responsible tourism

First boutique Hotel to receive Green Key certification in Malta

The 19 Rooms hotel is one of the most recent establishments to join the Green Key network of certified accommodations.

© 19 Rooms

With a long and interesting history that goes back to the 18th century, the 19 Rooms is located at an old palace in the heart of the capital city of Valetta. Before being converted to a boutique hotel four years ago, the building was once a private residence purchased by a Maltese philanthropist and later used for housing unprivileged families living in Valetta. In 1994, the building had to be closed down under the risk of becoming an unsafe place for tenants to live in. It opened again in 2016, at the hands of the current owners, who transformed the building into a stylish boutique hotel.

Considering that sustainability is at the core of its brand values, the 19 Rooms hotel has recently optimised its internal practices to comply with the Green Key eco-label standards. On the importance of receiving the Green Key certification, Managing Director Michael Xuereb has said:

“We are very focused on having an eco-friendly and sustainable operation, where we recognise the realities of climate change and focus on reducing our footprint and being a responsible part of our community. Obtaining Green Key certification was important for us because it demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and also gives us a rigorous standard to adhere to and build processes around. We also hope that, by making this commitment, we will encourage other hotels and hospitality establishments in Malta to pursue a stronger sustainability strategy.”

As part of its sustainability strategy, the boutique hotel is implementing several practices, which include:

  • Waste separation bins in all guest rooms and the restaurant (all waste is separated and daily weight)

  • Equipping guest rooms with soap, shampoo and moisturiser dispensers to avoid single-use plastic

  • Rejecting single-use plastic for drinking water consumption in the hotel, and instead of using glass bottles which are refilled regularly

  • Sourcing and buying local ingredients when possible

  • Providing guests with clear instructions (in their rooms) on reducing laundry changes, separating their waste, and being mindful of consumption when using the heating and cooling system

  • Offsetting the carbon emissions yearly.

Green Key International congratulates the 19 Rooms Boutique Hotel for their efforts towards a more sustainable tourism industry!

First Green Key certified establishment in Madagascar!

The Tamboho Boutik Hotel located in Antananarivo is the first tourism establishment to receive the Green Key in Madagascar.

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Green Key is pleased to announce its first awarded establishment in Madagascar. Ideally located in Ankorondrano, in the private and secured Tana Water Front, the Tamboho Boutik Hotel provides guests privacy and tranquility just a stone’s throw away from the city center and close to the business area. Settled on the shore of a small lake on one side and on a mini-mall with cinema and shops on the other, the Tamboho provides a perfect blend of Malagasy traditional architecture and western comfort.

Despite the pandemic, the management of the Tamboho Boutik Hotel decided to pursue the Green Key to show their returning guests that they care for the local community and the environment.

The hotel has implemented some fantastic initiatives that showcase its commitment to sustainability. For example, they started the campaign “A brunch @ Tamboho = A tree planted with Bondy”. For each brunch sold, the hotel plants one tree with the organisation Bondy. So far, 1, 250 trees have been planted as part of this project. To ensure that the planted trees are taken care of, Bondy works closely with the landowners and ensures that they can benefit from the trees.

Another great initiative is the hotel’s cooperation with the project “Fanavotana”. The women working in the Fanavotana project collect selected materials from the hotel such as glass, plastic, metal and paper and sell them to professional recycling facilities. Parts of the materials are also used to make jewellery, which is sold at the reception of the hotel

Furthermore, the hotel offers free filtered water to its guests in the guest rooms and the restaurant, replacing the previously offered plastic water bottles with reusable glass bottles. With this initiative, the hotel avoided the use of 37,560 plastic bottles in the guest rooms in the past year.

In addition, the hotel supported the project “Diary Nofy” by “Teach for Madagascar”, which conducted a story writing contest for children. The five best stories were published in a book that was sold at the reception of the hotel. The earnings were used to produce more books which were then distributed to public schools nationwide by the volunteers from Teach for Madagascar. To promote the book, the hotel organised reading sessions in their garden for children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

François van Rens, cluster general manager of Tamboho Suites & Hotels about their sustainability efforts and Green Key certification:

Initiatives like these especially with engaged partners give us the opportunity to play an active and positive role in our community and environment. Seeing our efforts recognized by Green Key makes us immensely proud and motivates us to go further.


Green Key congratulates the first certified establishment in Madagascar that is leading the way to sustainable tourism development in the country.

Visit https://www.tambohosuites.com/ to learn more about the hotel.


New report on single-use plastics aims to advance sustainability in the tourism industry

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), launched a major new report, addressing the complex issue of single-use plastic products within the tourism and hospitality industry and providing guidelines to avoid single-use plastics altogether.

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In recent years, the reduction of single-use plastics has been one of the main concerns of the hospitality industry. Leading hotel chains started to ban the use of plastic straws or replaced travel-sized toiletries with dispensers. Since July 2021, the EU no longer allows certain single-use plastic items to be placed on the Member States market, a policy that supports the growing trend of switching to reusable or more eco-friendly alternatives.

However, there is still a lot of work ahead of the industry to become plastic-free. Water bottles, plastic bags, bin liners, food packaging and cups are among the biggest plastic polluters for which solutions need to be found. Rethinking the way we consume is an enormous task that requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic was a set-back for the efforts of many businesses to reduce the amount of plastic waste as the safety and hygiene concerns required to reintroduce some items that were already banned, and take-away becoming a major income for those businesses offering food.

However, the pandemic also had some positive impacts on the demand for sustainable solutions, not only in tourism but in general. We were confronted with the negative impacts of the way we treat our planet and realised that we need to change our consumption patterns to keep it viable. Being confronted with all the additional plastic waste that we produced due to the pandemic catalysed the demand for change.

The report of the WTTC and UNEP recognises the need for global solutions to the ‘plastic problem’ and aims to support informed decision making in the tourism industry. It explains the challenges in detail and provides recommendations for tourism businesses and policy-makers.

You can download the report here: ‘Rethinking Single-Use Plastic Products in Travel & Tourism’

Green Key present at the Independent Hotel Show

At the Independent Hotel Show, Green Key’s International Director participated in a panel discussion about why sustainability is good for the hotel industry.

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The Independent Hotel Show is a yearly tourism fair for hotels and other hospitality facilities. For the first time, the event was held in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and included a session about sustainability in the seminar programme. Finn Bolding Thomsen (Green Key International Director) was invited to participate in a panel discussion about why sustainability is good for the hotel industry.

The panel discussion was led by Marie-Noelle Keijzer from WeForest, and other panelists were Inge van Weert from QO Amsterdam and Marco Lemmers from Conscious Hotel Group. Both hotel groups have a very high focus on sustainability, and all hotels in the Conscious Hotel Group hold the Green Key award.

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Finn Bolding Thomsen informed about the Green Key programme and how research (e.g. from Booking.com) shows that travellers are increasingly interested in staying in accommodations that work with sustainability. A number of companies have the requirement in their CSR policy to use sustainable accommodation and conference facilities, and in some countries, public authorities have similar requirements as part of their public purchasing policy.

To the question about whether implementing sustainability is expensive for hotels, Finn Bolding Thomsen highlighted that training and information lead to change in the behaviour of staff and guests and contribute to sustainability without other investments. Change of light bulbs and water saving devices have a cost, but as the price of energy and water is increasing, the return on investment is faster. More sophisticated changes require an investment, and there was a discussion about the possibility to charge guests a slightly higher price as a consequence of the work with sustainability. During the panel discussion, there was also a discussion about how hotels should lead the way in reducing their carbon emission before asking guests to compensate the carbon emission of their stay. The panel discussion was very well attended.

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