Green Key featured in FEE's annual report of 2021

Every year, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) shares the main highlights and decisions from the organisation and its network in the annual FEE report. Amongst others, the report includes various achievements from FEE’s five programmes. Therefore, milestones and other important highlights of the Green Key programme are also displayed in the report.

After a challenging 2020 for the tourism industry, with many hospitality businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, at the beginning of the year 2021, the Green Key programme was busier than ever. As part of its COVID-19 strategy and to assist its members during this difficult time, the Green Key programme extended the certifications from establishments affected by the pandemic. In addition, Green Key recognised the efforts of accommodations that were able to comply with the strict set of criteria, and therefore received the certificate despite the circumstances in 2020.

In 2021, the Green Key programme also achieved other milestones, such as:

• Welcoming two new countries to its network, Madagascar and Trinidad & Tobago, which are now also amongst the countries having Green Key certified establishments;

• Establishing and renewing cooperation agreements with enterprises that work closely with hotels and other accommodations worldwide. One of these partnerships was signed with Beirholm, a company that produces environmentally friendly textiles. In addition, Green Key also prolonged its collaboration with Drinkable Air, which works with Atmospheric Water Generators technology to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles;

• Being represented at COP 26 in Glasgow;

• Being highlighted as a robust example of a sustainable tourism scheme by the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés (HOTREC) in its publication Towards sustainable Tourism in Europe (2020);

• Launching its first course on FEE Academy, which inspired the development of a training project for a hospitality school in Cambodia;

• Revising its criteria. Green Key’s new standards for 2022-2025 have been recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and can be found here.
  

  To read more about Green Key’s highlights of 2021 featured in the FEE annual report click here.
  

"The ecolabel has paid off" – The example of DGI Byen in Denmark

The ecolabel contributed to cost reduction of the hotel and conference venue and improved its environmental strategy, according to the DGI Byen CCO (Chief Commercial Officer).

DGI Byen hotel and conference centre

As one of the 21 hotels that received the Green Key certificate in 2021 in Denmark, the DGI Byen hotel and conference centre is already benefiting from its decision of becoming a greener establishment. That is the opinion of Jesper Bremholm, the CCO of DGI Byen, who participated in the last of four Energitrim workshops organised by Sustain in January 2022. The last Energitrim workshop focused mainly on the importance of the Green Key certificate for hospitality businesses and the necessary steps for obtaining the eco-label.

Reflecting on the first year of DGI Byen with the Green Key certificate, the hotel and conference venue CCO Jesper Bremholm acknowledged that the company is already experiencing the advantages of being certified by Green Key. DGI Byen´s CCO explained that the ecolabel has not only helped the company to improve its environmental standards but also allowed DGI Byen to sell more.

To Green Key International, Jesper Bremholm clarified: “The ecolabel has paid off and brought advantages to our business as more customers today are concerned about environmental sustainability and therefore requires the ecolabel when they book location for meetings, conferences and so on. Also, our hotel guests are concerned about environmental sustainability, and we believe that having the Green Key label gets our hotel to appear in more online searches. In the economic perspective, it means that we gain customers who would not have chosen DGI Byen if we did not have the Green Key label.”

Moreover, Jesper Bremholm considers that the environmental work initiated through the Green Key certificate has allowed the hotel to better include both guests and employees in this new green strategy.