Key event for its awarded establishments to offer them the opportunity to participate in workshops, an inspiration market and to receive their Green Key award in a solemn ceremony. This year, the event was held at the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky which has been Green Key awarded since 2012.

The programme kicked off with the finals of the Green Team Award, which is a yearly competition between the Green Teams of the awarded hotels in the Netherlands. After that, the participants of the inspiration market were given 45 seconds each to present their products and services to the guests of the event. At the inspiration market companies and organisations get the chance to advertise their products and services directly to the awarded establishments. A requirement is that their offers are sustainable or help the establishments to improve their environmental performance.

In the second part of the event, several workshops were held to inspire and inform the establishments and stakeholders about latest sustainability issues. The topics covered were circular economy in the hospitality industry, sustainable seafood, laws & regulations on energy savings, sustainable property management and the Tiny Forest project. Guests were also invited to go on a round tour of the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky to learn about the hotel's sustainability initiatives. The event closed with the handover of the Green Key awards.

The Green Key event in the Netherlands is a good example of national Green Key initiatives where awarded establishments can gain knowledge in sustainability and be inspired by other establishments or stakeholders. 

Hotelier Qatar Magazine featuring Green Key

In the latest edition of Hotelier Qatar, Green Key is highlighted as an initiative to support the sustainable development in Qatar.

The article in Hotelier Qatar has been prepared by the Chairman of the Green Hotel Interest Group in Qatar and describes the general work with sustainability in Qatar with focus on how Green Key can support this development.

In 2008, Qatar launched its 2030 vision with the aim of transforming the country towards sustainable development. The vision is being implemented in various parts of the society, also within the hotel and hospitality sector with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) as legislative body.

QTA has recently agreed on a new hotel classification system where environmental criteria are now integrated into the system, and participation in international eco-certification schemes are encouraged through the hotel classification system.

The work with the hotel classification system goes hand in hand with the non-profit organisation, Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) having become the national organisation managing the Green Key programme in Qatar.

The Green Key programme was officially launched in Qatar in late 2017 at an event with 45 hoteliers present. During the workshop, the advantages of joining Green Key were highlighted with special emphasis on the programme being well-reputed and widespread as well as the benefits of having a national representative in Qatar understanding the local conditions. QTA is supporting the implementation of Green Key in Qatar. 

Currently, W Doha Hotel & Residences has had the Green Key award since 2013 but interest has been shown from a number of other hotels and hospitality groups in Qatar.

The link to the full article (page 32-33) in Hotelier Qatar can be found here: http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=ef0c27c1-051f-4492-825b-ef4d28150bf9.

Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki – a champion in sustainability communication!

Information to hotel guests about its environmental engagement and the encouragement to participate in the efforts is a matter of priority for Green Key awarded Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki in Finland!

Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki has had the Green Key award since 2015. The hotel has high standards in relation to resources saving, recycling and reusing; products such as the daily cleaning products and paper products have a recognised eco-label, and shampoo and shower gel are offered from a dispenser, etc.

The hotel is very proud to have the Green Key award and has decided to become a champion in relation to informing guests about the environmental efforts done at the hotel. The information also includes a clear encouragement for the guests to participate in the environmental efforts.

Already at the entrance of the hotel, the guests meet the Green Key plaque and certificate. The staff in the reception wears a Green Key pin and they are always ready to inform you about sustainable transport possibilities, such as nearby tram, bus or train stops or how to rent a city bicycle. In the elevator on the way to the room, you can read about what it means that the hotel is an environmentally friendly hotel. In the guest room, you can find information about Green Key and the encouragement to consider whether to have towels changed or the room cleaned – in case you stay more than one night. When you go to the hotel restaurant for your dinner, you can see the environmentally friendly options on the menu card, e.g. vegetarian or vegan dishes or dishes with locally produced ingredients. After a good night’s sleep, you can in the morning choose healthy and sustainable food options in the breakfast buffet. And finally, when you check out you are offered to choose not to have your payment receipt in an envelope.

Green Key wishes everyone a good and environmentally friendly stay at Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki!

Green Key entering a cooperation agreement with Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic

Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic, a large leisure tourism company in the Nordic countries, has entered an agreement with Green Key to highlight the Green Key awarded establishments used by Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic

Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic is a leisure travel company where customers can purchase leisure travels (including accommodations) to various destinations. Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic consists of the leisure travel agencies Apollo, the airline company Novair, the leisure companies Golf Plaisir, Lime Travel and Xtravel as well as the sports resort Playitas. Apollo started in 1986 and is today one of the leading leisure travel organisers in the Nordic region. Since 2015, Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic is a part of the German company, REWE with more than 300,000 employees.  

The agreement between Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic and Green Key will give the two entities the possibility to highlight the Green Key awarded hotels and resorts used by Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic via the Apollo brand websites in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Finn Bolding Thomsen, Green Key International Director, says: “Green Key is already working with various international hotel chains and online booking and travel agencies where both business and leisure tourism plays a role. We are happy and proud to be able to work closely with the leisure tourism industry through the cooperation with Apollo/DER Touristik Nordic for the benefit of the guests and the Green Key awarded hotels and resorts.”

Tips to cut the water bill at your hotel

Water…it’s one of the areas where some big savings can be made in your hotel. And you do not need to spend a lot of money to do it. Hotels which are not water efficient can reduce their water use by over 50% in many cases. By effectively managing your water use you can promote your commitment to sustainability to your guests, reduce your local impact and save money.

How is this possible? By not paying for what you do not use

Introducing a new culture of managing water consumption can result in significant gains. If you start to monitor how much water your hotel uses, you might detect that you have a hidden leak or a part of the installation needs urgent maintenance. Once you are sure that everything works correctly, monitoring on a regular basis will let you discover any problem that has arisen well before it adds a digit or two to your water bill.

Water leaks can be responsible for huge amounts of wasted water. A leaking toilet can lose 750 litres of water per day, while a dripping tap can drip 70 litres a day down the drain. In large hotels, leaking taps can increase water consumption by 5%.

Even small leaks can waste a significant amount of water over time. One drip per second, it seems like nothing but will add up to 4 litres lost each day, or 1460 litres if left for a year.

The main areas for water use in hotels are guest bathrooms, kitchens, laundry and communal toilet facilities. Even your staff play a part, with the average office worker using 16 litres of water daily – an amount that can be reduced without affecting their tasks or their comfort.

How to keep an eye on your water use.

Monitoring and benchmarking your water use is the first step to improving your water efficiency. This assessment of the baseline will allow you to know how you use water and measure the result of any changes you make. At a basic level, you can determine your baseline by recording your annual water consumption and comparing it to the number of guest nights. If possible, do it on a monthly or fortnightly basis and you will have a much finer grasp of changes.

Monitoring will allow you to ‘see’ your savings while showing up any unexplained increases in use – this is a sign that you may have an undetected leak.

Develop and follow a water management plan. A plan will allow you to set specific goals for reducing your water use, measured by litres per guest night. Eliminating leaks and monitoring will immediately reduce your litres per guest night, giving you a great platform for moving forward with further reduction efforts.

Daily checks and reporting by housekeeping. Your housekeeping staff are the ones most likely to come across leaking toilets and dripping taps so should be looking out for these leaks as part of their daily tasks. A system for written or electronic reporting, regularly checked by maintenance staff, should be established.

Kitchen staff should follow the same procedure for water leaks and drips discovered in your kitchen area.

Periodic inspections to detect hidden leaks. Your maintenance staff should carry out periodic inspections on all areas and systems where leaks may occur, including:

• Pipe joints
• Appliances
• Heat exchange units.

An easy way to detect if there are hidden leaks is by checking the water meter a time (e.g. during hotel closure or in the middle of the night during the off-peak period) when there is no water use at all (all taps are closed, no water using appliance is on). If the meter keeps running, water is flowing somewhere, perhaps right into the ground or into the wastewater discharge. To know how considerable the hidden leaks are, you can read the meter again after an hour and multiply by 24 hours and 365 days to know how much you are wasting in a year.

An audit of water-using equipment can be used to identify possible ways to reduce water use through each appliance.

Sub-metering in large water-use areas, such as kitchens and pools, can be effective in larger hotels for getting a greater insight of how water is being used, or wasted, throughout your hotel.

Water conditioning in hard water areas can reduce the chance of pipe leaks by reducing the calcification and mineralisation which may occur in pipes and fittings, in addition to the benefits to your guests.

Check water pressure to avoid excess pressure. Adjust your water pressure where possible to the minimum required for the different uses. Excess water pressure can cause pressure on pipes and pipe joints, leading to leaks, and can encourage much more water being used unnecessarily by staff, guests and appliances. In some appliances, excess water through high pressure will feed straight to an overflow system and be wasted.

Once you get started with your initial audit and implement checks and immediate repairs into your staff duties, you should quickly get on top of any issues you have with your water systems, and will no longer have to watch your hard-earned money flushed down the drain.

Encourage your staff to monitor and report drips and leaks. Encourage them to take ownership of the issue in their area of responsibility and encourage them to share your hotel’s commitment to sustainability with your guests.

Source: takeagreenstep.eu

All hotels of Grupo Posadas in Mexico Green Key awarded!

On 11 January, the remaining 85 hotels of the Grupo Posadas in Mexico have been awarded the Green Key. Now, all of the 160 properties are part of the programme.

Even before the hotel chain's target to have all Grupo Posadas properties awarded by April, the remaining 85 hotels that were not awarded yet achieved the Green Key award already in January. In total, the hotel chain owns 160 properties and several brands such as Fiesta Americana, Fiesta Inn, Live Aqua and One.

The Green Key was awarded by Daniel Schaffer, CEO of the Foundation for Environmental Education and Joaquín Díaz Ríos, Green Key National Operator in Mexico during a solemn ceremony in the Grand Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta.

Due to the cooperation with Grupo Posadas Mexico is now among the top ten Green Key countries in the world.

Green Key highlighted as an example of sustainable tourism at Helsinki Travel Fair

Green Key gave a presentation about the latest trends in sustainable tourism with Green Key as an example at the Helsinki Travel Fair, and Green Key was also interviewed about the subject for the national TV and radio station in Finland!

 Green Key International Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, and Green Key National Operator for Finland, Marketta Viljasaari, were invited by the Helsinki Travel Fair to present the latest trends in sustainable tourism with Green Key as an example.

Finn Bolding Thomsen highlighted that the tourism industry is looking at ways to follow the UN Sustainable Development Goals, where for example large players in the industry such as Marriott Hotel Group and TUI Travel have incorporated their contribution to the goals into the corporate social responsibility policy of their companies. Concerning the travellers, research shows that they are increasingly interested in and willing to support sustainable development. This can be done by considering the mode of transportation, ensure carbon offset from travels, book environmentally friendly accommodation (such as Green Key awarded establishments), and when purchasing souvenirs to carefully consider locally produced items that are not made from endangered species of flora or fauna.

Marketta Viljasaari went into more detail about how the Green Key programme can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals for hotels and other tourism establishments with examples from the Green Key programme in Finland. After her presentation, three new establishments (including the first campsite in Finland) received the Green Key award – bringing the number of awarded establishments in Finland to 74 establishments.

During the attendance at the Helsinki Travel Fair, Marketta Viljasaari and Finn Bolding Thomsen were interviewed about sustainable tourism and Green Key to YLE, the national TV and radio station in Finland.

Here you can find the links to the interviews:

• Web: https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10030550
• Radio: https://areena.yle.fi/1-4316094
• TV: https://areena.yle.fi/1-4234252 and https://areena.yle.fi/1-4234561