Travel market in Finland sees sustainability as key to success: more than 50 Green Key awarded sites in two years

The travel market in Finland sees sustainability as a key competitive advantage. Nature is one of Finland’s main attractions, and concern for its well-being has led to tangible every day actions. Already 52  hotels and restaurants work for the benefit of the environment by joining the Green Key programme.

On  December 1st, four new hotels were awarded with Green Key and two hotels renewed their award, raising the number of Green Key awarded sites in Finland to 52.

The Lossiranta Lodge in Savonlinna, Eastern Finland, and Best Western Plus Hotel Haaga are the establishments that have already started their second year in the programme.

"We have had a super good first Green Key year! Environmental work creates added value for our guests. We have also seen tangible results or our work both for the environment and in saving costs during the first year" says Christine Lund, CEO of Lossiranta Lodge.

The Best Western Plus Hotel Haaga adds to the list of benefits of Green Key: 

"We have a lot of international customers, therefore Green Key was a natural choice. It is  an international eco-label and is recognised by our customers" explains Osmo Suominen, Business Manager of Best Western Plus Hotel Haaga

Furthermore, four new Sokos Hotels in Kotka, Kokkola, Mikkeli and Kuopio were awarded with Green Key. Sokos Hotels is the largest hotel chain in Finland. No less than half of their hotels are Green Key awarded.

"Green Key has made environmental work a natural part of our daily operations. Our aim is to have all hotels in the S-Group Green Key awarded by the end of year 2017" explains Janina Nurmela from S-Group.

In Finland, Green Key is awarded by Green Key juries in Mainland Finland and Åland. The members of the juries are experts within the fields of travel, hospitality, CSR and environmental protection. The constant development in the environmental work is an integral part of the programme. Therefore, all participants reapply every year with reports of yearly achievements. Green Key in Mainland Finland is operated by Suomen Ympäristökasvatus and in Åland by Ålands Natur och Miljö.