Green Key launches first online course on FEE Academy

As part of the Foundation for Environmental Education’s eLearning platform FEE Academy, Green Key launches its first online course that introduces the programme.

Ever wondered how the Green Key programme has been developed, how the award process works or what the benefits of the programme are?  In our new online course, you will learn all of this - and more!  

The course is designed for tourism establishments that want to apply for Green Key, for staff in awarded establishments that need an introduction to the programme, and for basically anyone who is interested in Green Key.  

It is part of the FEE Academy, an online platform that offers courses which are connected to the Foundation for Environmental Education and its five programmes. To enroll in any of the courses, you will need to create an account. Taking the Green Key Introduction Course is of course free of charge. Once enrolled, you have one month to complete the course.  

The Green Key Introduction Course is only the first of a series of courses that Green Key is planning to offer. If you would like to stay up to date on our available courses, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Social Media Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Green Key growing in Montenegro: Welcome CUE Podgorica!

Green Key is happy to welcome CUE Podgorica in the programme. The establishment located in Montenegro is appreciated for exploring how new technologies can benefit both guests and the environment.

Located at The Capital Plaza, the heart of Montenegro’s capital city Podgorica, CUE Podgorica enjoys a well-deserved reputation of trendy, chic and comfortable hotel with electric atmosphere, good food and excellent service.

But CUE Podgorica is more than just an elegant and vibrant place to be. The hotel also benefits from top-notch technologies used judiciously to monitor and reduce their energy and water consumption. A water leak on the system will be automatically notified and will be fixed within the hour. In guest bedrooms, air conditioning will switch off by itself if windows are opened, lights will turn on with motion detectors in hallways and low consumption light bulbs are used almost everywhere around the hotel.

 Guests can recharge their electric cars using one of the 5 power stations available in the hotel underground parking, go on eco-tours in the Podgorica surroundings or enjoy an electric scooter ride on trails by the Moraca river. All guest information is a simple click away by scanning a QR code and avoiding printing material where possible.

CUE Podgorica represents the avant-garde of the hospitality industry in Montenegro in terms of innovation towards sustainability and we are very honored to count them amongst our new Green Key members. We look forward to seeing how you keep striving for more sustainability in the hospitality industry!

Welcome Landal Middelfart!

The Holiday park Landal Middelfart has received the tourism industry’s international eco-label, Green Key. The holiday park is part of the chain Landal GreenParks, which has a total of seven holiday parks in Denmark.

Since Landal GreenParks came to Denmark in 2018, the holiday park chain has garnered recognition from the international tourism industry for its strong focus on sustainable operation and its efforts for the climate. As a receipt for the green work, the holiday parks in Denmark have been Green Key awarded.

Landal Middelfart will be the chain's sixth holiday park in Denmark to receive the green stamp.

Landal for a greener Denmark

“We are constantly working to make a difference for the climate and contribute to a greener Denmark. This applies in general as an organisation, but also in the daily operation of the holiday parks. Therefore, we are pleased that Landal Middelfart is now joining the list of our Green Key certified parks in Denmark. It is important for us to be able to show our guests that they help to take care of the environment when they choose to holiday with us, and the certification from Green Key contributes to that, ” says Kent Lodberg, Sales and Marketing Manager at Landal GreenParks in Denmark.

Landal took over Sund og Skov near Middelfart

In 2020, Landal GreenParks took over Sund og Skov Conference and Holiday Center, which subsequently changed its name to Landal Middelfart. Already a year after the takeover, Landal Middelfart has been awarded with the Green Key.

About Green Key  

The Green Key certificates serve as a guarantee to guests that shows that the holiday park chain makes a great environmental effort. Strict requirements are set for environmental areas such as water, energy, CSR and sustainable food, in order to achieve the green guarantee. In addition, the certificates require regular inspection visits and ongoing documentation to ensure that all obligations and requirements are met in the holiday parks.

Landal with Green Key in Denmark - and Europe

In Denmark, the chain includes the holiday parks Middelfart, Søhøjlandet, Seawest, Rønbjerg, Grønhøj Strand, Ebeltoft and Fyrklit, all of which offer active family holidays in nature. Since 2018, Landal GreenParks has invested more than DKK 25 million in the development of the parks to ensure sustainable facilities and indoor and outdoor activities for all ages. Landal GreenParks also has a goal of being CO2-neutral by 2030. The goal applies to all 99 holiday parks in Europe.

Mattress spring-cleaning without chemicals

The holiday park Landal Bad Kleinkirchheim in Austria found an effective and ecofriendly way to clean their mattresses, peace of mind and sweet dreams for their guests guaranteed. 

Copyright: Landal Bad Kleinkirchheim

After a long winter season without guests due to the Corona pandemic, the holiday park Landal Bad Kleinkirchheim can’t wait to open their doors again. While the tourist industry went into a forced hibernation, the park management decided to make the best out of the time and started their spring- cleaning early this year.  

In February, all of the park’s mattresses were cleaned and disinfected to ensure their guests that they can expect the highest hygiene standards when returning to Landal Bad Kleinkirchheim. And not only that – the cleaning was done without the use of any chemicals, ensuring that it is not only good for the guests but for the environment as well.  

During the processes, the mattresses are put into a cleaning truck that cleans them in four steps. First, they are vacuumed to remove all organic materials. In the second step, the mattresses are irradiated with UC light which kills 99,99% of the bacteria, viruses and mould on the surface. In the third step, active oxygen is used to eliminate the bacteria in the core of the mattress. In the final step, the mattresses are thermally treated to reduce the humidity in the core. The cleaning system is patented by the company SLEEP TIDY. 

News from our corporate partner: Purezza Premium Water

Green Key is happy to see how its corporate partner, Purezza Premium Water, keeps striving for more sustainability in the hospitality industry through its mission of removing single-use bottles.

Green Key and Purezza

Green Key and Purezza have decided to join forces since 2020 due to Purezza’s sustainability mission. Reducing the high levels of single-use packaging within the hotel industry is an important initiative that is right at the top of priorities in many establishments right now. Removing single-use bottled water from the supply chain and replacing these with a re-usable bottle solution is one of the most cost-effective methods an establishment can implement to make a really positive, immediate impact on achieving its green objectives.

About Purezza

Purezza Premium Water provides high-quality, sustainable water dispensing solutions and re-usable bottles that help venues replace single-use bottles and eliminate transport and delivery costs. As a global provider of freshly dispensed drinking water solutions that has direct supply and distribution in more than 60 countries, Purezza offers a comprehensive package to help hotels remove single-use bottles from almost any space where beverages are served. This includes solutions for the restaurant, bar, in-room, poolside, conference and event areas.

Purezza Premium Water provides guidance on how to implement dispensing services for venues of any size; from a simple installation for a café or restaurant, right up to a full-scale operation, such as dedicated bottling rooms for international hotel chains. Purezza has dispensing systems to suit any space and output requirements and world-leading technology to maximise hygiene and safety. Their flagship dispensing machine, the P2 Firewall™ Bar Classe Series, is the world’s first and only water dispenser in the hospitality industry to incorporate the highly-certified Firewall™ UVC purification technology.  Firewall™ technology has been tested and proven up to 99.99% effective in eliminating bacteria and viruses from drinking water and 99.99% effective against COVID-19. The Classe Series is also the only hospitality water dispenser to achieve the highly regarded HACCP certification globally.

Purezza’s eco-friendly, reusable bottle range replaces expensive pre-packaged water and, in both function and form, provides the ultimate in hygiene requirements whilst simultaneously elevating the user experience for both the venue and the customer.

 A step closer to sustainability

Choosing alternative water solutions like Purezza is a giant step towards adopting sustainable practices and achieving a venue’s environmental goals. Purezza has a high level of expertise through its core products, complemented by its extensive, multi-national client support and customer service network. Green Key International is happy to have Purezza as a corporate partner with the same missions of reducing the environmental footprint.

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For more information, visit www.purezzawater.com

HOTREC recommends Green Key in their sustainability position paper

HOTREC (Association of Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe) has published its position paper on sustainability in the hospitality industry that includes its main actions and the support to environmental programmes such as Green Key.

HOTREC’s position paper on sustainability in the hospitality sector, “Towards sustainable tourism in Europe”, was published in 2020. In the position paper, HOTREC expresses its commitment to support a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The commitment focuses on the contribution of the hospitality industry to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

HOTREC’s four mainline of actions on sustainability include:

a)     the support and promotion of good and sustainable practices

b)    the promotion of the use of energy-efficient products and renewable energy sources

c)     the promotion of actions to reduce food waste in the hospitality sector

d)    the promotion and development of skilled labour through training and career development

HOTREC highlights that sustainable tourism development requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders as well as strong political leadership. The businesses in the hospitality industry are already increasingly taking action to address sustainability through many operational changes in their processes. HOTREC is strongly encouraging such actions but also highlights the need for public funding and other financial incentives to hospitality businesses to support the transition as well as public support to the education of consumers through awareness-raising campaigns.

HOTREC & Green Key

HOTREC supports the use of environmental labels for tourist accommodation services and restaurants, provided that they are voluntary, focused on a consumer-oriented approach, and be industry-driven. HOTREC highlights the Green Key as well as the EU Ecolabel as two examples of robust and well-run schemes to be further promoted among customers to incentivize the use of these labels. HOTREC also supports various other existing initiatives such as the UN “One Planet – Travel with care” programme, the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics, and “Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative” (developed by the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and promoted by Green Key). Green Key is very proud and appreciates HOTREC’s recognition and is determined to continue striving for more sustainability in the tourism sector!

About HOTREC

HOTREC, the Association of Hotels, Restaurants, Bars and Cafes and similar establishments in Europe, is a non-profit umbrella organisation that brings together 44 national associations in 33 countries. HOTREC is the voice of the hospitality industry in Europe including around two million businesses.

HOTREC’s working groups and committees play an important role in the organisation. The Sustainability Working Group discusses relevant European policy issues related to sustainable tourism and hospitality (lowering the carbon footprint of the sector, energy efficiency, water management, etc.), and favours the exchange of sustainable best practices among HOTREC members.

More information about HOTREC can be found here: https://hotrec.eu.

Green Key launches new campaign #UnlockTomorrow

Green Key International is launching a new Social Media campaign to celebrate establishments that joined the programme in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic, and to highlight the importance of rethinking the future of tourism and building back better. Each week, we will showcase a new establishment.

2020 was a truly challenging year for the worldwide tourism industry. From the smallest B&B to the biggest tour operator, everyone in the tourism sector was in the grip of the global COVID-19 pandemic. And although 2021 has started just as gloomy, the long-awaited vaccine gives hope that the tourism industry could soon breathe a sigh of relief.

While humankind was facing many challenges due to the pandemic, the environment got a much-needed break from our activities. From crystal clear waters in the canals of Venice to a boost in numbers of rare sea turtles in Thailand, there were plenty of stories about nature taking back her space all around the world.

When looking at tourism destinations as a whole, we also realised how important it is to maintain the diversity of social, economic and cultural activities for destinations to be more resilient and provide a better support system for local communities. Several Green Key awarded establishments showed their solidarity in these difficult times by donating food to charities and opening their doors to accommodate homeless people or healthcare workers that needed to isolate.

To ensure that these stories are not forgotten as past anecdotes of this historic event, it is now our responsibility to build on the lessons learned and ensure that we resume tourism activities with consideration for local communities and the environment.

Many establishments realised this early in the pandemic and decided to prepare themselves for the future by joining the Green Key programme and working towards meeting the criteria for the award.

While in the past pursuing a sustainability label like Green Key may have been considered an initiative for a niche segment of the tourism sector, nowadays establishments see sustainability labels as a tool to adapt to our changing world and become more sustainable and resilient for the future.

To acknowledge the efforts our newcomers made despite the challenges they faced during the pandemic, and to inspire others to start their sustainability journey towards a better tomorrow, over the course of the next weeks we will showcase Green Key awarded establishments that joined our programme in 2020.

We are kicking off this campaign with the Landal Resort Maria Alm in Austria which joined the Green Key programme in September 2020. The apartments in the resort are entirely heated through the local biomass power stations and the hotel's own hydroelectric power plant. Besides the hydroelectric power station, the resort also focuses on raising awareness and educating guests about the adequate separation of waste. For this purpose, eleven waste rooms with more than 80 waste bins, divided among ten houses, guarantee a smooth and proper waste separation.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see all featured establishments in this campaign!

Green Key welcomes a new partner: Story Hospitality

STORY Hospitality, an integrated and innovative hospitality management platform, is partnering with Green Key. This partnership aims to support all hotels under STORY Hospitality portfolio with tools and resources for sustainability certification.

The partnership with Green Key is part of a broader initiative within STORY Hospitality to encourage and promote an environmentally-conscious focus within its hotels and amongst team members. STORY Hospitality strives to continuously communicate its sustainable efforts to its guests to create awareness and encourage them to join in the simplest practices to reach lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Claudio Capaccioli, CEO of Story Hospitality, says: “At STORY Hospitality, we have a strong commitment to sustainability and our mission is to continually look for ways to preserve and protect natural resources by reducing waste and energy while providing the best of experiences and services to our guests. We are delighted to have partnered with Green Key, the world’s leading sustainability certification programme for the hospitality industry. Green Key will support us by strengthening our sustainable practices across all our properties”.

Besides being enthusiastic about this new partnership, CEO Claudio Capaccioli reflects on the importance of integrating sustainability in the hospitality sector and the responsibility the latter carries:

“The hospitality industry plays a key role in the UAE and it’s important that the sector recognises their responsibility towards sustainability especially in the current scenario. We are looking forward to having all our hotels receiving the Green Key recognition for its sustainability efforts soon”.

Green Key is very happy to welcome STORY Hospitality and start this collaboration with the goal of making sustainability the number one priority!

Finn Bolding Thomsen, Green Key International Director, adds: “As the world’s leading eco-label with awarded establishments in 65 countries, we are experienced in working with sustainability at hotels in different parts of the world. We are very proud to be chosen as STORY Hospitality’s certification programme partner and we are looking forward to the cooperation.”

For more information about STORY Hospitality visit https://story-hospitality.com/. 

Green Key hotel receives recognition for its focus on sustainability and eco-living practices

Green Key awarded Hotel Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel (Greece) has received the Gold and Platinum Green Awards in the category Services for its overall sustainability strategy and programme “Kallichoron Goes Green”, aiming to reduce carbon footprint and encourage travellers to embrace sustainable practices during their holidays.

Kallichoron’s great achievements during the pandemic

Green Key is thrilled to highlight the results at Kallichoron. Reaching these achievements under the current conditions the world is living in is very special. However, there has been a positive interest in sustainability within the hospitality industry. In this particular moment, Green Awards have rewarded the businesses which have shown agility, adaptability and have perceived the business disruption caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to revise their business model and bring sustainability to their core strategy. This is precisely what our Green Key awarded Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel has been able to do.

Some reflections from the Co-founders

Besides making us proud, Kallichoron Co-founders have shown their appreciation and desire to keep striving for more sustainable tourism:

Maria Mavroudi, Co-founder and General Manager: “We are delighted to receive this award, which is special to us, as it reflects our commitment to work towards sustainable tourism, support local community and welfare. Purpose defines the identity of a business and the reason it exists, forming the benchmark for every decision. At Kallichoron, and as we grow as a hotel business, what drives everything we do is our collective and individual commitment to operate in a responsible manner and in line with our values. The trust of our guests, community and our people place at Kallichoron, alongside our high standards to ethical behaviour, is fundamental to our actions and this award encourages us to work harder."

Carolina Alkalai, co-founder and Hotel Manager of Kallichoron continued "This award is yet another incentive to continue offering great, innovative services to our guests, in a sustainable manner and with responsibility. And it is the right thing to do for our planet and future generations. Thank you for your support all these years, and we hope we don’t ever disappoint!”

Green Awards

Green Awards were organized for the first time this year by the Boussias Group, under the auspices of the Panhellenic Association of Chemical Engineers and the Environmental Scientists of Greece (EPPE) and the support of HSBC Bank and KLORANE.

Keep up the good work!

Green Key is proud to see the growth of Kallichoron with regard to sustainability. We hope this development continues and we look forward to seeing your progress and devotion to sustainable tourism.

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For additional information about Kallichoron Hotel:

www.kallichoron.gr

For more info about Green Awards:

https://www.greenawards.gr